ELITE PM Issue 22 Feb Mar 2019 by Elite Agent

LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP REINVENTING RESIDENTIAL RENTALS DESIGN BASED THINKING

THE LITTLE THINGS

ELLAYNE LIM

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CONTENTS

MARCH 2019

24 ON THE COVER 024 THE LITTLE THINGS Ellayne Lim

ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER 006 READER PROFILE Shaye Wallace 008 THE WATERCOOLER

FIRST PERSON 010 WORD UP Fiona Blayney 012 DESIGN BASED THINKING Ariel Beninca 014 TOAD-ALLY GOT THIS! Debbie Palmer

REGULARS 016 PROPERTY MANAGEMENT MENTOR Natalie Hastings 018 REALTY BYTES Alister Maple-Brown 020 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MASTERY Tara Bradbury 022 GAME CHANGER Jo-Anne Oliveri 040 ASK THE COACH Lauren Kirk, Kate Benjamin, Heidi Walkinshaw

6 FEATURES 028 FIVE LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP Michelle Williams 030 ONSHORE, AUTOMATE OR OFFSHORE? Brock Fisher 032 FOCUSED ON GROWTH Kurtis Pirotta 034 REINVENTING RESIDENTIAL RENTALS Tina Grey 036 IF IT’S NOT DINNER, THEN WHAT’S COOKING? Sharon Fox-Slater 038 TRAINING DAY Melinda Cotton

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CONTRIBUTORS

BROCK FISHER LAUREN KIRK Managing director and trainer at Real+, Lauren Kirk is a regular in our pages as one of our Ask the PM Coaches. This issue she tackles getting back into the swing of things for 2019. As for the most common question Lauren gets, it’s the time-old riddle of how many properties should one manage. “There isn’t an answer! There are so many things to consider: the property manager’s experience and knowledge, client expectations, technology, systems, processes, demographic of clients, assistance received – I could go on, but it would take all day!”

Tackling the topic of outsourcing and optimisation in real estate, Little Real Estate’s national manager, operational excellence Brock Fisher looks at what’s best for your business in his article ‘Onshore, Automate or Offshore?’. “The biggest misconception about outsourcing is that it’s about cost cutting. A wellimplemented strategy is about optimisation and efficiency, and ensuring that the right team members are adding value in the right ways.”

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NATALIE HASTINGS Inspired by her latest Netflix binge, Hastings+Co managing director Natalie Hastings takes inspiration from Marie Kondo for your property management department in her story ‘Spark Joy!’. Alongside moving unwanted clutter out of her life, Natalie is also currently focused on spending less time at work. “I’m turning my email alerts off at 6.30pm to focus on spending time with my family. I have never been good at work/life balance, but now I have a child it’s important I get better.”

ARIEL BENINCA Senior UX designer at Console Ariel Beninca looks at the unlikely connections between her role and property management in ‘How to UXdesign your life’. “The best part of my job is that I get to be creative every day of the week. As a UX designer for Console Cloud, I take a product that I know will make people's lives easier, and then make it both beautiful to look at and intuitive to use.” “Everything is an example of user experience design, from the speedometer in your car to the teacup you’re holding. But really good design takes into account the user's experience of that thing.”

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READER PROFILE

IN THE MOMENT As an award-winning property manager at Wiseberry Heritage on the NSW Central Coast, Shaye Wallis has learnt how important it is to celebrate the wins and live in the moment.

culture within our team, proving amazing things are possible when everyone gets on the same page. Where are you hoping you'll be this time next year? Our dynamic trio recently integrated into a larger team, so I’m looking forward to recreating the amazing year we had last year on a much larger scale. What goals have you set for yourself this year? To get out of my comfort zone. I recently saw a quote I really liked: “The most remarkable life moments are the ones that make you uncomfortable, the ones that get your heart racing and your palms sweating.” And to take the time to explore what I love.

“Solving some of the smallest problems can alleviate a big pressure point for someone.”

What was your first job? My first job was at McDonald's, which taught me that everyone begins at the same starting line. What has been the best thing to happen in your career? I have been extremely fortunate to work with some amazing people and to have collected great mentors along the way. A highlight would be creating a winning

6 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

If you could wave a wand and change one thing in the industry, what would it be? Perception. I look forward to the day we are able to say with pride that we are real estate agents. I’m excited for further advancement on our pathway to professionalism. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? You may not be able to control all situations, but you can always control your reaction. What’s the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Be pushier.

What is the most important part of your day? Morning – up early and active first thing sets the day in the right direction. If you had to start from scratch in real estate tomorrow, what would be the first thing you did? Training, training and more training. I would network with like-minded people who inspire me. What do you like the most about your job? Property management can be a tough gig, but there are many small victories to be celebrated and conquered every day. Solving some of the smallest problems can alleviate a big pressure point for someone. What's the next new skill you're hoping to learn? I've recently discovered the theory of The Third Space. This is a current focus for me: learning to show up, be present and live in the moment. After completing two great Transform programs last year, I’m looking forward to seeing what Elite Agent has on the cards for us this year. n

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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.

ROCKEND MAKES DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT EVEN EASIER

CONSOLE CLOUD LAUNCHES PRODUCTIVITY FEATURES

n an industry that has traditionally been paper-based being able to store tenancy document files in the cloud has been a game changer. It’s now even easier with the latest Document Management (DMS) feature in Property Tree, Rockend’s cloud-based property management software solution. With a simple drag and drop action, users can store and manage any documents anywhere at any time. Documents saved can be searchable through the tenancy, ownership and property profiles and can be viewed, edited or even deleted if need be. In addition, all invoices processed through Property Tree will automatically be added to the documents area in the relevant profile. This enhanced feature is available now for Property Tree users with no need to activate, you can just start using straight away. If you're not a Property Tree user yet, book a free demo on the rockend.com website and discover the Rockend difference.

esearchers estimate office workers lose roughly 40 per cent of their productivity by frequently switching between tasks. That’s because task-switching leads to ‘attention residue’ where the brain is thinking about several different tasks simultaneously, leaving only a sliver of concentration for the one at hand. To combat this, Console worked with property managers to design the Rent Arrears, Tenant Vacate and Lease Renewal features in Console Cloud. These features minimise task switching by taking the steps of a process, such as a lease renewal, and organising them into a single interactive timeline. Users can click on the timeline to complete tasks and add notes, without tabbing between windows. For more information visit console.com.au.

1form launches Tenant Verification

Realestate.com.au's 1form has introduced Tenant Verification to make tenant selection easier and faster.

he new feature will allow potential tenants to submit a more complete application, by checking their identity documents (Australian driver’s licence or Australian passport) through Australian Government Document Verification Service and National

Tenancy Database checks, together with court record checks, and bankruptcy checks conducted by Equifax. Applicants will pay a small fee of $29 to generate a PDF report that, within minutes, details the results of their verification. Tenants can use the

8 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

report with any future 1form applications for a period of six months. Kul Singh, REA Group General Manager – Rent, said: “We want 1form to be the tool that helps property managers save time while simplifying their workflow.” elite.ag/1form

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FIRST PERSON

FIONA BLAYNEY

Word up

Fiona Blayney looks at the magic of language and how one little word can have a massive impact on your entire year.

am a Dragon. Before you’re quick to agree, which dragon do you think I’m referring to? I’m talking about the Chinese zodiac sign. With the healthy arrogance of a Dragon, let me be the one to tell you that the Dragon is highly regarded in Chinese culture. Some Chinese even consider themselves descendants of the dragon. A Dragon is lively, intellectual, excitable, can tell right from wrong, is frank, can be a bit arrogant and impatient, and the female Dragons tend to be overly confident. Really? No! They hate hypocrisy, slander and gossip. They are not afraid of difficulties and do not like being controlled or used by others.

I LOVE HOW POWERFUL WORDS CAN BE WHEN USED WELL.

