Managing several complexes or just one complex with several buildings that house over a thousand units can get complicated. You’ve got to have the right team, the right skills, and excellent customer service to be successful in enterprise property management. If you’re managing multi-family units such as apartments, town-homes, condominiums, or even duplexes, you’re going to need to need the right skills to deliver to your tenants and owners. How can you be successful in enterprise property management?
Use Technology
Using property management software can really help you out when it comes to enterprise property management. Property management software has become very popular and can help you keep track of your units, therefore giving you more time and resources to accumulate more units under your watch. With property management software you can keep track of rent collection, employees, tenants, and tasks that need to be done. Managing a thousand or more multi-family units has never been easier with your enterprise property management than it is with property management software. Property management software can help you keep track of those thousand things that you do every day and can even sync with certain apps on your phone to keep you updated while on-the-go.
Remember Customer Service Is Key
While technology helps you with so many things in enterprise property management—tasks, rent collection, updates, employees—don’t forget that great customer service can’t be delivered with technology. Filling up those vacancies won’t exactly happen with a marketing listing. While technology and marketing can draw potential tenants to you, you need to deliver on great customer service as soon as a potential tenant walks into the building under your management. Being successful in enterprise property management isn’t just about having a great team of people or keeping track of all your tasks—you need to be that company that creates a unique experience for your tenant and delivers on their needs so that they feel at home with you in control. Tenants trust property managers and landlords to provide them with an environment that is maintained, safe, and great to live in. Don’t lose sight of that just because you have many units to handle.
Prioritize Your Schedule
Getting your priorities straight when having over a thousand units to manage with your enterprise property management isn’t something that’s easy to do—but try and stick to a schedule nonetheless, and leave room for flexibility. Of course there will always be emergencies that pop up, but in general, keep your time in slots. A time for answering phone calls and emails, a time to meet with potential tenants or contractors for inspections, maintenance, and building work, a time to update leases, credentials, and train new employees, etc. Prioritizing your schedule in a job where anything can happen at any time may seem impossible, but on the days where your schedule goes according to plan, you’ll be productive and have time to get everything done.
Be Flexible
While having a schedule with priorities is important, remember to be flexible, especially with enterprise property management, where you’ll have many different things going on. A potential tenant or contractor may have an emergency and need to cancel the meeting last minute, or a situation between tenants may pop up. You’ll also have to handle building emergencies and prepare your team to handle such incidents. Being flexible with your enterprise property management is a must. After all, with over a thousand units to manage, how could flexibility not be part of your job description?
Have Excellent Site Staff
Having excellent site staff for your enterprise property management involves the right kind of training and the right kind of people. Not everyone is cut out for the property management business, and when hiring, ask about career goals to determine how invested your employees will be in your enterprise property management. There are many different organizations out there that offer training for property managers and their staff, so take advantage of this. Keeping up with credentials is important, especially when working with numerous multi-family units. Hire and train the right people to deliver on ethics, customer service, and great maintenance.
Enterprise property management can be challenging, but you can be successful and have a great career with the right success tips. Using property management software, getting a schedule down with flexibility, having great customer service and an excellent staff are all things that can help you be a successful enterprise property manager.
