ELITE PM Issue 18 Jun Jul 2018

FROM REVIEWS TO REFERRALS

LEARN FROM THE BEST #18 JUN-JUL 2018

A GAME OF DRONES THE D-WORD PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN THE YEAR

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Contents Regulars 006 READER PROFILE Joe Iemma 008 WATERCOOLER Catch up on what you may have missed

18

016 BD MASTERY Tara Bradbury 018 PM MENTOR Natalie Hastings 020 GAME CHANGER Jo-Anne Oliveri 022 REALTY BYTES Alister Maple-Brown 040 ASK THE COACHES Lauren Kirk, Heidi Walkinshaw, Kate Benjamin

Everybody’s talking about 010 EVERY AGENT HAS A STORY: Back for 2018, with thanks to Console

First Person 012 CALL THE PROFESSIONAL Fiona Blayney 014 PROBLEM PERSONALITIES Debbie Palmer

24

Cover Story 024 TAKING THE STEP UP Anthea Economos

Features 028 FROM REVIEWS TO REFERRALS Kasey McDonald 030 NATURE OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Rae Tolley 032 A SHARED VISION Kylie Walsh 034 A GAME OF DRONES Sharon Fox-Slater 036 IT’S ABOUT TIME PropertyTree’s new features 038 THE D-WORD Brock Fisher

36 2 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

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BROCK FISHER

NATIONAL MANAGER, OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, LITTLE REAL ESTATE

18 NATALIE HASTINGS

MANAGING DIRECTOR, HASTINGS + CO Where are you from originally and where do you call home now?

I was born in Traralgon, Victoria, but I grew up in Adelaide and moved to Melbourne 10 years ago this month. I defiantly call Melbourne home, although I still get a bit nostalgic about Adelaide.

Who or what inspires you at the moment?

I’m inspired by Carolyn Creswell, the founder of Carmen’s Muesli. They chipped away at their labour of love for over 20 years. Carolyn was only 18 when her journey began, buying the tiny muesli business for only $1,000.

I love her passion and drive, and I’m inspired by her success.

What’s the most important project you are working on right now?

We’re currently working on a large commercial project, assisting them with the management, training and outsourced trust accounting for their portfolio of 3,500 commercial properties.

Trend to watch in the industry or in business?

Cloud-based real estate software.

Programs such as Rockend’s PropertyTree are designed for the future, delivering leading technology and innovations to transform the way you work.

Favourite quote or words to live by?

If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.

Where are you from originally and where do you call home now?

I come from Newbridge, near Bathurst in NSW; now living in, and loving, sunny Brisbane.

What’s the most important project you are working on right now?

We’re doing a lot of research on what might be possible with things like AI and chatbots, which help give our customers instant access to data and insight 24/7. In addition, we’re working with technology to provide a more flexible and mobile workforce, because it is our view that the most talented people will increasingly demand greater flexibility and mobility in the years ahead.

Trend to watch in the industry or in business?

Andy Penn from Telstra noted recently that customers no longer compare you to others in your industry, but to every service experience they have generally.

38 We’re watching the habits of consumers changing, and it will be interesting to see the benefits of self-service offerings and hybrid models that combine AI and a traditional employee.

Favourite quote or words to live by?

Richard Branson said words to the effect, ‘Train people so they can leave, but treat them so they don’t want to’, and that really resonates with me.

CONTRIBUTORS TARA BRADBURY

DIRECTOR, BDM ACADEMY

Where are you from originally and where do you call home now?

Fraser Coast, Hervey Bay – started here and based here now. Absolutely love it!

Who or what inspires you at the moment?

My mum. I couldn’t do what I do without her love and support. It’s never easy travelling for work, but she just steps in and always thinks of others before herself.

She’s a born nurturer and I’m truly blessed to be her daughter.

What’s the most important project you are working on right now?

So many, but I’d say our RETG Event Tour for 2019 – improving how I communicate with clients and prospects across BDM Academy and RETG events.

Trend to watch in the industry or in business?

Technology. I love how much this area has changed in the world of property management and rent roll growth. We

4 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

16 have very exciting times ahead.

Favourite quote or words to live by?

Work hard, play hard! It’s one I know I have used before, but is still very true to my soul.

20 JO-ANNE OLIVERI

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, IREVILOUTION

Where are you from originally and where do you call home now?

I originally come from Perth and now call Irvine, Orange County, California home.

Who or what inspires you at the moment?

My children are my reason and now my grandson powers my reason even more. My global crusade to empower positive change in the property management industry inspires me to pursue and persist.

What’s the most important project you are working on right now?

PM TaskBot. This automates task, team, time and flow for every task required in property management.

Trend to watch in the industry or in business?

Consumers are primed with information, so to remain relevant as an industry we must have more knowledge and know-how than the consumers we serve. We must see technology as an enabler, not a barrier, to relevance and relationships.

Favourite quote or words to live by?

I share this on my Facebook page. I love Walt Disney and have loved him since I was a small girl.

His quote is one of my favourites: “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

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E L I T E A G E N T. C O M / E L E VAT E

elitepm.com.au 5

READER PROFILE

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED As a school-leaver Joe Iemma was offered a job by a family friend and ‘fell’ into real estate by chance. Now a company director and BDM at Doyle Spillane, Joe has a real passion for property management – even though he started out thinking that everyone owned their own home.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Doyle Spillane.

At Doyle Spillane I am the Director and BDM for the company and oversee the property management department.

What motivated you to get into real estate?

A family friend had an office in the area and he offered me a job straight out of school.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about real estate, especially rentals – I thought everyone owned their own home! So I kind of fell into it.

they’re just taking a little bit longer to lease.

Who or what inspires you?

I really enjoy what we do and am very passionate about our industry, especially property management. There is so much to do and opportunities to help people every day.

In short, I don’t need much inspiration! I love my job and

What is the market like in your area right now?

Statistically, we are heading into a quieter time of the year on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, being the winter months. This year we’re finding that it has slowed a bit earlier than usual. We don’t have a massive amount of properties vacant, but

“There is so much to do and opportunities to help people every day.”

6 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

find it really easy to be up for it every day.

consultant), Kristian, Ruby and Luca.

In your ‘briefcase’ right now is…

I don’t own a briefcase and never have. All I need is my phone. If I’m out presenting I’ll have my presentation folder, but even that is minimal.

What do you enjoy most about Elite Agent/EPM Magazine?

Great content, really relevant.

I obviously love the PM articles and there is always plenty that I can share with the team for training.

Something (or someone) you couldn’t live without?

I couldn’t live without my family and friends – I can’t get enough of them and they are my ‘why’! My beautiful wife Nicola and my four children: Maddison (our newest leasing

What apps do you use most at the moment on your iPhone or iPad? Probably the standard – Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. I do a lot of videos and get some great interaction through those platforms with landlords and tenants.

What advice would you give someone starting out in real estate or property management?

Property management is a great career choice – you learn so much about people and situations, and life in general. If you have a good attitude and are happy to help people, the role can be very enjoyable – there are always going to be exceptions, but they can be few and far between.

I would advise someone starting out to expect the unexpected, as every day is very different.

Any words to live by?

My mantra is ‘100 per cent effort, without worrying about the result – that will look after itself!’. ■

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VISIT ELITEAGENT.COM/CATCHUP FOR FULL VERSIONS OF THESE WATERCOOLER STORIES

THE WATER COOLER

Our daily newsletter #THEBRIEF brings you the latest real estate news, tech and marketing tips straight up every day.

In case you’ve missed anything, here are some of this month’s trending stories. Subscribe to #THEBRIEF eliteagent.com/subscribe.

REALMARK LAUNCH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM FOR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

REALESTATE.COM.AU LAUNCHES ‘PET PROFILES’ FOR TENANTS AND PROPERTY MANAGERS realestate.com.au has launched ‘Pet Profiles’ on 1form – a feature that allows tenants to present their pet in the best light and saves property managers time when reviewing rental applications. Tenants, property managers and landlords were surveyed as part of a national study on pet ownership to help inform ways realestate.com.au could make the rental process easier.

The study found 48 per cent of property managers are spending considerable time researching animal breeds, temperament and personality when reviewing applications. However, it also revealed a large number of tenants are not being completely honest about owning a pet when applying for a rental property.

In an effort to help make the rental market more transparent, realestate.com.au worked closely with customers to create the Pet Profile feature, allowing tenants to include a bio and picture of their pet when applying for a property.

In an industry first for property management, Realmark has launched a new platform called RealmarkFIX, rolling out to all tenants and owners and giving 24/7 access and transparency to maintenance. The platform is artificial intelligence-led, probing the tenant for information to assess the problem; it then offers solution-based how-to guides to aid instant results before escalating it via a rating escalation process.

The platform operates a three-step login process when a tenant first lodges a maintenance request. It will initially prompt the tenant to solve the issue themselves before engaging in a contractor.

In the case that a solution is unable to be solved by the tenant, a triage system assesses the urgency of the problem. The tenant is updated and notified when they can expect the issue to be resolved. After the contractor has attended, both tenants and

property managers are asked to provide a star rating which can be seen by both parties. If there is an unsatisfactory rating by the tenant, the property manager is alerted to follow this up with the contractor.

Realmark Executive Director and property management specialist Anita Percudani said, “The portal [is] the ultimate maintenance platform; with the industry having such a negative affiliation in the maintenance space, we felt it was time to find a solution that gives tenants and owners transparency and control 24/7.”

RENTAL GUARANTOR LEGISLATION SPARKS CONCERN IN THE ACT After months of negotiation, the ACT Government has this week enacted legislation that allows licensed commercial bond guarantors to operate within the Territory.