Sound like me? When it comes to real estate agents I’ve met all types: Pigs, Snakes, Monkeys, Rats and Dogs. So much meaning in one little word! How awesome is language? I love how the selection, use and interpretation of the words we communicate with can be so diverse. I love how a single word can mean so many different things to different people, and I love how powerful words can be when used well, not

10 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

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

just on others but on the conversation we have with ourselves. Whilst some take the zodiac seriously and others just for fun, I have my own approach when it comes to naming my year. Each year I literally choose a word of the year. My word becomes my theme; it forms the basis for my decision-making and guides me as I navigate the world towards my goals. If you’re wondering what the process is, when I first started selecting a word many years ago I sat down with pen and paper and brainstormed, identifying words that encapsulated all I wanted for the year ahead. Nowadays the word seems to rise naturally to the surface without prompting. At the end of 2018, each time I was asked what the new year had in store, ever present was the word ‘consolidation’. To my mind 2019 was to be a year of no shiny new objects, a little retraction, yet so much growth. The family is full (five’s enough, thanks), the business needed a smart haircut to grow healthier and I was clear after a challenging time keeping balls in the air with the newborn. I wanted things to be simpler. I thought I’d better look up the technical meaning of consolidation for us. Wow! It couldn’t be a more accurate reflection of my intention for this year. To consolidate has several meanings: to bring together two or more separate parts

into one; to discard unused or unwanted items and organise the remaining; to make solid or firm. When you’re rolling out your word of the year, including and discussing it at every opportunity, you’d be well advised to create an application statement to go with it (yes, I did just make that term up). My application statement is, ‘Growth through consolidation’. Without it, it would be fair for someone to assume this year was about making my business smaller, which is the opposite to my intention for smarter growth. With consolidation now firmly in motion and a couple of months of activity and change under our belt, it’s not been without risk or temptation to follow a new idea down a rabbit hole. Consolidation is proving to be a strong word by which to be making some tough decisions. Relatively speaking, the painstaking cupboard consolidation of my wardrobe at home was the easiest; but, gee, so many clothes; so many memories! Consolidation is a 365-day project, and for today I’m off to wake the Horse and the other Dragon. It's time for them to consolidate their toys. n

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FIRST PERSON

ARIEL BENINCA

Design based thinking

Ariel Beninca is a Console Cloud Senior UX (User Experience) Designer for Console. Ariel’s philosophy is about embracing simplicity, elegance and quality design.

Can you take the principles of designing better software and apply them to your life to make yourself more productive? Ariel Beninca explores how it’s possible.

’m a User Experience (UX) designer for Console, which means I take the functions and features of Console Cloud and organise how best to lay out the menus, options, windows and so on. The goal is to create the best experience for people using our software. To do that well, I focus on incorporating principles of usercentred design. That’s design that looks at how people think and how they want the software to work. Good user-centred design means people instinctively know how to use our product and take less time to do their work when using it. Because this type of design-based thinking is all about making everything simpler, easier, and faster for the user, I think it can also be a great blueprint for designing a more productive life generally. Don’t believe me? Here are three examples.

Design principle Accessibility What it means Making information easy and intuitive to find. How to apply it to your life today Ever struggled to find a file because you haven’t named or filed it properly? Next time it happens, take note of what you often have trouble finding and think about how you searched for it. Often the culprit is a muddled or messy folder

structure or a file-naming system that doesn’t easily identify the document. Try researching and re-organising your folder structure and the way you name your files. Design a system that reflects how you find information, rather than how you think it should be filed. If you’ve done a good job, you won’t need to remember where you put anything: it’ll be easy and intuitive to find.

Design principle Iterative development What it means Using feedback to continually improve a design. How to apply it to your life today Don’t commit to an imperfect system! If you think there might be a better way to do something, experiment. If you don’t get it completely right, rework the idea and try again. Whether it’s task batching, automation or anything else you can imagine, remember: time invested in efficiency is seldom wasted.

DESIGN A SYSTEM THAT REFLECTS HOW YOU FIND INFORMATION, RATHER THAN HOW YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE FILED. 12 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

Design principle Visibility What it means Users should be able to easily identify what the software is capable of doing. How to apply it to your life today Visibility can also be about understanding what you can achieve, too. Simply figuring out how much time it takes to do ordinary tasks can help you identify what you might reasonably achieve in a week. While most PMs will know how far out from a tenant vacate work needs to begin, other tasks with fuzzier time budgeting, like the time it takes to write up a new listing, can be harder to track. It’s worth tracking, though. Getting a grip on how much time to budget for tasks and interruptions means you can identify what you are capable of doing in a given timeframe. And that means fewer broken promises, less overdue work and less stress. That might make it easier to go home on time, too. If you take these three principles of good UX and apply them to your role at work, I think you’ll find your productivity improves and the quality of both your experience, and the experience of those who interact with you, grows exponentially. n

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FIRST PERSON

DEBBIE PALMER

Toad-ally got this! In property management, there are plenty of jobs you might want to put off. Debbie Palmer has a solution for overcoming procrastination.

ne of my favourite stories that I share in my coaching and training sessions is about what was thought to be an incurable disease within the property management department. The story starts like most do. Once upon a time there was a man with an incurable disease known as toadulitus. He had consulted many doctors and specialists, but no one had a cure for him. He expanded his search further

to the internet, where he discovered that in the remote jungles of Africa there was a village elder who had discovered a cure. Once he arrived in Africa, he jumped into a 4WD and drove into the jungle until he stood outside a large tipi tent. The man met with the village elder, who told him, ‘To stay alive, you must eat a toad every single day for the rest of your life.’ In that moment the man was in shock. The thought of what he had to do each day to survive was overwhelming. The toad in this story is a metaphor for the worst possible tasks in property management that you are putting off each day. That insurance claim, contacting a difficult landlord or tenant, attending to paperwork, arranging maintenance requests, clearing your daily emails, as well as many other tasks you know need to be done... Not so much the little things, but the one big task. The moral of the story is to eat your toad first-up to

avoid feeling overwhelmed and losing a little of your confidence. Putting off eating the toad can prevent you from working to your greatest capabilities each day. Often, once you act the task is not as bad or as challenging as it may have appeared. Learning to eat your toad can be life changing! If you find yourself in the position of having to eat a toad (or, more aptly, have a task that has been placed in the too-hard basket), ask yourself, ‘Why am I putting it off?’ There are several reasons why we procrastinate. l We fear the reaction or outcome l We fear confrontation l We have made a mistake and don’t know how to correct it l We are not sure how to

OFTEN, ONCE YOU ACT THE TASK IS NOT AS BAD OR AS CHALLENGING AS IT MAY HAVE APPEARED. LEARNING TO EAT YOUR TOAD CAN BE LIFE CHANGING!

14 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

EATING YOUR TOAD IS LIKE WORKING YOUR MUSCLES OUT AT THE GYM. THE MORE YOU EAT YOUR TOAD, THE STRONGER YOU WILL BECOME IN TACKLING THE THINGS YOU OFTEN PUT OFF.

Debbie Palmer is the Managing Director of the PPM Group. She is considered one of Australia’s leading expert coaches and trainers, and is a multi-award-winning property manager. For more information visit ppmgroup.com.au.

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communicate the situation to someone l We are not sure how to resolve an issue l We are not sure how to tackle the task. If you do avoid eating your toad(s), it can actually impact other areas of your life, such as your health and confidence levels. You will find it hard to get through other tasks because at the back of your mind you are constantly thinking, ‘I must ring Mrs Smith’, or ‘I must attend to that task’. If you are putting off a task because you are not sure where to start or how to handle the matter, don’t be afraid to ask someone for help. Eating your toad is like working your muscles out at the gym. The more you eat

your toad, the stronger you will become in tackling the things you often put off. Each morning when you arrive at work, team up with a buddy, look them in the eyes and ask, ‘What’s your toad today?’ Let them know what your toad is and say, ‘Let’s go and eat them now! n

elitepm.com.au 15

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

SPARK JOY!

Time for a tidy-up? Natalie Hastings demonstrates how Marie Kondo’s KonMari method could help your property management department.

ummer holidays – so far as they exist for property managers – are good for two things: enjoying long days on the beach, and air-conditioned nights bingeing Netflix. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have indulged in an episode (real talk: every episode) of legendary minimalist Marie Kondo’s ‘Tidying Up’ on Netflix. In it, the genial host puts her signature ‘KonMari’ method into practice – improving lives by decluttering houses, helping participants decide whether to keep or discard items based on a simple metric: ‘Does it spark joy?’ Unfortunately, the daily clutter of real estate often gets in the way of our ideal property management department. I think I have the answer: all you have to do is KonMari your department. Here’s how. CONSIDER YOUR DEPARTMENT BY CATEGORY Marie suggests you begin your KonMari process by gathering all the items of a particular category together. As Marie is decluttering physical items and we’re decluttering property management departments, our approach needs to be different – after all, you can’t round up

ARE THOSE 148 CLOSED FILES REALLY HAPPY LEANING AGAINST THE EMPTY WATER FILTER? every property manager and hold them hostage next to the tins of Nescafe Blend 43 while you decide who sparks the most joy. Instead, tackle decluttering different aspects of your department by category as concepts. I suggest your database, your systems and process manuals, meetings and team events, your filing cabinets, your staff, your office furniture and decorations.

leaning against the empty water filter? And what about the kitchen: is the tap happy to drip onto old coffee mugs? How about Darren at the front desk – is he happy without a lunch break for the last four months? It sounds ‘out there’ to consider the happiness of inanimate objects in our care – but they’re our responsibility, just like our human, feeling colleagues.

