Propertyware University Turns Trial into Triumph

“Propertyware University saved my life.”

That’s how Denise Paul -Elliott , broker/owner at California-based property manager Walker and Paul, describes her experience with the online learning program that turned 11 newbies into Propertyware aces in a matter of weeks following an acquisition.

“We purchased a property management company and merged on January 1, 2017,” she recalls. “The two of us were already Propertyware users, but suddenly we found ourselves with 11 new employees who had never laid eyes on it. And they needed to be smoothly managing properties using the software in a very short time.”

“We were swamped – there was just no time for us to spend teaching the new staff how to use our software. We had to totally rely on Propertyware University, so we made it a requirement that all of them complete the entire learning program, including the videos and live sessions.”

Paul says everything they needed could be found in the program. “Occasionally they’d come to me with a question, and I’d tell them to go back and review the relevant training and then let me know if they couldn’t find the answer. And they nearly always could.”

Today, every member of the staff is proficient with Propertyware. But Paul still sends them back to review material and check for any new training when there’s downtime. “The University was a godsend as a crash course,” she says, “but it also has great benefit as an ongoing source of knowledge about how to get the most out of the software.”

Tom Hall, Director of Client Services for Single-Family at Propertyware, says Walker and Paul provides a great example of a company wisely exploiting Propertyware University to keep the software training burden from interfering with their day-to-day duties.

“It was developed as a centralized location for all Propertyware training,” says Hall. “As such, it is more than just an aid in training people on the software – it can pretty much do the whole job if you really take advantage of it.”

He points to the complementary components of pre-recorded sessions and daily live sessions with open mic. “The live sessions are interactive and you can ask particular questions,” he says. “But people aren’t always free to attend those, and that’s where the recorded sessions come in.”

The live training is presented in a “day in the life” fashion, reflecting what property managers actually do day in and day out. “This makes it real instead of abstract,” says Hall. “Instead of ‘here’s how to use this or that feature,’ it’s ‘here’s how to pay management fees, here’s how to move someone in.’ We take them through the things they do in a given day, showing them how to do them with Propertyware.”

Managers like the fact that they can monitor their staff’s training progress via certificates of completion. These certificates, says Denise Paul, go right into their employee folders.

More learning on the way

Tom Hall gets excited when he describes a new learning track that will complement Propertyware University.

“A lot of what we’re adding is based on user feedback, which we really listen to,” says Hall. “Lately we’ve been adding things like how to leverage custom fields, use the reports, view and filter data in customized dashboards, and how to excel in the various steps from converting a prospect through lease-up.”

But the biggest change to come, he says, is a milestone-driven 30-day process that will take clients from knowing nothing about Propertyware to knowing it like the back of their hands. It’s already being piloted. Hall says this learning process will beautifully round out the offerings of Propertyware University.

“Taking on new core software to run your business has always been a bit intimidating,” concludes Hall. “Our intention is to replace the fear and pain with a smooth, friendly, easy path towards strong proficiency with Propertyware, and the sense of pleasure and empowerment that come with having wonderful tools at your fingertips that you really know how to use.”