THE THINGS CHRIS THINKS HE THINKS
As the world continues to move at lightning speed towards a 24/7/365 society, one value that we are holding firm on within our business is how and when we reach others, and expect others to reach us.
We have been criticised for having a business model that does not support the use of messaging platforms. But there is a really good reason for that, and that reason is our people.
As a user, I 100% appreciate the value in taking care of my life admin on a Friday night with a beer in one hand in front of the footy. But where I draw the line in a human perspective is when I know the other end of that life admin is a person, hopefully also on the couch with their family taking some well earned rest.
The lines blur, however, when that person is expected to receive messages from clients via a message platform. I expect my team to be “on” during the hours agreed upon between myself and them. I don’t expect them to absorb the mental load of messages outside of those hours, regardless of whether the response to that message can wait until the next business day.
I also support my staff with caring responsibilities - particularly those with children or aging parents, to be present in the moments where they are needed. Friendship dramas at school. Long division homework. Medical appointments. Preparing dinner. Dad’s taxi from swimming to ballet to tennis to guitar.
Our staff can be contacted by email. They will triage them according to urgency. If they are unavailable to answer your call, feel free to leave a message. Outside of business hours we have an emergency call number, so if your toilet springs a leak or if there is an emergency onsite, you can absolutely reach us.
We’re still there for you - just in a way that considers our people as much as it considers our client.
Most people have seen the meme on SM of the Mona Lisa, with the question “can you do it cheaper?”
I’m very open and transparent in our fees. Once I have ascertained the ins and outs of your property, I can tell you what I will charge and why. I’ll tell you what’s included and what’s not. Previously I have put my fees up considerably after a period of time - usually when the workload expected of me hasn’t added up to the initial brief.
I’ve seen many of my peers in the race to the bottom when they quote their fees. In the desperation to win business they cut and cut until they hit an unsustainably low level.
What suffers? Either service levels to the client OR the well-being of their staff - neither of which are okay with me.
The old saying “you get what you pay for” is true.
So is check the fine print. Because if your fees are low there is a fair chance the charges in the fine print will make up for it.
Is it just me, or is the world angry? (Not the physical world, the people in it.)
The vast majority seem to want what they want and they want it now.
I will save you my full-blown-Gen-X-rant, but I also see a generation of young adults so hung up on their rights, that they neglect to understand their responsibilities.
Walk into any retail store and you’ll probably see a sign saying that staff are to be treated with respect.
Go to junior sport on a weekend and you’ll see signs asking spectators to refrain from abusing umpires and referees (often kids themselves).
And don’t get me started on what school teachers need to put up with - from kids AND their parents.
The “customer is always right” mantra has gotten out of hand.
Both the Owners Corporation and Real Estate sectors can be highly emotive. A lot of money at stake. People’s homes. Their inheritances. Their legacies. Their safe space. Their superannuation.
Combine this emotion with different personalities and it can get pretty hectic.
Combine this emotion with different personalities and it can get pretty hectic.
However, as professionals in this field, we aren’t your punching bag, or your scapegoat. We have - and will continue to - cut off clients when we feel that we just aren’t on the same team anymore. We will empathise and problem solve and persist and adapt and see the bigger picture, until we can’t do those things anymore.
As an example I've had a discussion with a client, who was being none too kind about their experience with previous Managers. As the months ticked on by, I was seeing the same problems over and over again with this site. I had a heart to heart with this same person again, and put to them that the problem was never the previous Managers, it was the site and the way the owners wanted it ran. The problem wasn’t the manager, the problem was the client.
So should we take everything thrown at us and see the income on our P&L as justification for copping it?
I don’t think so.
Not long ago I received a couple of emails from current tenants, both of which were signed off with the same sentiment.
“You have always treated me with kindness and respect. No other Property Manager has ever done that”.
It’s safe to say I sat back in my chair, scratched my head, and pondered how many of my peers lacked the skill that I feel is a no-brainer.
I do wonder if a lot of my peers have never rented before. Have they never felt the pressure of being judged? Never felt the panic when you realise your rent payment bounced because your pay went in a day late?
Have they never spent a Sunday cleaning and tidying, knowing that on Monday at a rental inspection the mere sight of some dishes in the sink or fingerprints on a window might jeopardise a lease renewal, or be the cause for an unsubstantiated rent increase or eviction?
If you have rented before, like I have, you will know that feeling.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m no pushover. I will issue - in line with legislation - notices to vacate when I have cause to. I will chase rent. I will take money from a Bond when I have good and legal cause to.
But I will be flexible, and understanding, and treat your tenants with respect. I have an old fashioned value that if I treat your tenants well, they will treat your property well. It’s a value that is yet to let me down.
Is that time of year - OC AGM time.
The question pops up every time.
Every. Single. Year.
I hit “send” on AGM budgets and “save the date” emails, then the notifications of replies start.
“Do I really have to go?”
I have learnt a lot in my time, both as an OC Manager, and an owner and committee member myself. One of my biggest learnings is that not everything is always as it seems.
I have seen OCs with awful problems continue to spiral downwards due to the apathy of owners who didn’t feel their contribution at an AGM would be helpful. Numbers matter. People matter. Mature conversations and hearing all sides of the story matter.
I have also seen great OCs with no problems at all implode because personalities with alterior motives and agendas took control of AGMs - all because the people with no problems chose to not attend, assuming all would continue to tick along as smoothly as it had been.
I have had owners beside themselves due to committee decisions, asking how it was possible that a select few could gain so much control. When I point out that they were appointed at an AGM, almost every time the owner admits that they didn’t see the need in attending, conceding that their attendance might have meant a different outcome.
So, where possible, attend your AGM.
If your OC is falling apart.
If your OC has no problems.
If your OC are your mates.
You never know who else might be in the room.