RESPECT YOUR BUSINESS ASSETS Look at each of your categories and consider their relative happiness. Are those 148 closed files really happy

NOSTALGIA IS YOUR DEPARTMENT’S ENEMY Are you refusing to shred files or ancient open-forinspection sheets? Perhaps you are emotionally tied to

16 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

your first systems and processes manual and have been resisting updating the way your department functions. Nostalgia does have a place: that place is on the mantelpiece with the picture of your Nan’s debutante ball. Not in your property management department. LET THE PURGE BEGIN! We recommend that before you begin the process of shedding what no longer serves your property management department, you identify whether you’ll be doing this solo as a business owner or in collaboration with your team. Whilst potentially costlier in time, making decisions about what should stay in your property management and what should go can really bring colleagues together. All humour aside, any matter which concerns HR and moving on staff who do not fit your business must be done sensitively and with full regard to laws and employment contracts. FEEL THAT FRESH ENERGY AND PURPOSE So you’ve committed to redesigning your systems and processes. You’ve tidied up your CRM and put steps in place for better accounting. Your circa-1995 furniture is out the door. And those dust-gathering OFI sheets have finally left the building. Phew! You’ve Kondo-ed your way to a state of property management enlightenment where the purpose of your organisation and the values your team bring to it can really shine. That’s what I call the lifechanging magic of tidying up! n

REALTY BYTES Alister Maple-Brown is the CEO of Rockend. For more information visit rockend.com.au.

5 WAYS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT NEEDS TO CHANGE

Property management is in a time of crisis, with changes coming from every angle and added pressure on how PMs work. Alister Maple-Brown looks at how the industry needs to be improved.

he 2018 Voice of Australian Property Management Report found that property management is suffering from a high level of disillusionment and defection from the industry, with the bulk of those employed in the sector passive about their roles. Here's what needs to change in 2019.

HOW WE WORK NEEDS TO CHANGE The data

revealed that while most property managers (60 per cent) work a typical 40hour week, it's how they fill that week that makes the difference. It's not regulations or customer demands that impact workloads as much as the tools and resources the team has. A constant sense of being ‘too busy’ leads to feeling overwhelmed, which will cause staff to leave.

OUR FOCUS NEEDS TO CHANGE The report

shows that the industry is overwhelmingly focused on the short-term goals of revenue and efficiency. With an uncertain property market and higher customer expectations in play, that makes sense, but we need to take a longer-term view by looking at more structural issues, together with the

most property managers enjoy their jobs, feel their role is secure and are generally satisfied with how much they are paid. So why do so many talk it down? The data reveals something deeply unsatisfactory in property management, seen in the attitudes towards never-ending busy-ness, career planning options and the degree of support property managers have from their principals to achieve their goals. Detractor levels are high when these three elements are lacking, even when respondents said they liked the people they worked with.

PRINCIPALS NEED TO EMBRACE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT The Voice

A CONSTANT SENSE OF BEING ‘TOO BUSY’ LEADS TO FEELING OVERWHELMED, WHICH WILL CAUSE STAFF TO LEAVE. technology and staff training that will resolve issues more permanently. This includes how we free up time from repetitive and low-value tasks to ensure that property management roles are more effective – and interesting – for staff, especially in smaller teams.

WE NEED TO WORK ON CAREER PLANNING, UPSKILLING & RETENTION

The data shows that an average property management business is small, tightly run and has challenging workloads in terms of volumes of rental listings. It also shows many

18 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

offices have attitudes that the time cannot be taken off for training, that career planning isn't necessary (you'll promote them if an opening becomes available) and that as long as they turn up to the awards night they should be happy. But a workforce churn of 41 per cent being in the role for less than two years, together with the number of those leaving the industry altogether, is evidence that this approach isn’t working.

WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR CULTURE A key

insight from the survey is that

of Australian Property Management reveals a significant disconnect between the priorities, concerns and training of principals and property managers. It also shows that when such a disconnect occurs, staff turnover is likely to be high – which in turn creates an inconsistency in service delivery and makes it harder to hit revenue targets. The Macquarie Benchmark report shows that nationally, property management is responsible for 70 per cent of the income of real estate agencies, which would suggest principals should spend more time focusing on their property management team in order to influence their long-term business success. n

The Voice of Australian Property Management full report can be downloaded at rockend.com/australian-pmsurvey-report.

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Elite Agent is now delivering online short courses for real estate professionals in partnership with MRT (RTO 41529), including CPD courses for NSW agents.

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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MASTERY 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.

9 TIPS FOR BECOMING A STRONGER BDM Being a successful BDM is about more than great prospecting or becoming an investment specialist. Tara Bradbury explains why it's also important to ‘be seriously interested’ in your role.

BRAVERY Know that from time to time you will experience difficulty, pain and frustration. It’s what you do after the situation and how you approach that next email, meeting or phone call that makes you brave and worthy of the role. CREATIVITY Think of novel and productive ways to ensure the customer has the best experience with you and your agency. Set yourself apart from the competition by being different. CURIOSITY Be curious about everything that is going on

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HONESTY It’s never easy delivering tough news, but the more you do the stronger your profile, brand and business will become. GRATITUDE Never think the role of BDM will be easy and that what you see on social media is how all the top-performing BDMs live. Each day they are grateful for where they are, continue to fight for top spot and never take success for granted. FAIRNESS It’s important to treat all people the same and give everyone a fair chance. As your property management department continues to grow, you will have new team members join and they’ll need time to learn and settle in. From time to time they’ll make mistakes and it’s important you are fair; use this time to educate and delegate, and don’t forget: we’re all human and must start somewhere. KINDNESS Kindness is an extremely powerful tool when used effectively and many of the great BDMs I have met along the way have mastered this art. The role of a BDM is a complicated, rewarding, emotional and wild journey. You will continue to trial and test new ideas, win and miss business and finally ride the massive highs and lows of this roller coaster experience. n

f I could narrow it down to one simple formula that would show you how to be a successful BDM, would you follow the steps? It comes down to three simple words: ‘be seriously interested’ in what you can do for others. I guarantee that reviewing these nine key areas will change the way you approach your BDM role in the coming weeks.

BRING OUT YOUR AUTHENTIC PERSONALITY AND REMEMBER: LANDLORDS LIKE TO DO BUSINESS WITH REAL PEOPLE.

in your area, research topics for all the different customers you meet along the way and ensure that you don’t allow curiosity to be taken over by procrastination. HUMOUR Bring smiles to other people, see the lighter side of things and in general have a good laugh. Bring out your authentic personality and

20 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

remember: landlords like to do business with real people. ZEST Approaching every day with excitement and energy is going to have a positive impact on every person you connect with that day. Doing things half-heartedly is only going to demonstrate to the client you are prepared to give them 50 per cent effort.

Owner intent

Radical Productivity Gains Advanced Trust Accounting Powerful New Insights

Property Management + Trust Accounting Software.

GAME CHANGER Jo-Anne Oliveri, CIPS, TRC, is the Founder and Managing Director of PM business solutions company ireviloution intelligence. For more information visit ireviloution.com.

INVESTING IN YOU Successful professionals in the industry invest in themselves regularly and, according to Jo-Anne Oliveri, this means more than just attending an occasional seminar.

ersonal investment is a committed act to a four-step cycle of goal setting, training selection, training attendance and training implementation. Follow these four steps to make personal investment a helpful habit in 2019.

GOAL SETTING The first step in the personal investment cycle is to list your goals, preferably towards the start of the year. Consider your role and list which skills are needed to carry out this role. These should form the basis for your goals. If you don’t know where you’re heading, then how are you going to know if you get there? By attending training that isn’t focused on your goals, chances are you won’t gain much and you’re less likely to implement what you do learn. To know which training you need, you must first understand your career aspirations. Once you have established your goals for the next 12 months and listed the

committed to. Sounds like a no-brainer, but ‘attendance’ means being present at the training course or seminar both physically and mentally. You must undergo your training with 100 per cent focus if you want to get 100 per cent out of it. This is where you need to differentiate between online and in-class training. Online training courses are one of the best forms of learning, provided that you sit in a quiet location and are free from interruptions. It’s no different to sitting in a classroom, except that there is no need to travel to a distant location. If part of your training is to attend an in-class workshop, then prior to the workshop you should write down what you are aiming to learn.

4 KEEP IN MIND THAT YOUR TRAINING DOES NOT ALWAYS NEED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH PROPERTY MANAGEMENT. skills you require to achieve the promotion or pay increase, you can start researching what training is on offer.