The move enables renters to pay a fee to a commercial guarantor rather than forking out the cash required for a bond.

While the initiative has been welcomed by commercial guarantors such as Snug, it’s being eyed with caution by the real

estate industry and rental bodies alike.

Snug explains their service sees renters purchase BondCover for around five per cent of the face value of the rental bond. A renter with a $2,000 cash bond could obtain BondCover for around $100 per annum and put the balance of $1,900 towards other uses.

Should a claim be considered valid, the tenant can either pay up or Snug will honour the claim and then recoup

8 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

their costs.

But the REIACT, agents and even renter representatives are taking a more circumspect view.

Lindsey Burne is the Director of LJ Hooker Dickson and LJ Hooker Woden, and noted his agency would not be an early adopter of the service.

“We want to watch with some caution to see how this plays out in the next 12 months.”

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EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT…

EVERY AGENT HAS A STORY Everyone who works in real estate can recount several pivotal moments in their careers from which they either learned or grew.

Andrew Coronis

Karmen Costigan

Back for its second season, our ‘Every Agent Has a Story’ series captures the tales of some of our industry’s most popular professionals – across leadership, sales and property management. These are never-before-told stories. Find out what these agents would do differently if they had the chance to have their time over again.

ANDREW CORONIS Managing Director, Coronis • Recounting the start of his career, Andrew believed taking over a rent roll would be simple enough. But without proper planning for both clients and staff, there was some pain until an important lesson was learned. His advice: ensure you invest in proper leadership and communication training.

KARMEN COSTIGAN Business Development Executive, Ray White Queensland • Living in the US to earn a wage and become an actress, it wasn’t all glitz and glamour for Karmen. During a stint in property management she was sued, shown gun collections and had the police at the doorstep for a property inspection. It’s clear she’s seen it all and has learned how to think on her feet when push comes to shove.

ANDREW MCSWEENY Principal, Ray White Carina • While working for his parents at the age of 19, Andrew finalised a sales

Andrew McSweeny

Marcel Dybner

Nhi Chang

10 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

contract between his vendor and buyer, and had never felt prouder. It was the first sale for the office and well over the market’s average. Driving away in a glow of success, he suddenly remembered the Authority to Sell hadn’t been signed… meaning no commission!

MARCEL DYBNER Head of Property Management, Besser + Co • During one of his first listings as a BDM, Marcel’s prospective tenant suddenly went off the grid. He soon discovered they had been admitted to hospital.

Rushing over to get the deal signed, the tenant told him the reason she had been admitted which, without a doubt, brought a lump to his throat.

NHI CHANG Product Owner, Console • One of Nhi’s tenants fell into arrears and then had a house fire. She eventually discovered they were keeping a drug house and had been sent to prison.

Following 18 months of multiple insurance claims and trying to prove due diligence had been carried out, Nhi learned why simplified workflows and documentation of all processes must be in place.

KASEY MCDONALD Director, Property Management Training Academy • When one of Kasey’s most difficult clients responded to her email in a discriminatory way, she was asked to forward it to her leasing manager to deal with. Adding her own derogatory opinion of the client, she accidentally pressed ‘reply’... A heartfelt apology later, she has learned to always remain professional, regardless of how customers treat her. • Every Agent Has a Story is exclusively brought to you in association with Console. Watch the series at eliteagent.com.au/stories.

Series runs from April to July 2018.

Kasey McDonald

CYBER ATTACK It’s just a matter of time

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first person

FIONA BLAYNEY

Fiona Blayney is the founder and director of Real+ online. For more information visit realplus.com.au.

Call the professional

We all cherish secret ambitions, says Fiona Blayney – and so do our clients. Time to ensure the value we provide is relevant and meaningful, to avoid being edged out by the part-timers.

I THINK EVERYONE has an inner wannabe. I’m not talking about the social wannabe, the one you’d associate with a schoolyard name-calling, but the adult wannabe that exists in us all.

There are two types of adult wannabe status. One that invariably rears its head is when we’ve got the time and inclination to dabble in that profession we fancy as a career in another life; the other is thinking we can get the job done cheaper by doing it ourselves – think Dad in the 80s and a leaking sink... oh, how Mum wished he’d called the professional.

I definitely class myself as a wannabe. My wannabe status takes me into many careers; in preparing for a Tribunal case I feel like my inner Law & Order comes out and I become a wannabe lawyer.

Wannabe builder is another title I’ll own; when renovating our home in 2016 I’d be on site, at times donning a tool belt at the first opportunity.

I’d be helping the boys – not sure they saw it that way, but the restored fireplace is my pride and joy.

MOST RECENTLY, when it came to the design and creation of our ‘outdoor living space’ (as we professionals call it), I became the wannabe draftsman. I figured the $2,000 I’d been quoted for the plans were better spent

in our perceived value for our respective projects.

We definitely allocated it differently – Rach to the design and I to the construct.

I’ve thought about this a lot and, like anything that is front of mind, I started seeing value decisions everywhere.

PREPARING FOR A TRIBUNAL CASE, MY INNER LAW & ORDER COMES OUT AND I BECOME A WANNABE LAWYER.

WITH THE BIRTH of our third daughter we needed a new car. Another friend was raving about the Mercedes, but I couldn’t see the value and opted for the Mazda CX9.

Yet when I am buying my milk I head straight for Dairy Farmers, while my husband will collect the generic brand. I love ‘ugly fruit’ yet verge on being snobby when it comes to pizza. How is that we formulate our value positions?

As society evolves, so too does the value position of the consumer in every buying decision. As a consumer we look at the social profile of businesses, their commitments to production location, environmental concerns – we even look at what it would take to do it ourselves – and weigh up the time, knowledge, desire and risk against cost profile.

elsewhere. Researching Houzz, reading Home Beautiful and searching through the myriad of other resources for style features, I decided on a design. I spent hours measuring, designing and drafting plans. I learnt the lingo, sourced the materials, and had my design created in 3D for $30 through Fiverr. com, ready to brief the landscaper, carpenter and kitchen company. I was in wannabe draftsman heaven.

On the other hand, as

not just in our space, faces the challenge of remaining relevant to their consumer, giving them what they want and need at a price they are willing to pay, providing relevant value for service.

Perhaps it’s time that you held up a mirror and checked in to see if you are still relevant?

If you want to minimise the financial impact of business evolution, make it harder for clients to become a wannabe agent and provide relevant value. ■

EVERY BUSINESS OWNER,

12 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

my friend Rach and I sat on the new deck, she shared her story of the design and construction of her outdoor space. Rach outsourced everything design, and after being quoted double the price we had for construction (her space was a quarter of ours), she and her husband put on their wannabe landscaper hats and did the majority of the work themselves.

As I listened to Rach, I was intrigued as to the difference

Listed Experts, insights and places Episode 6: Exceeding rental marketing expectations with Bianca Azzopardi of Laing+Simmons Rosebery From the central Sydney suburb of Rosebery, Bianca Azzopardi has spent the last decade building a name in property management.

As the head of the Property Management Division of Laing+Simmons, Rosebery, Bianca has a firm grip on the value of high level marketing when it comes to filling premium rental homes on the market.

Her ability to fill rental vacancies quickly with the help of her marketing efforts, has given her the confidence to offer her landlords impressive guarantees on her services.

In Listed episode 6, Bianca discusses some of the methods that have established her as a leader in her local market.

Watch episode six online now at agent.realestate.com.au/listed

first person

DEBBIE PALMER

Debbie Palmer is a property management expert coach/trainer and REIQ PM multiple award winner.

For more information visit ppmsystem.com.au.

Problem personalities

For most, handling difficult tenants or landlords is part of the job.

However, changing the way we communicate can turn a dispute into a win-win situation. Debbie Palmer explains.

ACROSS THE NATION we are collectively known as property managers – but we should be more aptly known as people managers or relationship managers.

Properties don’t complain, get angry or fail to follow through on requests, but tenants and landlords sometimes do.

Managing difficult clients is all about understanding relationships, and people’s emotions and behaviours.

More often than not, an angry outburst is not a personal attack on your ability as property manager but stems from the tenant or landlord’s own fear, concern or frustration.

As property managers we need to understand the needs of our clients.

Landlords want their property cared for and feel like they are receiving a maximum return on their investment, with all their needs, worries and concerns taken care of. Tenants want to feel respected, that we care and act promptly on their requests.

Get that right and we will have fewer difficult tenants and landlords.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS is about defusing the

situation, putting yourself in their shoes, moderating your voice, learning the art of truly listening, having empathy,

caring about them, reassuring them that the matter is important and that you are going to work towards a solution to ensure all parties are happy.

One of my favourite books is Men are from Mars and

desired outcome of making the other party feel valued and important.

Often when we are faced with a difficult client it is not about us, or what we have done or not done, but how they are feeling at the time.

THE MAJORITY OF LANDLORDS AND TENANTS CONSIDER PROPERTY MANAGERS RUDE, AND AS AN INDUSTRY WE NEED TO TURN THIS AROUND. Women are from Venus. It may not sound like a business learning book, but it really helped me in managing relationships on all levels, whether it be personal or professional.

Managing a personal relationship is no different from managing business relationships. It is all about managing the needs and wants of the people we connect with to achieve the

14 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

Don’t take it personally, but learn ways of turning the situation around.

FOLLOWING ARE a few scripts and phrases to use when dealing with a difficult tenant or landlord: 1. ‘Thank you for drawing this to my attention’ or ‘I apologise that you have had to raise this matter with me’ 2. ‘I would feel the same’ or ‘I would be annoyed as well’

3. ‘I understand your concerns’ 4. ‘I will look into the matter as a priority and get back to you’ or ‘I will resolve this for you and let you know’ 5. ‘This is an important matter’ or ‘I will make this a priority to take action and resolve the matter’ Turning a difficult tenant or landlord’s perception around is about about CARE – ‘Clients Are Really Everything’ – or the hospitality rule ‘Clients are always right’. Yes, they may not be right, but the win/win is to make them feel you care.

