Growing Your Property Management Business: What’s Working and What Can Be Improved?

"Begin at the beginning," said the King in Alice in Wonderland, and he was right. When it comes to setting goals for your property management business, you need to begin with a sound understanding of where you are right now. After that, you can work toward future growth. Use a business assessment of your rental property business can help you understand the state of your management company and where to focus your energy.

Examine Your Marketing Techniques

When you're considering what's working for your business, think about how you connect with your tenants. What is your current marketing strategy? Today, there are many ways to reach prospective tenants, from print ads to email newsletters to direct marketing events. You should also consider web-based marketing approaches, such as content marketing using blog posts and web pages that show that you're a property management expert who's willing to share expertise with others in the field. Do an inventory of your current marketing methods, from word of mouth to SEO, video, and webinars. Know what audiences you reach and what platforms you are using right now.

What Marketing Channels Work for Your Property Management Business?

Next, evaluate how your marketing channels and techniques are working to attract new tenants and new owners. According to the Houston Chronicle, your business should "analyze your target consumer to deduce their service needs." Using marketing analytics, you can develop reports that measure your property management marketing ROI, so that you can target your marketing techniques in specific areas to generate the best return. Consider whether your existing marketing techniques could do more for your business. Is your email copy well-targeted? Is your website attractive, responsive, and user-friendly? Identify changes and trends over time and determine what new goals to set based on your new understanding of your property marketing channels.

How Do You Manage Your Leads?

After the leads come into your business, where do they go? Look at the way your business manages incoming tenants. Develop a tenant portal that begins with a thorough online tenant application and screening process. Evaluate your need for or the success of your contact center. Understanding your marketing channels and lead conversion success is all about understanding the techniques that fit your business. According to The Alternative Board, "think of your business as a car, and a business assessment as the blueprint for its design. While you might know your vehicle's exact make, model, and mileage, you probably can't remember all the details about its construction, such as the exact diameter of each of its hoses." A business assessment provides a way to re-visit the details of your business and it helps in providing assurance that your techniques truly work for your business.

Understand how your services for owners and tenants connect to your retention rates.

How Well Do You Work With Your Existing Clients?

You can also use your data analytics to understand how your relationships with existing owners and clients are faring. Use reports to connect maintenance regimes, specific regions, or other property data trends with vacancy rates or repairs in each property. If you notice a change in tenant turnover, you can use this carefully-collected data to better understand what you could improve.

As you build your business, Propertyware is here to help. With data collection and reporting on marketing techniques and tenant turnover, you'll be better able to understand business trends and make the changes you need to improve your business. Take a free tour of Propertyware today.