TRAINING SELECTION The second step is looking at your goals and matching them to training courses which give you the skills you need. For example, at this point in your career you may be working as a property management coordinator. In order to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to

22 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

gain promotion to managing a portfolio, it will be necessary to undertake training in portfolio management and property investment. Keep in mind that your training does not always need to be associated with property management. Sometimes sales conferences or leadership training, for example, may be more suitable.

TRAINING ATTENDANCE The third step is attending the training you have

TRAINING IMPLEMENTATION The final step is where most principals and property managers come undone – implementing the new skills and knowledge you have attained from your training. This means implementing not just once but continually, so you bring positive change to your role or business. Only then have you succeeded in achieving your goal. Once you have gained your new skill or knowledge, it is important that you start putting it into practice. It’s not good enough to simply complete your training then expect a promotion or increase in salary immediately. You must first implement the newly learned skills or knowledge and work towards gaining the respect and confidence that you are truly making a difference to the business – helping the business achieve its targets, as well as achieving your own. n

OPEN

Elite Agent Go is a comprehensive directory of the real estate industry's top suppliers. IF YOU'RE READY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; LET'S GO!

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eliteagent.com 23

COVER STORY

The LITTLE THINGS

24 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER â&#x20AC;¢ MARCH 2019

IT CAN BE TRICKY to find balance when you're the

middle party between two groups of people, who usually have very different objectives. But Little Real Estate’s Ellayne Lim is a rare gem who has mastered the art of organisation, fairness and communication to a point where her Net Promoter Scores® for both owners and tenants are on par with some of the world’s most admired companies. Story by Samantha McLean.

llayne Lim has been in property management now for seven and a half years – all of them with Little Real Estate. The only other career she’s ever known has been hospitality. “I was working all those horrible hours,” recalls Ellayne, “and after speaking to a friend in property management I thought I would do the course and give it a go.” Starting on reception as many do, when an assistant property manager role came up a supportive manager suggested she apply – and she hasn’t looked back.

Does excellent service lead to fewer arrears?

Like many companies around the world, Little Real Estate uses Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to measure customer advocacy. While NPS can be a great measure of loyalty and referability, the numbers always depend on who gets surveyed. For instance, if you only survey owners and not tenants or only survey completed transactions, the results may not completely reflect reality. As Little Real Estate uses NPS as a training tool, everyone that touches the business is surveyed – even tenants who are ‘unhappily vacating,’ or owners who are taking their managements elsewhere. Ellayne’s NPS scores over her portfolio of 200 to 210 properties for the past three months are nothing short of stunning: her overall NPS is 75, tenant NPS is 68 and her owner NPS is an incredible 95. Her average annual scores are not far behind that.

To put this into some kind of perspective, customermonitor.com believes the industry average in Australia1 for property managers is -6 and the overall industry score is +4. At the same time, Ellayne's seven daysplus arrears rate for the entire year varied between 0 and 1 per cent, with the average being around 0.5 per cent.

NPS in practice

While some property managers might find it confronting to be measured in this way, Ellayne says she appreciates that the system is there – and also tries not to focus on the numbers too much. She agrees that it’s a great learning tool for both property managers and office managers because at Little NPS is measured by category; this could be maintenance, inspections, new leases, vacates plus other areas. “When it was introduced, everyone was a little bit scared of being rated out of ten,” admits Ellayne. But she also says it's a great opportunity to improve the business in areas where you otherwise might be unaware something is wrong. “When you read some comments or you have a tenant that's just not happy with a situation, it's hard not to take it personally. “But then some of it is also quite constructive feedback and it makes you realise, ‘Okay, maybe I'll do things differently next time’.” Little has put systems in place that involve remediation when a survey results in a detractor score (between 0 and 6). The

WHAT IS NPS? NPS stands for Net Promoter Score. It's a customer satisfaction benchmark that measures how likely your customers are to recommend you to a friend. HOW IS IT CALCULATED? Survey your customers, asking them "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend to a friend?" Categorise respondents according to their score: Scores 0-6 are Detractors, scores 7-8 are Passives, and scores 9-10 are Promoters. Disregarding the Passives, subtract the percentage of Detractor responses from the percentage of Promoter responses to determine your Net Promoter Score. This score can range from -100 to 100. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Customer NPS gives companies an idea of how likely they are to earn recommendations from happy customers, which means less outbound marketing and more inbound marketing. It also can indicate higher customer retention/ lower churn rates and can, therefore, be considered an indicator for growth.

elitepm.com.au 25

COVER STORY

manager will usually call the person in question to get further feedback – and this is also passed on to the property manager. While the lower scores provide training opportunities within the company, Ellayne also says it’s great to read the comments when you get a 10. “It’s a good confidence booster, and really nice to hear.”

-6 PROPERTY MANAGERS 1 +4 REAL ESTATE 1 +12 REAL ESTATE AGENTS 1

+25 LITTLE REAL ESTATE PM 'PASSMARK'

Success equals organisation

Face to face, Ellayne is friendly, approachable and easy going – and along with that bubbly personality is someone who is super, super organised. Her portfolio actually spans around 20 suburbs and has grown organically mostly through referrals. “I have a lot of landlords with a number of properties, and over time they have been unhappy with the local agency and have asked me to manage them.” As a result, Ellayne’s days are pretty full; with her widely spread portfolio, she says it’s being super-organised that is the key to her success. “I’m a morning person and I like to get into the office before anyone else. I like to do my email straight away and organise my day,” she explains. Then it’s out the door around lunchtime to visit properties and complete inspections. “I like to do all my inspections together of an afternoon – and after that, I prefer to go straight home rather than back to the office. “It saves me travel time, and I don’t like wasting time!”

Offshoring the non-essentials

Ellayne's portfolio has grown in the last few years, and she puts her ability to take on more down to a few factors: the relationships she has built with her owners and tenants, efficiency in technology, and a helping hand from some the company's own offshore employees. She says the last two things give her the space to think more clearly about what her clients really need in terms of maintenance and their overall investment strategies. “With having our own offshore team, it means that we have more time [for] talking to our clients and completing higher value activities such as working out optimal maintenance needs, insurance, smoke

EXACTLY HOW GOOD ARE ELLAYNE’S NPS SCORES?

+66 MACQUARIE UNI 2 +68 NETFLIX 3 +68 ELLAYNE'S TENANT NPS +72 APPLE 3 +75 ELLAYNE'S OVERALL NPS +95 ELLAYNE'S OWNER NPS +97 TESLA 3 1 Australia NPS Industry Benchmarks 2018 (customermonitor.com) 2 Highest Australian industry score outside the real estate industry (customermonitor.com) 3 Indexnps.com (2018)

alarm checks – that sort of thing.” And the technology apps the company has in place (Agentplus) also bring productivity and efficiency. “They save me so much time, particularly when I’m on the road. I’ve got access to everything. “So much better than the days when we had to use pen and paper!”

Building relationships

In property management, there is always going to be conflict, and this can make it difficult to build relationships between parties on opposite sides of a transaction. Ellayne says she has succeeded at this by approaching every interaction with fairness, empathy and trust. “I try to show everyone I do care and want to help them. And I always put myself in the tenant’s shoes as well as the owner's shoes.” Ellayne also says that her hospitality background has helped in mastering this skill – and where she learned to be

26 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

proactive rather than reactive, which is important for both parties. “I make sure I follow up, rather than waiting for them to follow up.” Over time, Ellayne has built strong relationships with her owners and that allows her to get the job done with a minimum of fuss. “Because I’ve had the same portfolio for seven years, I’ve built that trust [to] where I just have to let my owners know what I’m doing and they trust me.

“JUST BECAUSE TENANTS ARE RENTING RATHER THAN OWNING, IT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S ANY LESS SPECIAL. IT’S THEIR SAFE PLACE.”

ELLAYNE'S TOP TIPS

Always look and plan ahead. Ellayne plans her inspections for the month in advance, organising them in the same area. “If you’re on time, you’re late; if you’re early, you’re on time!”

Prepare keys and everything else the day before – don’t leave anything to the last minute

Leave a good chunk of the day free to be in the office for emails, accounting and other admin.

“But again, I put myself in their shoes and always try to preempt any questions or anything they might ask. “I like to try to solve problems and suggest solutions, and I always let them know what’s happened – as I would want if it were my own property under management.” Lastly, but probably most importantly, is Ellayne’s belief about the definition of ‘home’. “Just because tenants are renting rather than owning, it doesn’t mean it’s any less special. It’s their safe place,” says Ellayne.

