Blog / Property Management

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With Lauren Robinson, Rental Results

Imagine being able to grow the rent roll of a property management business and attract the ideal clientele without purchasing a rent roll or competing on price. That is precisely what Lauren Robinson, author, speaker and Director of Rental Results in Brisbane, has done since opening the doors of her boutique property management business in January 2014.

Starting with no clients, Lauren drew on her extensive property management experience, including seven years working with Andrew Reece at prorentals, coupled with a degree in business and marketing, to organically grow her client base to more than 500 quality managements within five years.

Today, Lauren continues to lead her multi-award winning team of six plus two virtual assistants and maintain a hands-on business development role, while also helping other property management companies grow their businesses through strategic marketing in a consulting and coaching capacity. It is in this capacity that Lauren was selected to feature in Lee Woodward’s inaugural Training on Demand (TOD) program. Called Zero to 500 Property Managements, the newly launched multimedia program is delivered in over ten interactive selfpaced sessions. Aimed at property management business owners, business development managers and principals who wish to grow their rent roll and improve their bottom line, Zero to 500 is a game changer. This article explores Lauren’s career journey and provides a taste of what participants can expect from her first digital training course created in collaboration with Lee.

Lauren started her property management journey seventeen years ago, initially in a leasing role before progressing to property management followed by business development. Committed to continuous learning and professional development, she completed a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Marketing, in 2012 and put the valuable knowledge and skills learned to good use by opening her own boutique agency, Rental Results, just over twelve months later.

Through experience, she has learned that the number one reason landlords change property management companies is a lack of care and communication and little confidence in their property manager’s knowledge and experience. Determined to do things differently from the start, Lauren focused on turning those impressions on their head by building excellent relationships with landlords and tenants and earning their trust through clear, detailed communication, prompt follow-ups and a highly organised approach to client management. She was also very strategic in creating a strong, well-defined brand presence and niche, defining and forensically analysing her target market, and addressing their pain points through regular, well executed content marketing. The result was the organic growth of the business without ever having to succumb to a price war against the competition.

Lauren and her team have also achieved numerous accolades, including most recently, the 2019 National Property Agency of the Year and Best Social Media and Website Awards. Lauren says, “While our growth was slow initially, it quickly gained momentum when I prioritised marketing and sought clarity around the brand that I was building. The more I learnt and invested in the right strategies, the faster the growth and the greater the opportunities."

Passionate about helping her clients maximise their short and long-term returns, Lauren authored a book for first time property investors called Rented. She is also a prolific blogger and vlogger (video blogger) and has been featured in the media and on podcasts on many occasions. Lauren’s desire to help existing and aspiring property management business owners profit from her knowledge and experience led to the development of her second business, laurenrobinson.com.au, earlier this year.

She says, “There are many marketing specialists out there, but not many who have the benefit of knowing our industry intimately or what it takes to build a successful property management agency like I have. I’ve made the mistakes and felt the frustrations and so I want to help others avoid the pitfalls and missed opportunities I experienced before achieving the wins I wanted.” This business allows Lauren to share her expertise with industry peers on a consultancy basis.

In Zero to 500 Property Managements, Lauren draws on personal experience to take participants on a structured journey, from how to establish a quality property management business and selecting the ideal client, to achieving sustainable growth and becoming known as an industry expert. The ten engaging and interactive TOD sessions feature a blend of audio, visual (video and slides) and text-based learning styles, allowing participants to learn their preferred way, in their own time and at their own pace. “It’s been an amazing experience to be able to put this program together with Lee and the team at Real Estate Academy,” says Lauren.

What is TOD?

TOD stands for Training On Demand. The brainchild of Lee Woodward, TOD takes Real Estate Academy’s renowned blended learning style to the next level. Using a state-of-the-art multimedia platform, TOD can tackle any topic in multiple ways to suit the current need of the agency and the learning style preference of each participant.

Each TOD program blends a mix of audio podcasts with green screen videos, live amphitheatre talks, text, downloadable resources and mapping processes, all created at Real Estate Academy headquarters. The finished product is delivered as a live and readily updatable multimedia TOD Book link that lives on in the business for use by anyone on the team, including new recruits, whenever it is needed.

“I know people love the material delivered in our workshops but many struggle to put what they have learned into practice afterwards. TOD is the solution to implementation. It lets you watch, listen, learn and implement using the resources provided. It is the future of real estate training,” says Lee adding, “We understand needs change in business. Whatever pain points an agency is experiencing at any given time, we can now custom design and produce the training they need, on demand, in a format that suits them with the elements that fit their brand, their location and their people. That’s the beauty of TOD."