The majority of landlords and tenants consider property managers rude, and as an industry we need to turn this around. Caring about your clients is the simplest tip to define your agency from your competitors.

If you have effectively communicated with the tenant or landlord and they are still being difficult, you could use the following close statements: 6. ‘What would you like me to do?’ or ‘What can I do to make you happy?’ or ‘What would you like us to do, while being fair to all parties, to resolve the matter for you?’

IF YOU LOOK AT every conversation with a mindset of ‘This is a secret survey challenge to see if I can turn this situation around to produce a happy client’, I guarantee your communication perception will change.

Of course, much more than a few scripts and dialogues is needed to manage difficult tenants and landlords. However, this should get you started on how to communicate more effectively, defuse the situation and create win/win outcomes. ■

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Business Development Mastery

Tara Bradbury

Tara Bradbury is the Director of the BDM Academy, sharing her business development ideas and strategies with property management BDMs and principals. For more information visit bdmacademy.com.au.

MAKE THE CALL! Time to end procrastination and distraction with a healthy dose of accountability: Tara Bradbury tackles the vital issue of phone prospecting.

O

ver the last few months, I have been visiting offices to conduct coaching sessions where agents have allowed me to observe their phone prospecting. While sitting on the sidelines, I found a common trend that makes these sessions more difficult than they need to be, and passed along my tips to ensure the best possible result on future calls.

Do you find yourself: • Responding to conversations happening across the office that have nothing to do with you?

• Getting distracted by your emails?

• Fiddling around trying to collect as much information as you can from the contact database?

• Waiting for another team member who is near you to get off the phone so that there is no background noise when you make the call?

If so, you are procrastinating!

Without accountability, you will continue to distract yourself from the task at hand and get to the end of the week wondering where all the time has gone. Time isn’t the problem. You must take responsibility for your own actions and for the results that you achieve.

In order to cure procrastination, you need to bite the bullet and make that first call. No matter what

EVERY TIME YOU PICK UP THE PHONE, GIVE IT AS MUCH ENERGY AS YOU CAN; THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST CLIENT YOU WILL EVER SIGN. challenge you are facing, the first step is always the hardest.

Most people in the industry would agree that phone prospecting is hard work. It doesn’t matter if your call is cold, warm or hot; nothing is guaranteed. Your prospects can change their minds faster than my two-year-old at breakfast time, where one minute she’s telling me she wants Vegemite toast and the next she wants peanut butter.

Each day you go into these prospecting sessions with a fear of the unknown and, once they are done, you are left with more questions than you started with.

• They said they would call Wednesday, but it’s now Thursday. Should I call?

16 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN 2017 – JULY 2018

• Will they yell at me for calling?

• Is now the right time?

• Will they want to talk with me or am I drowning them with follow-up?

You’ll never know the answer to these questions unless you ask. So stop overthinking and pick up the phone!

With a bit of guidance, I am proud to say that during my previously mentioned coaching sessions leads were achieved by all members of the sales and property management departments. All of them became more confident the more calls they made. Let’s cover what they did well: • Prior to the prospecting

session, they had planned the calls that they were going to make and then doubled the amount that they could achieve in the blocked-out hour to ensure they could make the most of the time.

• They had targets set for connections they wanted to achieve with a goal of 10 connections per sessions.

• They followed the lead of opportunity – they were aiming for more property management appraisals but found opportunities for sales.

So they took the information required and passed it onto the sales team.

• When they connected with a contact, they finished the call knowing when they would speak with them next or who they needed to refer the opportunity to.

The process of prospecting for new business is as stressful as you choose to make it. If you are making calls sitting down and you feel trapped and uncomfortable, stand up and move around. If you don’t have the office space to do this, move to a different room, go to your car, a park or coffee shop; you might even consider working from home.

If you thrive off competition, move into the sales department and do your daily prospecting sessions when they do. If you need an extra nudge, find a team member or someone close to you who will push you when needed and help you through the tough times.

Remember, you are only as good as your next call. Every time you pick up the phone, give it as much energy as you can; this could be the biggest client you will ever sign. Don’t waste time making excuses.

Maximise your time and achieve results! ■

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Property Management Mentor

Natalie Hastings

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN THE YEAR 2058 Natalie Hastings takes a wry look back to the bad old days of property rentals, and wonders what the future holds for landlords, tenants and property managers.

C

ast your mind back forty years to the real estate industry of 1978 in Australia.

Being a relatively youthful industry, you might not remember the ‘bad old days’.

They were light years from the profession we know and enjoy today.

Whilst some things remain the same about success in real estate – prospecting must be part of every day, timely communication and great customer service is everything – much of the agent or property manager’s ideal day has changed.

In 1978, there was no internet, no email and no mobile phone. This meant a much better work/life balance in many ways! Properties for sale or lease were advertised in shopfronts or in the newspaper.

Prospective tenants would come to the office to pick up keys, visiting homes for lease on their own. Rent and bond were usually paid in cash to the office, adding a level of risk and potential for fraud that chills modern trust accountants to the bone.

Property management used to be the first stop on the ladder for real estate professionals, and was viewed as a training ground for sales.

Databases were effectively index cards or notes made in REIV diaries. Newsletters weren’t even a thing.

the up as the role of property manager gains the respect it deserves.

People and processes have changed in our industry, and for the better.

So what will the real estate profession – and property management, more importantly – look like in another forty years? Will we even have jobs in 2058? Here are hastings + co’s predictions for the future of property management.

FEWER AGENCIES DOING MORE WORK As today’s senior principals begin to leave the industry, their rent rolls be will be acquired by larger businesses with substantial budgets.

These larger agencies will have

the resources to amplify their use of technology and market across all mediums, helping them to win more landlords as they go, thus creating mega rent rolls.

Don’t despair and think that this centralisation will mean fewer jobs for property managers: so much of Australia’s wealth rests upon property investment and the industry will continue to require talented managers ‘on the ground’ to represent landlords’ interests. With more property managers working in giant agencies managing tens of thousands of homes, it’s possible that employee benefits and training will be on

BY 2058, WE’LL HAVE REALISED THAT WORKING FROM THE SAME PLACE ISN’T CRUCIAL TO COLLABORATION.

18 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

OUTSOURCING WILL BE KEY In the future, principals will look back on the agencies of today and scoff at their concerns over outsourcing.

In 2058 accountability systems and processes will be enhanced by databases that do more than we could possibly imagine today.

Anything that doesn’t involve immediate customer interface and a brand experience is up for outsourcing. Trust accounting, processing routine inspection reports, marketing, basic maintenance matters – even prospecting will be outsourced to businesses who specialise in their unique real estate support category.

It’s more tax-effective for real estate businesses to focus on what they’re best at – human relationships and pairing great tenants with great properties.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST AGENCIES Expect to see the rise of leasing-only real estate businesses who differentiate their offering by focusing simply on providing a great service to landlords and tenants. Smaller estate agencies may still exist – but they’ll have established

Natalie Hastings is the Managing Director of hastings + co. For more information, visit hastingsandco.com.au.

their USP (unique selling proposition) with consistent, bold marketing and ‘high touch’ communications.

Hint: don’t discount building relationships with these agencies – they’ll have properties to refer on to trusted sales agents!

THE FEMALE ECONOMY Did you know that women will shortly be in control of 75 per cent of financial decisions for their household?

In the real estate industry, we either ignore gender bias or market in a way that is traditionally for the male gaze. Gender matters, and the female economy in the real estate sector continues to be

VIRTUAL EVERYTHING Physical newsletters, newspapers and printed collateral will be a quaint anomaly used for only the priciest of property marketing. Physically getting together for team meetings, listing presentations or tenant interviews will be facilitated virtually, too (do I hear a sigh of relief?). Open for inspections for sales and property management will also be held in a sophisticated virtual reality space – and whilst OFIs will still occur, they won’t be in the same volume. Never physically meeting tenants and landlords will become quite normal – particularly as international

IN THE FUTURE, PRINCIPALS WILL LOOK BACK ON THE AGENCIES OF TODAY AND SCOFF AT THEIR CONCERNS OVER OUTSOURCING. ignored. Not for much longer, however – bring on 2058 and its female-centric investment property leasing services.

TOTAL FLEXIBILITY IN THE WORKPLACE By 2058, we’ll have realised that working from the same place isn’t the most crucial aspect of collaboration. As men and women become more equally represented in the property management workforce, flexibility for family and personal commitments will become part of our agency cultures. Whilst coming together physically will still have a place, nine-tofive clockwatching will be a thing of the past. Different KPIs will come to the fore, with team members made easily accountable courtesy of advanced CRMs.

property investors become part of our rent rolls.

IN-HOUSE MAINTENANCE SERVICES, ACCOUNTING AND MORE Savvy real estate businesses will take the concept of the ‘one-stop shop’ to the next level for landlords and tenants. They’ll offer additional services, creating departments for maintenance, accounting, styling, advocacy and broking.

One thing’s for sure – whatever the future really holds for property management, there will still be landlords and tenants. Some things never change; forty years on, prospecting, timely communication and great customer service will still be key. •

elitepm.com.au 19

Game Changer

Jo-Anne Oliveri

PINNACLE LEARNING DESTINATION Back for its fourth year, ireviloution’s Property Management Leadership Summit helped attendees continue their journey to reach the pinnacle of success.