Moving forward

After more than seven years in the business, Ellayne says she really enjoys

being in property management and “is not going anywhere” – but she does envisage some changes on the horizon, particularly with a few disruptive apps out there as well as the new legislation slated for Victoria in 2020. “Re-educating owners is an ongoing process; I imagine there will be some frustration with the new legislation, but the key will be preparing our owners early.” She says it will need to be a similar approach with the tech disruptors. “We are all going to have to step up our service to owners and tenants, and remember that our role is to take stress away from them.” Even for someone like Ellayne, who clearly has excellent relationships with her clients, her advice to new property

“I TRY TO SHOW EVERYONE I DO CARE AND WANT TO HELP THEM. AND I ALWAYS PUT MYSELF IN THE TENANT’S SHOES AS WELL AS THE OWNER'S SHOES.” managers is simple: try not to take things personally – you are never going to make everyone happy. She also recommends some good oldfashioned patience and taking care of the little things. “It does take a long time to build trust and relationships, but you’ve got to hang in there – it will get easier!” n

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems Inc,. Bain &Company and Fred Reichheld.

elitepm.com.au 27

LEADERSHIP

THERE IS MUCH MORE

to leadership than just your name on the door. Sometimes you need to take a step back to see a way forward. Michelle Williams looks back on her career and her journey as a leader.

LESSONS IN M LEADERSHIP 28 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER â&#x20AC;˘ MARCH 2019

y leadership journey started around 17 years ago, when I was given the responsibility to lead a team of six in an agency managing over 700 residential properties. I was only 26 at the time and most of the employees had years on me, both in experience and age. To be completely honest, while I had a strong work ethic and a fierce desire to succeed, I was naive to think I was ready for such a huge responsibility.

In the early days, I thought I was pretty impressive. I made some significant changes immediately, starting with new systems, KPIs, growth strategies, weekly meetings, marketing and business plans, the works! It was on paper and I was in control; I was ready to turn the ship around! What I didn’t understand at the time was that I couldn’t do it all on my own. I needed the team to help me make it happen. But all they could see was me running around like a lunatic making changes they didn’t like much, or failed to understand. Some would adopt them while others would just continue doing things ‘the old way’. I was so frustrated with the rejections and what I thought were simply bad attitudes.

LESSON ONE:

PEOPLE DON’T RESPOND WELL TO CHANGE UNLESS THEY CAN SEE HOW IT WILL BENEFIT THEM

I went on like this for about a year, forcing changes, putting policies in place (even when they upset people) and moving forward. That was until one day my boss suggested to me that I was not ‘leading’ my team; I was ‘managing’ them and they didn’t like me much. While he admitted I was doing a great job at managing the changes, the tasks and processes, it was time I understood the difference. My instant response was, “Isn’t it the same thing?” Most of you will already know the answer to that, but remember I was 26 and it was a very different world in property management in 2001. When the penny dropped that I was not as awesome as I once thought, I made the commitment to study the subject of leadership. I started reading every bestseller I could find, attended regular conferences and would constantly ask mentors for advice. I was like a dog with a bone, determined to tackle this new challenge. Slowly I discovered that I was doing it all wrong – everything I thought about managing a team was so far away from leading. That’s when it started to feel too hard. It was overwhelming to come to this realisation; I had so much to learn and implement. Where would I even start? Looking back, it started slowly, and it took a long time to truly engage my team. Even when I knew better, old habits were hard to break. There were also many roadblocks in terms of the business structure that prevented me from achieving the vision of creating the most reputable property management business in the state.

LESSON TWO:

YOU NEED THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT TO LEAD CHANGE

After 12 years trying to make it work and learning so much along the way, I realised

that the environment I was in was not the right space for me to achieve my vision. I kept hitting a brick wall with failed discussions around cleaning up the quality of the properties under management, recruiting more staff and introducing new training opportunities (any training at all would have been a good start). This was too great a challenge in the end and I understood why. Sales was the focus of the business, ultimately, and every property was an opportunity to sell. So I created a plan for the ‘ideal business model’. It would be an independent property management company, focused purely on the management of quality investment properties, with a strict criteria around the business we would take on. This would ensure we could maintain consistency with the delivery of our service, breaking the 80/20 rule by removing the 20 per cent of clients who refuse to maintain their investments. In 2009 the dream became a very scary reality. The doors opened to @home Property Management Solutions with zero clients and no income generation. This is where the real journey of leadership would begin; the buck now stopped with me.

LESSON THREE:

MICROMANAGEMENT IS JUST BAD MANAGEMENT

Once again, in my head, I had it all figured out. I would create the best possible people and build foolproof systems to ensure we maintained consistency in the delivery of our service. I would make sure my team understood and shared the vision. I made a mistake that many new business owners make when first starting out: I micromanaged absolutely everything. By definition, “micromanagement is a management style whereby a manager closely observes or controls the work of subordinates or employees... It's a way for management to ensure that tasks are performed in a very precise manner – in other words, management's way.” I am still guilty of this at times. While I think, to a certain degree, monitoring is absolutely necessary in order to educate and develop your people, it’s the way we approach the educating that determines the outcome.

LESSON FOUR:

NOT EVERYONE IS COACHABLE AND SOME ARE JUST NOT READY

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that not everyone will share the same values and ethics, and some people simply don’t want to be led. They are not ready to learn and develop, or they see no need to. I realised that some people are just not ready. It took me around six years in the

industry before I was truly ready to be led. Before that, my highest priority was what I had planned for the weekend and the rest of the week was recovering from what I did on the weekend! I had to hold back and understand that some people need a little time to mature; as long as they were developing slowly, I needed to refrain from forcing my knowledge on them too early. There is time and learning needs to be a joint venture. This lesson is still a work in progress for me because I don’t give up on people easily. I realise that, as a business owner, you need to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em; however, giving up is not a natural strength of mine and it has been a problem in the past. One bad egg can ruin the nest. I believe that everyone has a good heart at the core and my job is to influence, encourage, support, and try and create a collaborative environment.

LESSON FIVE:

DEVELOP LEADERS FROM WITHIN

The most recent leadership discovery for me has been the power of developing leaders from within. When you learn to let go a little and trust your team enough to be completely transparent with the business, the vision and the benefits to them when the business thrives, it is the most rewarding journey of all. I get so much satisfaction seeing my team succeed as individuals. When you build a tribe of loyal followers and an environment everyone can thrive in, there are multiple side effects. These include staff retention, improved engagement with clients and customers, increased job satisfaction and, finally, the increase in profit that benefits everyone within the organisation. The most significant learning of all is that the journey never ends. There are more than five lessons. We will all make mistakes on the journey; we will have regrets and sometimes fall so hard we feel like we can’t get up again. But, if you change the way you respond to failure, everything that happens (the good, the bad and the ugly) will make you more resilient and, ultimately, a better leader. 

MICHELLE WILLIAMS is the Managing Director of @home Property Management Solutions. For more info visit athomerentals.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 29

OUTSOURCING

MOST BUSINESSES COULD

do with saving a few dollars, and a good way to do that is to review your systems and find more costeffective solutions. Brock Fisher looks at the options for off shoring and automation and how you can decide which one is right for you.

ONSHORE, AUTOMATE OR OFFSHORE?

he proliferation of rideshare options is a simple and excellent example of how paying more for a service doesn’t mean that you have a better experience or get better value. Does paying more for the creaky and stinky Prius that has done 800,000 kilometres result in a better journey? Changes in technology and process management mean we now live in a time when you can get a superior customer experience and at a lower cost than some others may offer for the same type of service. The problem for those of us in property management is this. Management fees will never increase from where they are today and are only likely to go down over time. That is

30 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

not the most popular point I will ever make, but it is the stone-cold reality. The combination of a market saturated with competition, which all looks awfully similar to each other in the customer’s eyes, with improvements in technology that make it easier for customers to simply DIY, means customers end up shopping on the one variable they can understand – price. Make no mistake: there are some companies who do a great job and justify a higher fee than many others charge, but there are also instances of abysmal service being given despite it. Equally, there are some people getting flawless service on a low management fee, and some people who regret having gone this way because they

were disappointed. The crux of the argument here is that poor property management experiences happen at all price points, not just the cheaper end of the scale, although those are the experiences that we tend to fixate on due to our own confirmation bias. Consequently, as the cost of doing business continues to increase but fees charged are reducing, we all need to find greater economic efficiency in a business model that is quite labour intensive. I have spent a lot of time over the last six years working with both offshoring and software/automation. Below, I’ve outlined some of the pros and cons for each of the three options you should be working through – onshoring, offshoring and automation.

ONSHORE

I look at property management through a really simple lens: There is stuff we do that is really ‘impactful’ and delivers a lot of value for clients, and there is a whole lot of other stuff we do that is really ‘necessary’ to get the job done, but clients couldn’t care less about. The ideal business model, in my view, is one where property managers can stay in that high-value space as much as possible, while that ‘other stuff’ that clients couldn’t care less about is not bogging them down but still getting done.