The Deliverables

Zero to 500 Property Managements is a hands-on marketing and brand strategy training program that provides participants with the knowledge and skills to grow their rent roll and build a sustainable, profitable business that keeps growing year on year. Importantly, participants are equipped with the same resources Lauren uses in her business and are prompted to refer to those resources and complete certain sections throughout the program for the ultimate interactive learning experience. “With its videos, audio content, case studies and slides, the experience is like being in the room with Lauren as your personal tutor,” says Lee.

Resources included in the program are Lauren’s:

• Marketing Content Calendar
• Social Media Content Calendar
• Brand Strategy Guide
• Content Marketing Strategy Document
• Target Audience Profile Creator
• 1-page Marketing Plan

The Mapping Process

Lauren’s Mapping Process provides participants with a benchmark to work towards and a means of measuring their entry level. A blueprint for success, it is an indication of what participants will be capable of on completion of the program.

The Sessions

Each session includes examples and exercises to enhance the learning experience. “One of the great outcomes of this course is that by putting all the elements learned together, participants end up with their own tailored marketing plan for their business and growth strategy. This is a ‘doing’ course that will give people the skills to replicate what I have done to grow the business organically from zero to 500 quality property managements,” says Lauren.

1. Brand Strategy
2. Brand Personality
3. Brand Story
4. Social Media
5. Loyalty Marketing
6. Target Audience
7. Differentiation
8. Content Marketing
9. Become an Expert
10. The 1-page Marketing Plan

Session Sampler – Content Marketing

Content marketing is one of the most powerful sessions of the program because, when executed well, it is the key to achieving organic growth. The beauty with content marketing is that it costs nothing but time. It’s about educating people, solving their problems and frustrations and becoming known as the industry authority. Lauren says, “Content marketing is one of my favourite subjects because it's all about providing value to your target audience through relevant and engaging content with the goal of growing your business. So content marketing centres on solving problems and, in this way, it helps to build trust. As property managers we are all experts in our industry, so why not share that knowledge and experience to show our value proposition?"

To identify the best type of content marketing to create and distribute, it is crucial to understand the business’ target audience. This is covered in detail earlier in the program. Lauren says, “In our business we primarily target professional women between the ages of forty and forty-five who tend to have more than one investment property. However when you target an audience, it doesn’t mean you exclude other people. That’s why we have identified a couple of market segments in our business. For instance we also target first time property investors and they receive different marketing content containing messages specific to them. That’s the audience I wrote my book, Rented for."

There are a number of content marketing types and distribution methods to select from. Content marketing types include:

• Blog posts
• ‘How to’ guides
• Testimonials
• Client reviews
• Podcasts
• eBooks
• Videos
• Infographics
• Case studies
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Content created jointly with authority figures or related industries
• Checklists

So where to start for those who have never done this before? Lauren advises, “Given that the purpose of content marketing is to be helpful on a consistent basis, it is important that you understand your target market’s problems and pain points better than they do themselves. Once you know their pain points you can embed them and the corresponding solutions into your communications pieces."

When determining how to develop the right content marketing strategy, Lauren suggests considering the following questions in relation to the business’ target audience.

• How can we add value?
• What is the end goal?
• What should we present?

She adds, “It’s also a good idea to ask your clients what they would like to know more about. We recently wrote a blog titled, ‘How do we charge for water usage?’ because it is one of the most frequently asked questions we hear from our clients. So we have converted that question/concern into a content marketing piece that we know they will want to read because they have asked about it."

In addition to the podcast, the text and the comprehensive slide deck, this session includes a video playlist featuring four very different examples of video content marketing and a ‘Live at the Amphitheatre’ video presentation of Lauren’s webinar on this crucial topic.

Topics covered in the session include:

• The various types of content that may be used as part of a marketing strategy
• Where to start and how to find the right content
• Which platforms to use to distribute the content
• Why it is important to plan a year’s worth of quality content in advance
• What to include in an annual content marketing plan
• The benefits of having a blog and what to write about
• Lauren’s standout form of content marketing

Participants are also given access to the Marketing Content Calendar Lauren uses at Rental Results. The 10-page document enables users to plan one month’s worth of content and includes a list of content types to consider.

Lauren has had so much success with content marketing that she says, “Nail this marketing strategy and it will become one of your greatest points of difference in the market. It gives your business more credibility and presents you with sales opportunities because the valuable and engaging content you distribute encourages people to keep coming back to your website."

Zero to 500 Property Managements is available to purchase. To obtain a copy for your business, contact Real Estate Academy on 1300 367 412.

 

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