Summit founder Jo-Anne Oliveri shares her top five takeaways.

E

mpowered by ireviloution and businessDEPOT, the Property Management Leadership Summit is for property management leaders who are serious about leadership and business success. Over 100 principals, heads of PM departments and BDMs from across Australia attended the two-day Summit on the Gold Coast earlier this year and were inspired to step up, lead their team and profitably grow their business.

Twenty leaders from both inside and outside the real estate industry empowered attendees to #ReachThePinnacle in 2018 with some of the following takeways from the event.

1

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS Knowing your numbers means having control

of your business. Many principals prefer to bury their head in the sand when it comes to the financial side of property management. But it is incredibly hard to have success if you’re not measuring it, because not measuring

means you will have a better understanding of where your business currently is and how to improve it. Ultimately, if you figure out where your profits are coming from you can figure out how to grow your business.

NOT MEASURING YOUR NUMBERS MEANS YOU WON’T KNOW WHETHER YOU HAVE ACHIEVED YOUR GOALS. your numbers means you won’t know whether you have achieved your goals.

The best way to know your numbers is to break them down into smaller, easier-tounderstand measurements.

Whether you’re looking at the number of properties managed, vacancies, arrears or wages, knowing these critical measurements

20 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

2

SPEND TIME WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS Spending time with your customers and understanding who they are can help you succeed.

Getting to know your owners and tenants does not mean sending them a survey or flyer; it means talking to them face-to-face and one-on-one.

Let them know that you care

about them, not as customers but as people. Be open to their questions and opinions so you can understand their pain points, how they perceive your brand and how they think you could improve your service. If you care about your customers, then they will care about you and your business.

3

PERSONALISE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA So often in social media training, you hear that you must be careful what you show your customers; don’t let them into your life so you protect your business. But the Summit revealed that we should be doing the complete opposite: you need to make your social media personal.

Social media is the best marketing channel to show customers who you are.

So don’t be afraid to share

Jo-Anne Oliveri, CIPS, TRC, is the Founder and Managing Director of PM business solutions company ireviloution intelligence.

For more information visit ireviloution.com.

training

what you get up to on the weekend, your hobbies and family occasions, alongside your business-related posts.

Personalise your business’ social media profiles by making them relatable and real.

Letting owners and tenants into your life allows them to know, like and trust you and your business. What’s more, this allows you to get to know them and how you can best service their property management needs.

achieve and follow this, as opposed to rushing forward and trying to make success happen overnight. Making deliberate decisions leads to growth, loyalty and sustained success because you take all necessary steps in the journey.

support

outsourced accounting

5

UNLOCK YOUR ‘WHY’ Determine your property management business’ why – why it exists and what purpose it fulfils.

Identifying this is how you can fuel your customers’ and

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CLIENTS DOESN’T MEAN SENDING THEM A SURVEY OR FLYER; IT MEANS TALKING TO THEM ONE-ON-ONE.

4

DELIBERATE DECISIONS Patience is a virtue, even when it comes to your property management business. Yet there are many principals making business decisions out of desperation, rather than deliberation.

Whether your goal is to build your rent roll, boost your client base or bring in new staff, you must achieve these strategically, not impulsively.

Put together a plan mapping out what you want to

teams’ loyalty and feed your commercial goals. That’s because your why is your value proposition – what your business is there to offer your owners, tenants and team.

Communicating this to all segments is how you can attract the right people to your business. It will also become your strongest leadership platform and most impactful commercial tool because it allows you to remain true to your purpose. ■

elitepm.com.au 21

Realty Bytes

Alister Maple-Brown is the CEO of Rockend.

For more information visit rockend.com.au.

Alister Maple-Brown

STRESS-FREE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR End of Financial Year: These four little words can be enough to make even the most seasoned property manager break out in a cold sweat. But with some prior preparation, the process can be completely smooth and stress-free.

H 1

ere are five things you can do to ease the EOFY burden.

PAY OUTSTANDING INVOICES The EOFY tends to see phones running hot and inboxes overflowing. Owners want the peace of mind of knowing that any outstanding invoices relating to their property are paid before the clock ticks over to a new financial year.

When you receive a request from an owner to ensure their invoices are paid before 30 June, take a moment to check that there are sufficient funds available. If there are insufficient funds in the trust account, ask the owner to transfer the relevant amount so you can pay the invoice.

Alternatively, offer them the option to pay the invoice themselves.

From time to time, you’ll receive a request from an owner to delay payment of some invoices until the new financial year. If this is the case, be sure to separate these out to be processed after the EOFY. Don’t leave them floating around on your desk.

You don’t want to accidentally process an invoice in a mad rush of activity in the lead-up to 30 June.

2

GIVE CREDITORS A DEADLINE Ask creditors to submit their invoices by a certain date.

The last thing you want is to have them handing you a pile of invoices on the day you’re due to run your EOFY process.

And don’t leave entering the invoices until the day of running your EOFY process.

Avoid rushing things. If you do, mistakes will inevitably occur which will lead to the owner receiving an incorrect EOFY statement.

4

CHARGE AN EOFY STATEMENT FEE If your management agency agreements state that you charge a fee to produce the EOFY statement, don’t forget to charge it. Check that you’ve charged the

• Check the letting fees, advertising fees and other fees charged to ensure they’re correct and you’ve not missed any • Check overpaid tenant rent and hold these funds back from the owner or refund the overpaid amount to the tenant • Ensure your bank reconciliation balances and never leave it to the last minute. Reconciling your accounts is critical to a smooth process.

PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE It’s best practice to carry out each of the above tasks before you run your EOFY

3

PREVIEW EOFY STATEMENTS Take the time to doublecheck that all EOFY statements are correct before you send them to your owners. Errors are not only unprofessional but can cause headaches when owners calculate their tax obligations.

Preview the statements and amend any errors or inconsistencies in expenses and income prior to sending them out. The last thing you want is the grief caused by incorrect EOFY statements.

The time you need to set aside for checking all statements will depend on the size of your rent roll. No matter how long it may take, you should always take the time to check. It will save you time in the long run.

22 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

fee correctly and haven’t overcharged or undercharged your owner.

5

RUN YOUR NORMAL CHECKS Don’t forget to complete your normal endof-month checks too. Make sure you: • Check you have enough stationery, including cheques and printer toner

process, so block out the necessary time to complete these checks and be sure to keep distractions to an absolute minimum. Don’t pick up those phone calls or answer emails until they are complete.

With the right preparation, your EOFY process can be smooth, efficient and stressfree! ■

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COVER STORY

TAKING THE

STEP UP FROM TRAILING AFTER HER FATHER on listing

appointments as a child to forming part of a family succession plan at Ray White Rockdale, Anthea Economos has carved her own path as a dedicated property manager with more than just one secret weapon.

A

NTHEA ECONOMOS likes to stand on her own two feet.

A vivacious and dedicated property manager at Ray White Rockdale, the driven daughter of principal Con has well and truly shed the ‘boss’s daughter’ label.

That’s not to say the pair don’t gel like peas and carrots; it just means there’s the utmost respect and appreciation for what each brings to the family-oriented business.

“Especially when I first started, I worked so hard to not be the boss’s daughter,” Anthea recalls.

“I was very appreciative and I love that I had that opportunity to work with him, but I hated when people would say, ‘Oh, are you helping your dad out?’ No, I have a fulltime position and I work very hard. I don’t just go to auctions and smile and register people. I work hard.”

Anthea grew up tagging along behind her father to listing appointments after school. As a teenager, she worked every Saturday on reception.

But if you ask Anthea if this early introduction to real estate immediately fostered a love of all things propertyrelated, you get a resounding ‘no’.

“If you’d asked me if I ever wanted to get into it, I would have said flat out, ‘No, it’s not for me’,” she says. In fact, Anthea had other plans. “I was doing primary school education at university for two years.”

When a newly appointed property manager fell pregnant, Anthea spent a year working part-time with her and part-time at university. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now Anthea works alongside senior property manager Matthew Bennett, property management assistant Demi

"LANDLORDS ARE NOT GOING TO GET A LETTER IN THREE MONTHS' TIME SIGNED BY SOMEONE THEY'VE NEVER HEARD OF."

24 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

Goussis and property management associate Mandie Ma. After five years in the job, she says her secret real estate power is honesty and making her clients, both landlords and tenants, feel relaxed.

“I think my strong point is making people feel comfortable with me,” she says.

“I’m handling people’s biggest asset and that’s no light feat. That’s a huge position, which is something my dad explained quite well to me. I think some property managers don’t think of it that way.

Sometimes it’s thought of as just a job.”

Anthea says she meets families, makes them feel comfortable with her and assures them that if they have questions they can call, email or text her.

In fact, she says one of her key points of difference is her view of property management as a career path in its own right. She expects to remain in the role at Ray White Rockdale long term.

“Landlords are not going to get a letter in three months’ time signed by someone they’ve never heard of,” she says. “I want you to call Ray White Rockdale and know that Anthea is always going to be there.”

While still in the early stages of her career, Anthea says she’s already noticed that landlords are becoming more savvy in their hunt for the perfect tenant, and price isn’t always the be-all and end-all.

She says many owners would prefer to accept $20 less per week in rent to secure a solid tenant.

“A lot of people don’t ask that question, though. They’re so busy working to have it

“I THINK MY STRONG POINT IS MAKING PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH ME.”

elitepm.com.au 25

COVER STORY

“MY DAD IS GOOD AT REMINDING US THAT GOOD SERVICE IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND TO PUT YOURSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES.”

leased tomorrow and at $20 above what it really might be worth – but to tenants who are below average.