AUTOMATE OR OFFSHORE?

Increasingly popular as business options, these are not mutually exclusive. You don’t need to have one or the other, and in most businesses a combination of both can be ideal and work together in a harmonious way. My view on a hybrid approach here is that this provides the property manager with the support they need to work more efficiently and spend as much time as possible being that expert communicator, relationship builder and investment optimiser. Interestingly, the formative stages of both are very similar, where you are committing to a uniform way of doing a particular process in your business. In my experience, most businesses think they have uniformity of process until they embark on an exercise like this – and very quickly find out how many different ways their team are performing the same process.

AUTOMATE – PROS & CONS

There can be no doubt that good automation is by far the most cost-effective tool for doing business. Seamless automation humming away, doing the work while no one is watching, is a beautiful thing to behold. However, it is also not without its

THERE IS STUFF WE DO THAT IS REALLY ‘IMPACTFUL’ AND DELIVERS A LOT OF VALUE FOR CLIENTS, AND THERE IS A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER STUFF WE DO THAT IS REALLY ‘NECESSARY’ TO GET THE JOB DONE, BUT CLIENTS COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT. challenges. In automating, you are effectively committing to performing tasks in the same or a very similar way to any other business using the same platform. This does impact your unique service proposition (why should the customer choose you over someone else?) and makes it more difficult to establish a genuine point of difference. Furthermore, depending on your provider, having changes and enhancements performed on an automated process can take considerable time and money if you wish to make alterations or improvements to the way that software performs a function. In addition, all stakeholders also need to be consulted; so if other users have alternative views, your improvement may not be able to occur at all or may become a ‘custom’ solution at considerable additional cost. Presently, automation technology tends to focus on several core functions within a property management department, and the combination of other outlying tasks also has a big impact on efficiency and the economy of resources. It may not yet be economically viable, or processes may not yet be uniform enough to be able to program a piece of software to adequately handle those other tasks. Customer experience is also a key point here. Be under no illusions that automation is primarily a tool to assist business and property managers; however, customers hate being on the receiving end of clunky or poorly programmed automated systems.

OFFSHORE – UPSIDE AND DOWNSIDE

Offshoring can be done quickly and allows you to have a specific, bespoke solution that suits your business, rather than just needing to accept a mass market solution. The agility of this approach is also important. Making tweaks or improvements to your processes

is fast and simple because you are teaching and interacting with a person, not trying to perform complex coding and programming tasks. From a customer experience perspective, you are also able to achieve a level of interaction with customers that has more flexibility than system-generated correspondence and actions which can quickly become repetitive and lose impact. However, if you are offshoring things that technology can do, then you are effectively in no better place than if those tasks were still getting done onshore. You are still paying people to do what technology can achieve more efficiently and at a lower cost. Successful offshoring also presents a range of data management, IT and people management challenges that need to be carefully thought through. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly, despite myself and many others advocating it so strongly.

IN SUMMARY

The ideal modern property management business needs to use all the tools available to remain relevant to their customers, competitive and profitable. The time for understanding one and not the others is quickly running out in this hypercompetitive environment we are now in. Onshoring, offshoring and automation each have a variety of pros and cons that should be understood, but at a high level: l Use automation for the big, chunky, repetitive core tasks in your business. l Use offshoring in part to watch and monitor your automation, but also for those outlying, time-consuming tasks and labourintensive jobs that technology doesn’t yet cater for – like assisting with break leases, tenant transfers and things like file creation, data maintenance, setups and compliance checking. l Keep property managers in that high-value, relationship-building, resultsdelivering space as much as possible by freeing them from all the stuff that stops them doing that. n

BROCK FISHER is the National Manager, Operational Excellence for Little Real Estate, Australia’s largest property management business. His industry experience spans more than two decades and covers all roles you will find in a property management team. For more information visit littlerealestate.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 31

BEST PRACTICE

IT’S TIME TO dust off the

cobwebs and shake off any negativity from the last 12 months. Kurtis Pirotta looks at how you can rewrite your story in 2019.

FOCUSED ON C

GROWTH

arl Bard said, “Although no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.” I would like to share three key ideas that give you the opportunity to rethink what you’re currently doing, evolve your knowledge and skills to stay ahead and inspire your team with new strategies to grow.

FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

FOR LEASING TEAMS

This time of year is when we see some of the highest demand on realestate.com.au from renters looking for their next home, as well as landlords looking to choose someone to help them maintain and grow their investment. Knowing this, we always recommend to business owners that they ensure their online presence is strong, consistent and up to date. This is a great way to ensure you generate as many enquiries as possible – for your business and for each of your listings.

Price, Promotion and Presentation: the Three Ps of real estate, the only things we can control in a marketing campaign. If it’s a struggle to get a result in the first seven days of a rental marketing campaign, it’s often only one of these things that is off track or out of alignment… the price. Teams will often comment to me that landlords won’t budge on price, which is why properties sit on the market for longer than they should. Landlords always want the

32 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

maximum return on their investment property – who doesn’t? However, we also know that when landlords engage property managers to take care of their property, they also want your expertise and recommendations. If we fail to provide the right data at the time of price setting and neglect to update the landlord regularly, we will fail them in the long run. Regular communication with your landlord about the state of the market is key. I use the analogy of the share market:

KEY TIPS TO FOCUS ON IN 2019 FOR BUSINESS OWNERS: l Measure the ROI on

activity for your BDMs l Ensure your online

presence is up to date and consistent FOR LEASING TEAMS: l Educate landlords earlier

on price expectations l Have price alignment

conversations after the first open home or by day 7 FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS: l Make sure the buckets

are not leaking l Ensure your online presence is up to date and consistent.

each quarter, if you invest shares in a bank, you’re provided with a report of how your investment has performed and how that compares to the market. A property investor expects the same update. I recommend that property managers use data from 1form to help communicate the state of the market in a simple way to landlords throughout the year. Come lease renewal time, this enables you to have a conversation with your landlord about their plans, their price expectations and the market. In most cases, your landlord is going to trust your advice and recommendations because you have been their source of local knowledge through the year, instead of the nightly news. If their expectations are higher than you expected and there is no way of talking them down to market level, you can leverage your previous communications

GROWTH IS ALWAYS A HOT TOPIC FOR REAL ESTATE BUSINESSES, BUT WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IS RETENTION.

and use the data again to help them understand. Property managers who use this strategy can prevent properties sitting on the market longer than they have to. More importantly, they can avoid the negative conversation or old-school ‘conditioning’ of a landlord while their property is on the market or – even worse – vacant. The formula for leasing a property is simple. l Spend time educating your landlords with data and insights l Set price expectations early, before the property is on the market l Have price alignment conversations in week one or after the first open for inspection.

FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS This is peak time and our activity levels are high; and despite being busy, this is also the moment for us to put our best foot forward. Right now, we are on show to potential landlords more than at any other time throughout the year. Growth is always a hot topic for real estate businesses, but what is even more important is retention – it’s no good if you have twenty managements coming in each month if you’re losing ten out the back door to other agents, sales or landlords moving back in. When we spend time talking to BDMs about their growth plan, this is always the first place to start. It’s the foundation for solid, sustainable growth. 

Your guide to outsourcing. Expand your business with top talent trained on the award winning techniques utilised by Australia's leading real estate businesses.

info@stafﬂink.com.au

KURTIS PIROTTA Kurtis Pirotta is the Property Management Ambassador at realestate.com.au.

elitepm.com.au 33

SPECIAL REPORT

REINVENTING RESIDENTIAL RENTALS IT’S BIG IN EUROPE, but to date the build-to-rent model has struggled to get off the ground in Australia. Now JLL have taken up the contract for Smith Collective, on the site of the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village, and the country’s first buildto-rent project is set to test how well the model can work here. Tina Grey explains.

very now and then in your career you may be fortunate enough to work on a project that is truly special, a body of work that not only stimulates you but has the potential to change the very face of the industry you are so passionate about. I am living one of those moments right now. For the past couple of years, I have been part of a team at JLL who are putting Australia’s first build-to-rent development into reality. The development is Smith Collective and we believe it will change the face of renting in Australia. Less than a year ago, Smith Collective – a

prime piece of real estate within the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct at Southport – was a temporary home for 6,600 athletes and officials participating in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Today we are rolling out the welcome mat for the first residents of what will eventually become a community of 2,500 people living in 1,251 apartments and townhouses – and every one of those residents will have the same landlord. Popular in the United States and Europe, the build-to-rent concept reinvents rental by forgoing individual landlords and allowing residents greater long-term security and the promise of many benefits of homeownership

