By Ros Burton (Principal – The Real Estate People)
Here’s something that’s said way too often: “Property managers are all the same”.
It’s a generalisation I hear a lot; and I hope it’s not true – because I’ve seen some bad ones in my time. Really bad.
Whether it’s through laziness, inexperience or a slapdash approach to processes or accuracy, I’ve heard a number of horror stories from across the industry.
I think customers deserve better.
I talk a lot about trust – I think that’s the cornerstone of any relationship whether it’s a couple, a vendor and an agent; or a landlord and their property manager.
I’ve had professional dealings with people where I’ve been misled or even down-right lied to – and I don’t like it.
They’ve lost me forever.
That’s why my team knows the value I put on being honest with our clients.
I stress the importance of being honourable and accountable and sometimes that means delivering bad news. And some customers don’t like it.
But, if you sugar-coat the problem or shy away from the realities of the issue, you’re only going to compound the trouble – and then YOU become the ‘bad guy’ instead of the solution.
I’ve been yelled at by clients and I’ve received beautiful bouquets of flowers in the same week.
I treat all of it as a learning opportunity.
If I’ve absolutely nailed it and the client couldn’t be happier – fantastic, let’s take what we did right and repeat it again and again and again until it becomes part of the office culture.
But, just as telling, if we drop the ball we have to learn from that as well…and then examine why it happened and how we’re going to prevent it from occurring again.
I make mistakes, my staff can make mistakes (we all do in life) – through lack of hours in the day or miscommunication, sometimes it happens.
But good property managers vow to better themselves as a result; the bad ones simply hit the snooze button – ensuring another disaster is just 10 minutes away.
Don’t let it happen to you – you deserve better than that.
So, the answer to the opening statement is: “no, not all property managers are the same” and my incredible team and I promise to keep it that way.