“I want their property to be worth more when I’ve finished with it, not less. But if there’s a lot of wear and tear because you’ve got too many people living in a twobedroom apartment, then I’m not adding value to their property.”

Despite making a concerted effort to shed the ‘boss’s daughter’ tag, Anthea says working for her father has been a positive experience based on mutual respect. That doesn’t mean they always agree, but there’s an implicit trust in the other person you can only find with family.

“He’s been in the business for longer than I’ve been alive,” she says.

“You have to respect that he’s done it before; sometimes we have the same opinion on things and sometimes we don’t. You each bring different things to the table… I respect that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to sales, and he respects that I know what I’m doing when it comes to property management.”

Anthea says the Ray White Rockdale team also includes her brother Nicholas, in sales, and one thing their father has taught them is that good service is priceless.

She says you can’t expect landlords to pay more for your services unless you offer more to them. That includes connecting with your clients either in person or by phone, and not opting for the cold format of email.

“Just being an approachable human; I think that’s lost in property management.

I think sometimes we become robotic and there really shouldn’t be anything robotic about it.

“My dad is really good at reminding us that good service is really important and to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.”

Con says Anthea is an asset as an employee and works well with Matthew.

He affirms that she’s earned her position based on hard work and merit and, like any father, he’s proud of her.

“Anthea is a wonderful asset to the team,” he says. “She and Matthew work wonderfully together … Anthea listens and is able to execute what’s asked of her.”

Con says running a family business gives him the added comfort of having team members he trusts implicitly. The goal for the future is to hand over the reins to his children, with the possibility of involving other key staff members.

“About five months ago we did a course under Brian White on how to run an effective family business so you can pass

26 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

the baton on down the track,” he says.

“Everyone has to add value to the business and grow it.”

The role of a property manager is not without its challenges, but Anthea is the first to admit handling the tough stuff is an important part of the job.

“It’s always nice to give good news … while having discussions around duress or money owed is not my favourite part of the job. I think separating yourself from that when you go home can be difficult.

Sometimes it’s made easy by an outstanding landlord, but sometimes you’re not on the same wavelength as your landlord either.”

Con Economos

Both Con and Anthea agree that he won’t be handing over the mantle just yet – and when that time does come he won’t disappear for good.

“I don’t think Dad will be giving it up that easily; I don’t think he ever wants to not work,” Anthea says.

“I’ve kindly asked if I’d be allowed to work four days a week, then three days and so on.

I don’t think I could not not do this,” Con agrees.

Currently the agency’s rent roll sits at about 450 properties, up from 200 just a few years ago. Anthea says growing the business further is definitely on the cards, and the team they have assembled to do it is running like a “well-oiled machine”.

“We all work on the portfolio together,” she says.

“Everyone knows what they’re doing.

Matt deals with a lot more of the serious things, so if we have to go to the Tribunal he will deal with that. Matt handles the bond funds. I handle the (rent) raise, I handle the repairs, as does Matt … Mandie does our leasing and our routine inspections. Demi

shows some property. Everyone is flexible and I think that’s why our team works.

“Everyone genuinely wants to be there and everyone wants to work hard. We are very close. We say, ‘I see them more than I see my own family,’ so you have to like each other and I think that makes it so easy.”

Anthea says that, when it comes to selecting the right tenant, gut instinct combines with fact-checking. As well as following up references, she looks to see what can be unearthed via Google, calling their workplace number and checking on the national tenancy database.

She says sometimes the checks may detect a potential problem, such as an old bankruptcy, but the tenant’s references check out, their leasing history is solid, they have always paid rent on time and they presented well when looking at the property.

“I give my owners full information and I leave it in their hands,” Anthea says. • INTERVIEW: SAMANTHA MCLEAN WORDS: KYLIE DULHUNTY

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businessdepot.com.au/realestate elitepm.com.au 27

BEST PRACTICE

FROM REVIEWS TO REFERRALS

WORD-OF-MOUTH IS POSSIBLY THE MOST POWERFUL REFERRAL SYSTEM for any business

to flourish, and in the world of property management this is no exception. Kasey McDonald looks at how you can build an army of promoters to grow your rent roll.

N

othing will destroy a rent roll quicker than a slew of bad referrals and an army of online haters. In the face of such a demanding job as property management, how exactly do you safeguard your department from bad reviews and create a healthy tribe of promoters to grow your business through referrals?

It’s a question I often get asked by perplexed principals and property managers who find themselves in damage control when they start losing properties due to poor management. Here are a few things you need to consider:

KNOW WHERE YOU STAND I’m constantly shocked at how many property management departments don’t evaluate their own business and ask their clients and customers if they are enjoying the level of service provided.

The first thing I ask property managers to do is ask themselves whether their personal standards meet the standard they provide.

Would you do business with you? Would you use your property management department to manage your investment?

Put yourself in the landlords’ shoes and assess your own level of service.

LISTEN AND LEARN The best way to gauge your level of service is to ask the questions directly to your clients and customers. Ultimately, you cannot beat good, old-fashioned service such as picking up the phone and making the call; just be prepared for what you may hear, because it mightn’t be what you’re expecting. Remember, don’t see poor feedback as a negative; see it as an opportunity to make change and turn it into a positive.

JUMP ON THE SURVEY BANDWAGON Conducting regular surveys through portals like SurveyMonkey is a great way to get data around your service, and you can even get a Net Promoter Score (NPS) if you ask the right questions.

An NPS measures the willingness of customers to recommend your brand to someone by breaking them down into three types of people: Detractors, Passive

28 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

WORD-OF-MOUTH AND REFERRALS CAN BE EITHER SUPER-POWERFUL OR SUPER-DESTRUCTIVE. and Promoters. Detractors are obviously non-fans who wouldn’t recommend your brand, Passives are somewhere in the middle and Promoters are brand lovers.

Promoters work as great ambassadors for your brand out in the marketplace and will often lead to a strong referral network; so it’s all about identifying and segmenting your clients, then converting the Detractors into Promoters.

CHECK YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT I’m always surprised at how many people in property management fail to Google themselves or check Facebook for reviews.

This is such an important thing to do, because bad online reviews can really

damage your business and, in some cases, your own personal brand.

It’s so important to keep a finger on the pulse and know what is being said about your brand. Once you do this, you can actually start to action the conversion mentioned above.

I’ve had property managers make contact with those who made bad reviews in a bid to remedy the situation. If you do this – which can be a great tactic – be sure to do it with the right intentions and treat the experience as an opportunity to convert and make amends.

Offer to fix the problem and don’t be afraid to ask them to change their review online if you can change the outcome or sort out the issue for them.

If you’re confident in your service, consider adding a Facebook and Google review link on your email signature so your clients can add a great review. If you have clients who you know love your service, don’t be afraid to ask them to click the link and write a review. It’s a great little way to start to spread some positive feedback online.

THE GIFT OF THE GAB It’s a good idea to look at the data and identify who your clients ultimately are. If we’re talking about landlords and your portfolio is mostly top-end, then the demographics of your client base might be mostly Baby Boomers or welleducated professionals, for instance.

THE BEST WAY Why is this important? Well, you TO GAUGE need to know the characteristics YOUR LEVEL of your client base to communicate to them effectively and get the OF SERVICE IS results and word-of-mouth referrals TO ASK THE that you truly want to grow your QUESTIONS business.

For instance, did you know: DIRECTLY • The majority of satisfied people TO YOUR will share their experience with CLIENTS AND between one and five people. The power of word-of-mouth cannot be CUSTOMERS. understated.

• Gen X are most likely to grieve their annoyances; in fact, 84 per cent of them will get vocal about poor service. The power of negative word-of-mouth can be very damaging, and cannot be understated either!

• Millennials are most likely to express their good fortune and great experience with up to 20 people. Imagine how quickly you could capitalise off referrals if you had a large proportion of Millennials in your portfolio and you gave them a great experience! How many Millennials make up your client base?

• The majority of people who have a bad experience then vent that experience to between one and five people.

Word-of-mouth and referrals can be either super-powerful or super-destructive to a property management department. If you want to grow your rent roll (or clog up holes in terms of retention) it’s a good idea to create and implement a CX strategy on how to offer service that goes above and beyond to build yourself an army of promoters. ■

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KASEY MCDONALD is Director of the Property Management Training Academy and Real Estate Training Group. For more information visit pmtacademy.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 29

FEATURE INTERVIEW

“A LOT OF TENANTS BELIEVE YOU’RE JUST LOOKING AFTER THE LANDLORD, BUT WE’RE ALWAYS WORKING FOR THE BEST RESULT.”

30 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

NURTURING THE NATURE OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FORMER BUSINESSWOMAN RAE TOLLEY jumped at

the chance to take on a fledgling rent roll with Beller Property Group. Two decades later she’s still there, and says she loves the combination of property management and human relationships.

R

eflecting on a property management career that has spanned over two decades, Beller Property Group's Rae Tolley says it’s a role that appeals to her nurturing nature.

“You need to be caring and have a bigpicture approach, because as a property manager you’re a big part of people’s lives.”

Rae started her real estate career with an 18-month stint in the industry 23 years ago.

A successful foray into running her own business within the food industry followed, but real estate remained an enduring passion.

When the opportunity arose to run Beller’s then-fledgling property management division in the Prahran area of Melbourne, Rae jumped at the chance to put both her business acumen and real estate skills to use. It came with the commitment that she would run the property management department like her own business inside the growing Beller brand.

Since Rae seized the reins, the department has expanded from a rent roll of 80 to almost 2,000, and now includes a team of 12 property managers, a new business manager and four support staff. Along the way Beller has bought existing rent rolls but also enjoyed extensive organic growth, due in no small part to their reputation for customer care.