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– without the mortgage. It’s a model which hasn’t been adopted in Australia yet, although property experts believe it could be the response to the affordability issues our country suffers from. With one main body acting as landlord – in the case of Smith Collective that will be JLL – tenants are able to have greater control over their rental home and can plan to spend their lives in the communities we are creating. At the invitation of UBS Asset Management, JLL successfully pitched for the contract to bring the build-to-rent concept to the former Athletes’ Village site, and we have spent the past few months educating the public about why it is the best thing to happen to the Australian rental market in decades. One of the first points of differences is that Smith Collective will have a blend of owner-occupiers and tenants. Too often the latter, by their own volition or the vibes they encounter, feel like outcasts because of the stigma attached with not owning their property. Our policy at Smith Collective is that no one is ‘just a tenant’ because everyone

is simply a resident. By removing those barriers, the build-to-rent concept creates equality across the board and allows the community to prosper and grow. Residents in build-to-rent developments have a sense of security many renters could only dream of. With just one landlord we are able to offer two-year lease and guarantee a property is not going to be sold out from underneath the tenant. In Europe, where the buy-to-rent model is extremely popular, tenants spend large portions of their lives living in these rentals – well beyond the usual transient stays of Australian renters. With such a large portion of Australians now renting, we believe it’s important that the industry is updated to adapt to their wants and needs, which gives us happier property managers and happier tenants. With the control we have as the single landlord, if a tenant wants to hang pictures, paint walls or even have pets, we don’t need to make them jump through hoops. Of course, there are still the normal processes of approval, but we want to make such scenarios the norm rather than the exception. It’s all about creating a sense of community, and anyone who works in real estate knows that is our ultimate goal. When it comes to Smith Collective, though, it’s happening in a way I’ve never

experienced before. From a blank canvas, we have been entrusted with developing a place where people not only want to live but play. In recent weeks we hosted our inaugural residents’ barbecue – a chance for the Smith Collective’s first residents to meet and mingle – while more events will roll out in our streets and parklands as the population grows. While the JLL team is playing a significant role, it is the residents who will ultimately lead the way; this is best evidenced by a query at that recent barbecue about the chances of them developing a herb garden – a request we’re more than happy to facilitate. While build-to-rent is new to Australia, we have been able to learn from international examples through JLL. As far back as the pre-bid process, our staff flew to the United Kingdom to tour the company’s other build-to-rent developments and tap into the knowledge of the people behind them. In recent weeks, Smith Collective also hosted a visit by JLL international director Sam Winnard, whose experience in the UK build-to-rent market has proven invaluable as we forge our own path. Build-to-rent may be a new concept for many people, but there are plenty in the real estate market who have been eagerly

anticipating its arrival on these shores. Property managers always strive to deliver excellent outcomes to tenants, but it’s often difficult to achieve with the additional pressures that come with the rental game. As we all know, it only takes one owner to throw your entire day off track. The difference with build-to-rent is we have parameters. One owner, one community – and what a joy that is from a property manager’s perspective! We’re hoping that, as the concept of build-to-rent takes off, more agencies will see the benefit of bidding for this type of developments and property managers and tenants alike will be able to experience the benefits. Smith Collective may be the first build-to-rent development in Australia, but it certainly won’t be the last. We are reinventing renting, and that’s a pretty exciting thing to be part of. 

TINA GREY is Head of Residential Management – Queensland for JLL and General Manager of the $550 million Smith Collective, the country’s first build-to-rent development. She is responsible for more than 4,000 apartments under management across 20 residential sites. For more information visit smithcollective.com.au.

BUSINESS IS HARD. DON’T DO IT ALONE. [ that’s where we come in ]

info@businessdepot.com.au

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IF IT'S NOT DINNER, THEN WHAT'S COOKING?

AUSTRALIA’S EXPANDING ILLICIT drug problem

is having an ever-increasing impact on investment property owners, with a growing number of rentals being contaminated by meth. Along with contamination come accusations – squarely levelled at the agent – about how it was allowed to happen. Sharon Fox-Slater of EBM's RentCover asks: If you found yourself on the receiving end of this question, would you have an answer, and would you be covered by insurance? 36 ELITE PROPERTY MANAGER • MARCH 2019

here's a new headline every day, it seems, about the problem of meth in rental properties. And when agents are accused of being responsible for allowing unsavoury elements to rent the property or not conducting adequate inspections, most then find out they have no cover through their Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance.

*International research has shown that a property is only likely to register levels of contamination that could impact health if it has been used to manufacture meth, not if the premises were only used as a place where occupants smoked ‘ice’. Source: https://www.pmcsa.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Methamphetamine-contamination-in-residential-properties.pdf

The sad reality is rentals are frequently used as ‘clan labs’ where various drugs are illegally manufactured. Some drugs, like methamphetamines, can be ‘cooked’ in residential kitchens and it is happening increasingly in investment properties in both metropolitan and rural areas. According to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, 463 clan labs were detected across Australia in 2016‑17, with the majority addict-based (49.5 per cent) and located in residential areas (63.9 per cent). Fires, explosions and other damage are the obvious ramifications of finding out a rental has been used to manufacture meth. But beyond the scorch marks, there can be a far less obvious problem lurking. Whether it’s a lone addict mixing up their own fix, or part of an organised crime gang’s operations, the after-effect of having a property used to manufacture meth can be one of contamination.[*] Dangerous chemicals, including lithium metal, liquid ammonia, LPG, acetone, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, are used when cooking ice and other meth-based drugs. They can leave a highly toxic residue which can seep into soft furnishings, carpets, timber floors, door frames, walls and ceilings. If a property is found to have been used as a meth lab, it will need special forensic cleaning which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. In some cases, homes have to be demolished and rebuilt.

Is your landlord covered?

From an insurance perspective, when a rental has been used as a meth lab there are two main areas for claims – damage and liability. When it comes to damage, many landlords find their insurance policy excludes drug-related claims. Unlike most landlord insurers, RentCover provides policyholders with up to $65,000 for cleaning up a drug-contaminated property if the damage is caused by tenants during the period of insurance, along with other costs incurred, including lost rental income while the property is remediated. Many insurers consider the manufacture of drugs on the premises as operating a business, an activity which is generally excluded from cover. Other insurers specifically exclude any claims relating to contamination. In other instances, the damage caused – for example malicious (home trashed in a drug-fuelled rampage, showered with bullets in rival gang retaliation), accidental

DESPITE EVEN THE MOST EXTENSIVE DUE DILIGENCE, CRIMINALS FIND WAYS TO BEAT THE ‘CHECKS AND BALANCES’ SYSTEM. (kitchen catches fire, garage explodes) or deliberate (electrics rewired, security installed) – will not be covered. Whatever the reason behind the exclusion, the outcome is the same: the landlord has no cover and has to pay for repairs (potentially even demolition and rebuilding) themselves. Aside from the cost of repairing damage caused by the home being converted into a drug den, the lingering presence of toxins presents a liability risk. Allowing a contaminated home to be occupied may breach the Residential Tenancies Act (duty of care) legislation in each state or even contravene building and health legislation, leaving the landlord exposed to legal action and claims for compensation. Cover for liability associated with contamination is treated similarly to damage by most insurers. Once again, landlords can find they have no cover in the event they are sued for negligence by allowing the premises to be leased when it was not in a fit state.

Who is accountable?

Faced with the prospect of not being adequately covered through their own landlord insurance, many investment property owners quickly turn their attention to their agent – and the fingerpointing is becoming increasingly common. No licensed agent would knowingly rent a property to someone they suspected was likely to operate a drug lab from the premises. But despite even the most extensive due diligence (checking rental databases, comprehensive reference checks, credit checks, police clearance, ID verification) criminals find ways to beat the ‘checks and balances’ system. It is not uncommon for organised crime gangs to send in dummy prospective tenants with impeccable presentation and references, only for those people to never set foot in the premises while it is occupied by ‘cooks’ and dealers.

More and more agents are being held accountable by a landlord (or by the landlord’s insurers looking to assign culpability) for issues relating to meth contamination, but what many agents don’t realise is their PI cover is likely to exclude any claims. Most PI policies in Australia do not offer cover for any sort of chemical contamination (there is often a ‘pollution’ exclusion clause), leaving agents exposed. TIP: We recommend agents are aware of their obligations in their state relating to disclosing material facts and information about the presence of meth contamination too, in order to meet statutory requirements and safeguard their PI cover.

