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Automation: Growing Your Doors Without Growing Your Staff

ethan-lieber-latchel-ceo
Ethan Lieber
October 30, 2019
Automation growing-your-doors-without-growing-your-staff

Growing your property management business means you need more people to handle more doors.

Or does it?

What if you could get more business without adding more new hires? If hiring more people is a roadblock keeping you from taking on more property owners, we’re excited to tell you the block has been lifted. Your path is clear. More doors are in the (near) future for you.

You don’t need more people. You need automation. 

Technology is the answer to growth. Here’s why.

You Don’t Need to Do ALL The Things

Without automation, you spend a large chunk of your day doing things you don’t really need to do. Your staff is also bogged down with too many tasks, too.

If you evaluate the time you spend answering emails, manually handling lease renewals, chasing down late rent payments, or following up with the wrong leads, you’ll find you spend more time on routine tasks than on growing your business and building relationships with your property owners.

Workflow automation takes the “routine” tasks off of your plate. When you have more time to focus on the business of managing properties, you discover you have time to manage more properties. 

What Things Does Automation Do?

Imagine a property management lifestyle where you don’t have to collect rent checks. We’re not saying the rent doesn’t come in every month. We are saying you don’t have to personally chase down late payments.

Rent is what pays the bills and your staff! Rent is what pays your property owners! It’s critical to a thriving property management business—and it’s one of the best things to turn into an automated process. If rent collection can come off of your plate, what else can we automate?

  • Late Rent Collection—The most time-consuming part of collecting rent is chasing down late payments. With an online automated system, you don’t have to task anyone on your team to chase down those delinquent payments. The system does it for you.
  • Lease Renewals and Expirations—Automation keeps an eye on lease renewals for you. When it’s time to communicate with your tenant, your system is set up for alerts and notices. The automated workflow can execute the new lease online, too.
  • Maintenance—How much time does your team spend tracking down contractors and coordinating property repairs or maintenance with your tenants? Let an automated system take on that task. It’s easier for tenants and contractors, and it frees valuable time for more income-generating tasks.
  • Generate (qualified) leads—You can make cold calls all day and never get any interest. It’s a time-waster. With an automated marketing funnel, you only have a human contact leads that show promise. They can spend more time cultivating a promising lead than calling and leaving messages for property managers who never call back.

This is just the beginning. Property management lends itself well to standardizing and automating tasks that many business owners assume need a human touch. However, you’ll have more room to add more doors when you use your humans more effectively and take the “busy work” off of their plate.

Automation Doesn’t Replace Humans. It Enhances Them.

Automation doesn’t replace your people. It enhances their effectiveness so that you have room to grow. Your bottom line improves when you add more doors without adding more people to your team. 

You and your team already spend long hours serving your property owners and tenants with excellence. The idea of adding another door to your client list is probably overwhelming for them as they struggle with workloads as they are now. Your budget doesn’t support a new hire. Yet you know the most successful property management businesses need new doors to stay competitive. 

It might not feel like it, but you’re in the perfect place to grow through workflow automation—and your team will thank you for it! Your staff will thrive when they can come to work and make a difference for property owners and tenants. Placing cold calls or creating spreadsheets to run reports for property owners isn’t the best use of their time.

Don’t misunderstand. Your team is still needed. Property management is a people business. Yes, you manage inanimate properties, but your business grows when you connect and build relationships with property owners and tenants. Providing excellent service from a happy team helps owners and tenants want to stay with your company.

Automate Your Way to New Doors

New doors don’t commit to your property management services automatically. However, the road to new doors is clear with automated processes that help you grow.

Nothing replaces the staff you have and the quality of services you provide. To offer excellent property management services and grow your business, you don’t need more people. You need your current staff eager to serve clients. If your team is bogged down in the details that an automated system could (and should) do for them, your clients (and business) can suffer.

Clear their plates! Put processes into a system where they belong, and give your staff the time they need to bring new doors to your doorReady to see what Rent Bridge can do to automate your workflow help you grow your business? Check out our Property Management Operating System (PMOS) and schedule a free demo!

Author: Michael Park

Michael Park is the Managing Partner at Rent Bridge Group, LLC . After managing the operations, sales, and metrics for thousands of residential properties across the nation, Michael advises property management companies on how to grow and manage their business. With more than 18 years of industry experience, Michael helps companies streamline processes, develop powerful growth strategies, and help build more profitable property management companies.

Michael is a seasoned real estate professional, executive level manager, and entrepreneur. Michael has been involved in thousands of residential real estate transactions while working in property management, as a partner at a large, multi-office real estate law firm, a regional title insurance executive, and as founder and owner of a successful real estate law firm. Michael has been featured on Fox 4, KLIF 570 AM, KRLD 1080 AM, Trulia.com, Unlock Your Wealth Radio, and numerous news articles.

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