Rae explains that her aim is to give owners and tenants the best possible service, guidance and results.

“It’s about consistency and being genuine.

Our entire department is based on that, and I look for that in everyone I employ. When you start a relationship with someone, you need to be committed to that property, that person and the tenant.”

For Rae, that commitment has extended to

two decades of working with some landlords and tenants.

“We still have owners who were at Beller when I started in 1997, and we have tenants who have been in properties for over 25 years.”

It is this crossroads between real estate and real relationships that Rae truly enjoys, and says this is why sales was never an avenue she considered.

Instead, she relishes the opportunity to support, advise and guide owners over the life of their investment, while also building ties with tradespeople and playing the middleman between tenants and owners.

“IT’S ALWAYS BETTER TO HAVE AN UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATION THAN A SITUATION.” “That can be a difficult situation to be in, as you’re working to appease both sides. Our role is to give the best possible advice and respect how people perceive the situation. A tenant may describe a problem and when the tradespeople get there it can be very different.

“You need to be compassionate for people’s situations, because one size doesn’t fit all. You need to be adaptable and have respect.”

And she admits this intermediary position can be stressful. “You have to have selfconfidence and a good sense of self-worth.

A lot of the time tenants believe you are just looking after the landlord, but we are always working for the best result.

“It’s in everyone’s best interest to give the best possible advice, because we’re the ones

responsible if something goes wrong. It’s important not to put things off and it’s always better to have an uncomfortable conversation rather than a situation.”

Rae notes these communication skills and the negotiating ability of property managers often fail to attract the recognition they deserve within the real estate industry and beyond.

“Property managers are often overlooked for their skills and patience to be able to cope with so many things that arrive in their inbox or by phone.”

She reflects that property management is also an area of real estate undergoing significant change. “In the past five to six years there have been fabulous changes to technology, including how we do our daily tasks. There are also new pieces of tech on the cusp of making a very real difference.

“Property management is different to 10 years ago, when it was a young person’s career direction. There is a shortage of younger people and quality property managers. I’d like to see property management receive greater recognition and be regarded more highly to attract new people into the industry.”

Rae notes her office is fortunate to boast property managers with significant experience who have been with the team for the long term. It allows a nurturing culture where new entrants are actively mentored and embraced, in the knowledge the collective team is only as good as the weakest link.

Meanwhile, she explains that the expansion of acquiring eight rent rolls over the years has also furnished the team with unique skills and insight.

“It’s always exciting. You don’t quite know what you’ll get until it arrives. There aren’t too many situations that our team hasn’t experienced,” she says. “And that stands our department in fabulous stead to deal with a variety of issues.”

As for her advice to anyone considering entering property management, Rae says simply, “It’s a fabulous industry. It’s a privilege to care for so many people’s assets.”

■ CASSANDRA CHARLESWORTH

elitepm.com.au 31

FEATURE INTERVIEW

A SHARED VISION DI JONES GENERAL MANAGER KYLIE WALSH always

wanted to go into real estate and opened her own office at the age of 21. Having held roles in all aspects of the business, it’s a passion for training and retaining great staff that drives her and the work she does with property managers.

I

always knew it was going to be real estate. I did work experience in years nine and ten at a local real estate office,” says Ms Walsh.

From reception to leasing to new business, Ms Walsh’s initial foray into real estate took her through all roles, then into sales at 20 years old. She purchased her own office at just 21.

“Like any principal having to keep their head above water, I did a bit of everything. We grew the portfolio from 31 properties to 485 organically. It was very boutique, good quality property management.”

After selling her office in 2007, Ms Walsh moved to a corporate role at Elders Limited, overseeing the Queensland real estate division for the group, then back to Sydney to oversee New South Wales and the ACT, before taking on the National Operations role.

Finally, after a four year stint at LJ Hooker C orporate, came the move into the GM role at Di Jones in April 2014.

“One of the hardest things in our industry, when companies get big, is to have a brand that doesn’t connote something negative. I loved the brand because it was so clean; it had a really

formidable reputation and I thought, ‘We can really do something here’.”

This career path through real estate, with the experience she has gained in all aspects of the industry, has led to Ms Walsh wanting to change the way PMs are managed in the business. She recently spoke at the 2018 PPM Conference to address some of the issues in maintaining staff in real estate offices. It’s why she’s so passionate about training in property management, and the crossover from sales.

“WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL THAT IN PROPERTY MANAGEMENT THEY DON’T HAVE THE NATURAL ABILITY TO SELL THAT SALESPEOPLE DO.” “I think industry leaders and managers are particularly bad at fostering relationship-building with property managers. Traditionally, property managers are very good at dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s. We need to be more mindful when we’re onboarding that in

32 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

property management they don’t have the natural ability to sell like salespeople do.”

Ms Walsh uses the example of an upcoming client night as a method to train property managers in sales. After listening to their calls with clients, and realising that the numbers were dismally poor, she decided it was time to take a different tactic.

“The way the team were promoting it on the phone, I wouldn’t come. So I did a scripts and dialogues night. We do it with salespeople, but how common is that with our PM team? Creating a competition for our guys to fill seats for the client night and encouraging them like our sales team, changing the behaviour and the outcome, we’ve now got 50 people coming to a night where we had nobody,” she says.

“I don’t think we spend enough time with our property management people. In our business a lot of profit comes from our PM team, but so many resources go to the sales team. I think sitting down with the property management guys every week and going over arrears, routines, lease renewals is so antiquated, so 1985; our guys know how to do that, or we wouldn’t employ them or keep them.”

It’s having a shared vision for the business that keeps property managers and principals on the same page, says Ms Walsh. Businesses would benefit from sitting down with all their employees, not just the sales team, and formulating plans for career development.

“We’ve got one really great girl at the moment who was a finalist for Support Person of the Year at the PPM Awards, and that’s exactly what we’ve done for her – she’s come in, she’s been a cadet, she’s just about to transition into leasing. We know

“IN OUR BUSINESS A LOT OF PROFIT COMES FROM OUR PM TEAM, BUT SO MANY RESOURCES GO TO SALES.”

on the 30th of June next year that she’ll go into a BDM role; two years in there and she’ll go into a sales associate role.

“It keeps us accountable – it’s not just for her. The meetings have been made, she knows she’s got a four-year plan with us, she knows what the commission will look like, she knows what the renumeration looks like; so when other people try to approach her she can say 'No, I've got a plan'. I know about her family; I know what drives her.”

At her PPM Conference keynote, Ms Walsh touched on the importance of building these relationships in a team. She said she hoped that asking both PMs and principals to look at their visions and goals for their team would encourage some “tough conversations”, but ultimately make the industry better for the property managers working in it.

If these relationships don’t develop, the industry is at risk of churning over PMs and failing to hold on to good team players, she says. Especially in tough markets, putting an emphasis on PMs to be good relationship-builders, and helping them uncover their inner salesperson with tailored training sessions, was the only way for profitable rent rolls to survive.

“At the end of the day, this industry is about relationships, and if you don’t have the relationships and you’re not providing value then be very frightened.

Simple as that.”

■ HANNAH BLACKISTON

“IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE RELATIONSHIPS AND YOU’RE NOT PROVIDING VALUE THEN BE VERY FRIGHTENED. SIMPLE AS THAT.”

elitepm.com.au 33

EBM SPONSORED FEATURE

A GAME OF

DRONES

THE USE OF DRONES IN REAL ESTATE is on the rise – but there are a few

insurance matters agents need to consider, says Sharon Fox-Slater of EBM’s RentCover.

34 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

I

t wasn’t long ago that drones were developed only for military purposes.

Today, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are mainstream and flocks can be seen flying over local parks and beaches every weekend.But it’s not only enthusiastic families taking to the skies; real estate agents have been quick to adopt the technology.

When the first commercial drones came on the scene, early adopter agents hired professional drone operators to produce impressive flyovers and fly-throughs to help sell property. Dramatic camera drone photography and video tours took online listings to a new level.

Calling in the pros is still the best way to get impressive footage with all the bells and whistles, like 3D maps, graphic overlays, commentary and music. However, if an agent is engaging a commercial drone operator, they should be properly licensed/qualified, experienced, aware of the regulations and local requirements, and adequately insured (public liability is a must).

In 2016, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) relaxed regulations around commercial drone use which has meant that agents (or their contractors) have been able to operate certain types of drones themselves.

Today it is easy for an agent to produce cost-effective imagery using drones piloted under the ‘excluded’ category. This applies to any RPAS device under 2kg and flown for commercial reasons, subject to a number of conditions such as only flying during the day, notifying CASA beforehand, flying less than 120m above ground level and not within 30m of people or 5.5km of controlled airspace.

‘Commercial usage’ refers to use other than for sport or recreation, so would include all the uses an agent would have for flying a drone. Anyone who flies a commercial drone not in the ‘excluded’ category (for example, weighing more than 2kg), still requires a UAV Operator’s Certificate and Remote Pilot Licence.

“WE HAVE LIFT-OFF” Currently the most popular real estate use for drones is in marketing property.

Just a few years ago, the only way to capture quality aerial imagery was to hire

ACCORDING TO A REPORT FROM QBE, ONE IN 50 DRONES CRASH.

a photographer using a helicopter or light aircraft, making it cost-prohibitive for all but the most exclusive listings.

Today, aerial photography and video is adding an edge to property sales and marketing, with agents using drones to offer potential buyers or tenants new angles on properties and the surrounding areas to better tell the ‘lifestyle’ story. Footage showcasing and highlighting major selling points like landscaping, outdoor features

A VISUAL RECORD OF THE STATE OF A PROPERTY CAPTURED WITH DRONE PHOTOS AND VIDEO CAN HELP A PROPERTY MANAGER EXPLAIN THE NEED FOR REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE. or vast acreage can make it easier to sell or lease a property.