How to protect yourself

Before you find yourself starring in your own personal version of Breaking Bad crossed with Law & Order, it would be prudent to check your PI cover to make sure it offers adequate protection in the event you are sued for negligence. At EBM RentCover we are seeing more instances where landlords are taking their agents to task for poor tenant selection and insufficient property inspections (breach of agents’ professional duty), and laying the blame for meth contamination compensation claims at the agent’s door. Agents with PI cover obtained through EBM (EBM RentCover’s parent company) are covered in instances where the contamination claim arises from a breach of professional duty on the part of the agent. Many of their colleagues are not. Globally, ice addiction is on the rise and demand for illicit manufacture is high. Now is the time to make sure your PI cover will protect you when you are issued with a ‘please explain’ by your landlord (or a ‘see you in court’ by their insurer joining you in an action or direct from a tenant seeking compensation) after the property was rented to someone who used it as a clan lab. Claims against agents are rising; don’t find out the hard way you aren’t covered. 

SHARON FOX-SLATER is the Managing Director of EBM’s RentCover. For more information, visit rentcover.com.au. 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. Article supplied by EBM.

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ROCKEND SPONSORED FEATURE

TRAINING DAY

MELINDA COTTON is the Learning and Education Manager at Rockend. One of the main things she’d like to educate the industry on is the need for greater training at all levels.

roperty management can be a complex role. The property

manager’s primary role is to manage the tenancy of rental properties, but it comes with a multitude of areas of responsibility – including the maintenance, security and functionality of a given property. Then one must factor in the human component, including the needs and desires of the property owner, the tenant and the owner of the real estate agency he or she works for. The range of issues that can and do arise reflect the relatively high turnover of staff who work in

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this area and who arguably have not received the level of training that would better equip them to deal with this multitude of issues. Property management is a significant part of the real estate industry. It is a rapidly growing and changing area that must be ready to adapt to change while meeting the needs of all the stakeholders involved. The profit margins for many small- to medium-sized real estate offices can be quite modest, so often training is one of the first things to go. The cost associated with sending property managers to adequate training can be higher than the business owner can justify in

their budgeting. But feedback is that property managers want and need more training. Melinda Cotton is the Learning and Education Manager for Rockend, which has developed a range of software programs for the real estate industry. She has been in real estate for over 23 years and has seen a significant shift in property management over those years. Cotton says there isn’t enough structured training for property managers, as smaller agencies just can’t afford the time or money to send them and larger agencies are under extra pressure to cover the workloads. She is eager to emphasise how “investing in

training for property managers is important to the running of a real estate business and support of the staff, and with that comes lowering of staff turnover, the cost of which far outweighs the cost of regular training”. The role of property managers has become more complex and quite litigious, so it is more important than ever that they have some understanding of the legalities involved. Cotton says, “The property manager is typically torn between looking after the property owner, who wants to maximise their return, and the tenant, who wants to pay the least amount of money.” She feels that property managers need business training as well as practical training, and often a greater degree of emotional support. However, she particularly recommends practical training, such as maximising the use of the software used by the agency, to make the role of the property manager easier and less taxing.

Gender awareness

“THE PROPERTY MANAGER IS TYPICALLY TORN BETWEEN LOOKING AFTER THE PROPERTY OWNER, WHO WANTS TO MAXIMISE THEIR RETURN, AND THE TENANT, WHO WANTS TO PAY THE LEAST AMOUNT OF MONEY.”

According to research conducted by Rockend and published in the 2018 Voice of Property Management Report, 82 per cent of property managers are women. While we all have the right to feel safe in our workplaces, women in particular need to feel safe when conducting inspections or attending to any issues with tenants or property. It has become ever more important for principals to ensure their staff are well trained and have the necessary physical and sometimes emotional support to do their work properly. Cotton raises questions like ‘When is it OK to send a property manager to a property to evict a tenant without support?’ Or ‘What happens if a property manager has suspicions of some kind of domestic violence when they visit a property?’

“WHILE WE ALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE IN OUR WORKPLACES, WOMEN IN PARTICULAR NEED TO FEEL SAFE WHEN CONDUCTING INSPECTIONS OR ATTENDING TO ANY ISSUES WITH TENANTS OR PROPERTY.” Great experiences

According to the data included in the report, “A typical property management employee is likely to be a young woman working in a full-time position who has held her role for less than two years. She is most likely to work in a smaller business with fewer than five people, probably personally managing around 100 properties or more.” There is a high turnover of people working as property managers, as it is one of the few industries with little enforced or formal training. Cotton feels this is short-sighted as it is extremely important to maintain the wellbeing of staff, which in turn protects the business. In her view, it would be useful to have a training plan that is ongoing. While there are some small components of training in the REIA (Real Estate Institute of Australia) courses, this varies widely from state to state and the majority of the training is sales-based. Cotton believes the lack of ongoing training is potentially one of the reasons there has been a high attrition rate in the industry. Accordingly, she is a strong advocate for CPD (continual professional development), which Rockend can now offer for their in-classroom training sessions in NSW, with other states to follow. 

Training conducted in any form provides undeniable benefits, not just to the individual staff member but the business they work for. These include: CONSISTENCY – a defined training and development program ensures that employees have a consistent experience and awareness of the expectations and procedures within the work environment, and the customer has a consistent brand experience with the agency. INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND ADHERENCE TO QUALITY STANDARDS – productivity and efficiency, particularly in the use of technology and software programs, usually increase when businesses invest in training their staff. Increased innovation in new strategies and products – ongoing training and upskilling of staff can encourage creativity in many forms, including refreshing processes, business strategy creation and customer experiences. REDUCED EMPLOYEE TURNOVER – staff are more likely to feel valued if they are invested in and potentially less likely to change employers, therefore minimising recruitment costs. RISK MANAGEMENT – helps staff to identify, assess, manage and monitor risks, particularly in situations such as staff safety when conducting inspections and handling tribunal cases.

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Q&A

ASK THE PM COACHES From inspiring your team to dealing with changes in legislation, our Real+ coaches Lauren Kirk, Kate Benjamin and Heidi Walkinshaw are here to help. To have your question answered email askthecoach@eliteagent.com.

LAUREN KIRK

KATE BENJAMIN

General Manager, Coach, Consultant & Trainer

Coach, Consultant and Trainer

HEIDI WALKINSHAW Coach, Consultant and Trainer

The newness of the year has worn off and the day to day is starting to set in. What can I do to get my team back into the activities we need to be doing to achieve the results we want for this year?

Great question. First up, be the area expert. Consistently provide valueadd information and ensure you have secured multiple contact methods for keeping in touch. Once it comes time to list the property, your digital offering needs to be on point. Many investors will be researching you well before you talk to them. Formulate a comprehensive email proposal using links to video, case studies and social proof of your success. Prepare a PDF or eBook version of your listing kit that can be viewed online. Set up an account with Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting or similar that allows you to invite the client to a virtual listing pitch. Ideally, you should have the ability for video link, as well as the capability to share your screen and work through your listing pitch. Now it's time to work your magic. Treat the pitch as if you were sitting across the dining table from your investor client and remember… Always. Be. Closing.

As a leader, we know that consistency is key; but it can be one of the toughest things to maintain, especially when the day to day starts to take over. Getting back on track can be easy with consistent communication and reliable actions. Communication is about connection and it’s important to keep that connection with your team, even when you are busy. Check in consistently, not just when you remember, and check in on a personal level. If you start to lose sight of those goals, check in again and make sure your team revisit the direction and strategy but, most importantly, share the results and celebrate the wins. Your actions reflect the actions of your team, so it’s about doing what matters and keeping yourself and your team accountable for these actions and activity. When you are consistent, it’s easier to expect your team to be consistent too. So day in, day out, show up not only with a smile on your face, but the energy to motivate, inspire and empower your team to consistently achieve the results you want this year.

Increasingly, our market is seeing out of area investors, many of whom I never get the chance to meet before they select a managing agent. How can I increase my strike rate?

YOUR ACTIONS REFLECT THE ACTIONS OF YOUR TEAM, SO IT’S ABOUT DOING WHAT MATTERS AND KEEPING YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THESE ACTIONS AND ACTIVITY.

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There are so many changes coming through with legislation! How can we cope with them all? Before racing out and upskilling on the changes or making any modifications to your office, it is imperative to remember that, while reforms are passed, there will often be a period of consultation and development of the associated regulations. This means there may be slight adjustments before the proposed changes come into effect. Once amendments have been passed, it is important to read through the legislated changes and attend training sessions to ensure that you are across all areas of knowledge necessary for your role. When you are back in your office, get your team together and create a project plan around potential systems and processes that need adjusting. You may like to send out an update to your owners and tenants to make them aware of the amendments or even hold an information and networking session. Allocate the role of head of the project to the legislation champion in your office so that they can ensure all the necessary frameworks are rolled out to the team and everyone receives the relevant communication. Above all, breathe! These won’t be the last changes to come through with legislation and will be an interesting space to watch as humans and the industry evolve. n

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