The features of a home can also be highlighted very quickly with a quality virtual tour rather than still photographs and trying to describe it all in lengthy text.

Capturing imagery, often overlayed with distances and so on, can also give substance to claims that the property is ‘close to schools, shops, parks, public transport, playgrounds and medical centres…’.

There is also a growing use of drones to conduct inspections. Drones can get a close-up look at aspects of a property that may otherwise be inaccessible or expensive to survey. Sending a drone to inspect a roof, chimney, fence line, skylight, high-rise window or balcony, or trees overhanging a home, is often a far safer option too and avoids the significant resources, planning, time and costs required to arrange for the inspections to be conducted manually.

Commercial drones can also be fitted with tech tools to provide a more thorough inspection. For example, thermal imaging cameras can be fitted to detect insulation problems, roof leaks or even HVAC/air-con problems in the ducts. The use of a hi-def camera can also gather evidence of defects, which can then be analysed by a property manager, building inspector or technical specialist.

A visual record of a property captured with drone photos and video can also help a property manager explain the need for repairs and maintenance to an owner or body corporate. The footage can also be used to document damage from storms or fires to assist with insurance claims.

“HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM” As with all technology, flying a commercial drone comes with its own set of risks. First and foremost is the risk of accident and third-party liability. Each time a drone is launched into the skies there is a risk of collision or crash. Even a 2kg drone can inflict a lot of damage – and the drone operator or owner will be held legally responsible for damage or injury.

According to a report from QBE, one in 50 drones crash. This equates to one crash occurring for approximately every 2,000 hours of operation. QBE claims data also shows crash rates are doubling every year.

Another factor that drone operators need to take into consideration is privacy.

They should check whether they need permission from owners for flying over private property, or council approval for flying over parks and public streets.

Importantly, as drones are used for surveillance or data collection, they are generally fitted with cameras and/or video recorders and sensors, which means they could inadvertently breach privacy laws.

The collection of footage could result in a privacy violation if that footage is used in an ad, broadcast or telecast – and there have been some prime examples of this happening in the real estate industry. A couple of years back, a woman from Mt Martha was snapped sunbaking topless in her backyard by a drone and the picture appeared on the sales board of the milliondollar property next door. With privacy a growing concern, these kinds of breaches could have serious ramifications – financial and reputational – for agents.

THE TAKE-OUT BEFORE TAKE-OFF If you are going to use drones in your business, you should make sure that you have insurance that specifically covers their use. There are now dedicated RPAS policies available to agents and their contractors to cover the risks unique to drone operation; your insurance broker should be able to point you in the right direction. Armed with the right insurance cover, agents can ‘release the drones’ and take their business to new heights! ■ Our advice about insurance is provided for your general information and does not take into account your individual needs. You should read the Product Disclosure Statement and Policy Wording prior to making a decision; these can be obtained directly from EBM.

SHARON FOX-SLATER is the Managing Director of EBM’s RentCover.

For more information, visit rentcover.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 35

PROPERTYTREE SPONSORED FEATURE

IT’S ABOUT

TIME

WE ALL HAVE THE SAME 24 HOURS each day, yet all too often it seems we just

can’t fit everything in. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store for PropertyTree in the coming months and how new features will help you save time.

T

ime. Don’t you wish you had more of it?

Everyone’s time is limited.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do; we all have the same number of hours and minutes in our day, and it’s a constant battle against the clock to get everything done.

Unless you have PropertyTree. The team at Rockend is committed to helping property managers create efficiencies and, in so doing, save time.

“PropertyTree was launched back in 2012 and was Australia’s first true cloud property management software solution,” says Rockend CEO Alister Maple-Brown. “We now see PropertyTree as an ecosystem that combines new product innovation built and supported

by Rockend, together with 13 integration partners and growing, based on our customers' feedback. Today that commitment remains strong. We invest 10 per cent of revenue back into product development, and are constantly looking for new partners to join our ecosystem.”

INVOICE GENIUS BULK APPROVALS When PropertyTree’s Invoice Genius was launched in late 2017, there were cheers

from property managers across Australia and New Zealand.

“Manually entering invoices is an incredibly mundane and repetitive, albeit important, task – one that most property managers view with dread,” says Andrew Emanuelli, Product Owner of Invoice Genius.

“MANUALLY ENTERING INVOICES IS AN INCREDIBLY MUNDANE AND REPETITIVE TASK – ONE THAT MOST PROPERTY MANAGERS VIEW WITH DREAD.” “That all changed with Invoice Genius.

Simultaneously automating the processing of creditor invoices and eliminating the laborious task of manual entry, Invoice Genius has seen agencies experience significant savings in terms of both time and costs.”

Property managers are now set to reap even more benefits with the introduction of Invoice Genius’ Bulk Approvals

36 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

function.

“Our goal is to make it faster and easier for property managers to process their invoices, as well as provide them with a better understanding of the status of all invoices being processed,” Andrew says.

“The new Creditor Invoices Bulk Approvals function will save property managers more time by allowing to them to create invoices en masse. If all the fields required for validation have been prefilled by either a barcode or QR code, and all mandatory creditor information is correct, the invoice will be available for bulk approval.”

Andrew explains that the addition of the Bulk Approvals function in Invoice Genius means the feature now surpasses the functionality in Rockend’s legacy product, fileSMART, as well as any other document management software in the real estate space. This is because it provides users with upfront real-time alerts using machine intelligence – for example, when a duplicate invoice is entered or if an invoice can’t be processed via bulk approval.

“Beyond real-time notifications, enhancing process efficiency and saving time by being able to process hundreds of invoices in under 20 minutes, the Bulk

Approvals function also brings one-click processing to users,” Andrew says.

“Rather than The team ofhaving to open and click to process each and every invoice, users Stanton & Taylor are able click once for the selection of all FirsttoNational invoices and once more to process them all.

It’s that simple.”

TENANT DOWNLOAD Property managers know how tedious manually entering tenant funds can be. But it will be a thing of the past with PropertyTree’s Tenant Download function.

“Designed specifically for funds directly deposited into the agency’s trust account, the Tenant Download function will automatically match transactions with a tenancy, allocate the funds and then receipt the matched transactions,” Tenant Download Product Owner Jasmina Cahill explains.

“Our goal with PropertyTree is to take tasks that are tedious and time consuming, and automate them. Tenant Download is just one of the steps we’re taking in the payments area to significantly reduce the amount of time users spend creating each receipt and reconciling every payment.”

According to Jasmina, with Tenant Download agencies can also say goodbye to human errors.

“With Tenant Download’s automation, the risk of transcription errors when creating a tenancy receipt is significantly reduced. This in turn reduces the risk of funds being assigned incorrectly and the additional time and effort it takes to rectify any mistakes.”

PropertyTree’s Tenant Download feature will support the majority of its users by integrating with major banks, including Bank of New Zealand, CBA, NAB, ANZ, Westpac and Macquarie.

ONLINE ADVERTISING If creating and managing online advertising for properties is a chore, then the new Online Advertising feature is for you.

“The Online Advertising feature will allow PropertyTree users to push ads to online portals such as domain.com.au, realestate.com.au, realestate.co.nz and trademe.co.nz,” Riasat Azim, the Online Advertising Product Owner, explains.

“By leveraging the information about a property already held in PropertyTree, many of the fields required by the portals can be prefilled. This means there is no duplication in data entry and, importantly, preserves PropertyTree as the ‘source

of truth’ for any property-related information.”

Users can create a single ad through the Online Advertising feature and then push it to multiple portals, saving time and effort by not having to visit individual portals to manually upload each ad. Ads can also be saved for future use.

“Being able to manage all your property ads from a single interface has obvious benefits when it comes to time savings,” Riasat says. “The visibility the Online Advertising feature provides is where further value lies. PropertyTree users can see where and when each ad has appeared and its status.”

“OUR GOAL WITH PROPERTYTREE IS TO TAKE TASKS THAT ARE TEDIOUS AND TIME CONSUMING, AND AUTOMATE THEM.” The new feature will inevitably give PropertyTree users a competitive edge, according to Riasat.

“No other property management cloud solution offers integration with online portals. This underlines our commitment to understanding the needs of property managers and creating solutions that are flexible and meet their specific needs,” he says.

MOBILE These days property management is an ‘anywhere, any time’ business. Out of the office, out on the road and out of business hours, property managers need the right technology solutions at their fingertips to get the job done.

“Based on the valuable insights provided by our customers, we identified that that one of their biggest pain points was being out of the office for the majority of their working days and not being able to access and communicate with tenants

and landlords efficiently and securely,” explains Product Owner Michael Momdjian.

“In order to create a fast and consistent customer experience on mobile, we are adapting our application to match the visual language of the user’s operating system – providing customers with a look and feel that’s natural and intuitive,” Michael says.

As new contacts are added to PropertyTree, this information will be immediately available to customers on the go. The mobile application currently in development will minimise the need to call the office to clarify contact details, and time spent manually adding contact details will increasingly become a thing of the past.

All applications Rockend builds from now on will be iOS and Android devicecompatible to ensure they meet the needs of their customers today and in the future.

Leveraging built-in components that are readily available on smartphones – such as face recognition, geolocation, touch-ID and more – will also be part of the Mobile feature’s development to ensure access is fast and secure.

Further details about the specifics of the mobile application will be available shortly – watch this space!

GIVING YOU MORE TIME Property managers are experts at what they do. Landlords rely on them to manage one of their biggest investments.

Tenants rely on them to keep a roof over their heads. There are a multitude of tasks and responsibilities that come with managing a residential property, which means the value of a property manager is significant.

That’s why using a comprehensive solution like PropertyTree is so important.

It saves time.

New features like Invoice Genius Bulk Approvals, Tenant Download, Online Advertising and Mobile create efficiencies and save you time – freeing you up to spend it on what matters most.

Invoice Genius’ Bulk Approvals are available for PropertyTree users now. The other features outlined in this article will be available in the coming months. ■ Developed by Rockend, PropertyTree is Australia and New Zealand’s first cloud-based property management solution. For more information, visit propertytree.com or join the conversation at facebook.com/ propertytreetechnology.

elitepm.com.au 37

LEADERSHIP

THE

D-WORD

DISRUPTION RARELY OCCURS from within any given

industry. It is usually ‘outsiders’ looking in and seeing tremendous opportunity who capitalise on what has been missed through consistently insular thinking. Time for property management to embrace the future, says Brock Fisher.

W

hat strikes me when I think back to the start of my accidental property management career in 1998 is that the fundamentals of what we do are still very much the same.

Sure, our trust accounting software is now a bit fancier. We market properties on the internet and take online bookings to view them. We usually do our inspections on an app rather than with pen and paper – but not a great deal has changed in how the cycle of managing a property actually occurs.

That no longer applies to many industries on this sort of scale. Think about how you book a flight and catch a plane, how you order a pizza or buy your grocery shopping to arrive at your door, or how the video store experience is now entirely a relic of the past, thanks to services like Netflix and Stan.

The rate of change we’re about to experience in property management will be so very much faster than we’re accustomed to. It’s all a bit confronting, and it will push many people right out of their comfort zones.

That D-word, Disruption, has been bandied about in real estate to the point of cliché. But there’s another D-word that is so

much scarier, and that is ‘Denial’.

Uber is most people’s favourite disruption example, but its relevance to us is huge. It wasn’t taxi drivers thinking of ways to solve the customer experience gripes within their own industry. Others came up with a simple and fast solution for booking and tracking your ride, an easy payment experience when you get there and a rating system that practically guarantees you’ll have a great trip in a clean car.

THERE’S ANOTHER D-WORD THAT IS SO MUCH SCARIER, AND THAT IS ‘DENIAL’.

Right now, there are very well-funded, smart and powerful global organisations looking at property management from the outside and preparing themselves for a great big go at changing the face of what we do. To the critical business thinker, we’re a huge industry that is largely unchanged and super-fragmented, one that hasn’t kept pace with changes in customer experience trends and demands for a ‘frictionless’ service.

That’s where the real challenge comes from. We shouldn’t be too concerned about another slightly tweaked version of how we’ve always done it, because we’re already

38 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

saturated with those business models.

The fee discount debate is one that always rages fiercely, but what if someone figured out an entirely different way to monetise the management of property, and your commission rate and leasing fee were just a thing of the past? Wow. Should we all be fearful that we’re on a sinking ship? No way! Aside from that being no way to live your life, the fact remains that just as technology evolves so too do jobs. Being adaptable, agile and receptive to applying your skills and expertise, but perhaps in a different context to what you’re used to, will be vital attributes.

Consider our current unemployment rate, which is around 5.5 per cent in Australia. In 2010 it was 5.2 per cent, in 2000 it was 6.3 per cent, in 1990 it was 6.9 per cent and, way back in 1980, it was about 6 per cent. Aside from a couple of spikes in 1983 and 1993, the unemployment rate has remained pretty consistent for the last 40 years in this country, despite significant population growth and huge leaps forward in technology.

Renting is also not disappearing any time soon; in fact, it’s likely to become even more prevalent in years to come.

My current role is a good example of a job that didn’t exist 10 years ago. The type of systems, software and support functions that I work with on a daily basis simply weren’t around then.

But a critical part of my capacity to do this job is the fact that, when it comes down to it, I am a property manager first and foremost. Without that level of understanding it’s very difficult to pull the technical and practical parts together successfully.

With advancements in software and technology, and the likelihood that very different business models are coming, I believe present-day property management

roles will evolve in several directions, providing solutions where even the smartest piece of software cannot.

RENTING IS NOT DISAPPEARING ANY TIME SOON; IN FACT IT'S LIKELY TO BECOME EVEN MORE PREVALENT IN YEARS TO COME.

NONE OF US WANT TO BE THE KODAK OF THE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY.

BACK-END MONITOR, TROUBLESHOOTER AND ESCALATION POINT Big, automated systems and software always need people to monitor, people who know how information flows around it and what the customer is experiencing using the program from the front end. In addition, there is always a need to manage ‘exceptions’ that the system can’t yet accommodate.

Property management retains that ability to surprise with its randomness, which is difficult to program for.

EXPERT ADVISER AND PLANNER What if you could spend all your time discussing with owners how to optimise their investment, improve their return and capital growth, helping them solve their problems that you’re not a party to, or just generally providing expert advice, guidance and troubleshooting?

INSPECTIONS AND SERVICES PROVIDER From a legislative, risk management and practical perspective, the need for ‘field work’ remains for the foreseeable future.

But perhaps how that takes place might be very different. Imagine if you weren’t tied to a particular office or agency, but could work flexibly within your chosen area and do as much or as little as you liked, depending on your earning desires and the other demands on your time?

Change is often an uncomfortable feeling and an intimidating journey. That’s a natural reaction – but I encourage everyone to enjoy the ride, rather than resist and swim against the tide. Has there ever been a better time to be in property management?

What an exhilarating mix of scariness and excitement!

Just remember that the only thing you get looking back is a sore neck; and the risk of resisting change is that you become a redundant resource and skill set. None of us want to be the Kodak of the property management industry. ■

BROCK FISHER is the National Manager, Operational Excellence for Little Real Estate. His experience in property management spans almost two decades. For more information visit littlerealestate.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 39

Q&A ASK THE COACHES Our three expert property management coaches answer your questions on team leadership, BDM prospecting and how to prepare for Tribunal.

Q.

My team are all at different stages of their careers. How do I keep them motivated and incentivised?

As you look at your team, I have no doubt that it is made up of a range of personalities, ages, experience levels, skill sets and generations. As a leader of a multi-generational team, it’s important to recognise that everyone in your business will be driven differently. Motivation and what success looks likes changes from person to person.

This will probably differ greatly from your ideas as well!

So you need to move away from the cookie-cutter approach of incentives and rewards to ensure optimal performance from each member of your team. To keep motivation levels high, you need to offer something that connects to the individual.

Find what really drives each individual, what they thrive on and what they want their career to look like. What will really incentivise them to achieve these goals? It’s not always money. Perhaps it’s an investment in training and education, flexibility or additional holidays?

Maybe you need to create an environment that fosters mentoring among the team, to take advantage of the different skill sets and experience.

Of course each year, as you get older, your team quite possibly gets ‘younger’, which means you will need to continue to think of new ways that you can help motivate and incentivise them to reach their success.

- Lauren Kirk, General Manager, Coach, Consultant and Trainer

Q.

When is the best time of the day and week to prospect?

Firstly, if you are serious about rent roll growth – every day!

Full-time BDMs need to be cultivating new leads and working their database every day of every week. Secondly, when we are looking at what time of the day is best and how much time you should be spending, consider this: What source will you be prospecting? Often, buyer follow-up and OFI prospecting are better done later in this week, such as on Thursdays. This is because Monday and Tuesdays are generally when the sales team are following up their weekend open homes, and overloading potential clients with calls can start you off on the wrong foot. Mondays have proven a good day for database calls and current client prospecting. In most jobs, Mondays are a busy start to the week, so kicking off your calls with those clients who already know you is an effective way to make sure your connection rate is high.

Morning vs afternoon

40 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • JUN – JUL 2018

prospecting – getting the job done early has huge benefits! Prospecting in the morning gives you the added advantage of having your calls done and dusted, without the risk of conflicting priorities interrupting your results.

The afternoon and evening, however, quite often allow for higher call to connection rates and are great times for second round callbacks.

To get the best results, schedule in morning sessions, identify which sources you will be focusing on and make sure these are blocked out in your calendar. In addition, allow for several afternoon or evening sessions for follow-up calls.

Most importantly, track what works for you based on your market, investor profile and personal energy. Once you start religiously tracking your calls, connections and appointments, you will be able to identify the best times throughout the week to talk to the most people and get the best results.

- Kate Benjamin, Coach, Consultant and Trainer

Q.

The thought of Tribunal and the process is daunting. How can I be more prepared?

One of the first things to remember is to breathe.

Tribunal is one of those areas in property management that can prove challenging and often is entwined with an element of stress.

One way of reducing that stress is your level of preparation. Being well prepared will help you maintain composure and ultimately assist in achieving the best possible outcome for

your client.

A few key steps that you might consider to ensure you are organised and ready to tackle any challenges coming your way include: Always have landlord’s approval when making the application and have a discussion around what their ideal outcome may be.

There are usually jurisdictions around the types of hearings that courts can hear and in some cases there may even be a monetary limit.

It is wise to check that you are applying to the correct court and specify the orders that you are seeking in a factual manner.

Prepare your documentation straightaway, where possible including all evidence, a chronology of events and a summary of the issues relating to the case. Don’t leave it to the last minute as it can be a mad scramble the morning of the hearing.

Refer to management agency agreements and residential tenancy agreements for the required information.

Ensure that your landlord is on standby for any information that you may need to communicate on the day of the hearing.

If you would also like a checklist of what to prepare, contact the team at Real+.

Above all, remain calm, be thorough with your information and good luck!

- Heidi Walkinshaw, Coach, Consultant and Trainer

To have your question answered email askthecoach@eliteagent. com.au.

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