What Should You Expect From Your Property Manager?

Great Service: Does Your Property Manager Have What It Takes?

As a board member, you want your building to run smoothly and stay financially healthy. That’s why most boards turn to their property manager to help them. Naturally, you expect your manager and the rest of your management team to provide quality service, but if they don’t have what they need – and what it takes – how can they give your property and residents the service they deserve? Find out if they are qualified to provide you with exceptional service by asking the following three 3 questions.
 

Does the Property Manager Have Support?

Even the best property managers can’t do everything by themselves! The right support is critical for them to succeed in delivering the exceptional service your board and residents expect and deserve. According to Jeremy Cohen, business development director at FirstService Residential, “Good managers are only as capable as the support they have.” That support should include:

• Assistance from accounting, purchasing, vendor relations and financial services specialists
• Involvement of human relations professionals for all personnel matters to ensure that you get the right level of on-site staffing
• Ongoing training to develop and improve management skills, keep up with industry standards and be informed about regulatory changes
• A 24/7 customer care center that can quickly provide them and your community with needed information
• Administrative support
• Technology and communication tools

In addition, an experienced team leader with their finger on the pulse of the community provides important support. “The most capable managers leverage their team,” explains Aubrey Phillibert a Team Leader at FirstService Residential. “When a board member calls, I already know what’s going on at their property. Having that structure in place helps maintain institutional knowledge and consistency in management. The team leader should know the building well enough to help replace a beloved manager with the right person.”
 

Does Your Property Manager Have the Right Personality?

Caring and empathy can’t be taught. People who are naturally caring go above and beyond for the people around them and in the work they do. Caring managers take ownership of the communities and buildings they work in, doing their very best to serve the board and residents.
 
Great property managers also have a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ), meaning they have an ability to read and assist people – including residents of your property. Their empathy enables them to put themselves in others’ shoes and understand their perspective. Other traits of managers with a high EQ is that they are forward-thinking, adaptive, resourceful, hospitality-minded, flexible, self-motivated and able to communicate clearly. As a result, they are trusted advisors to your board.
 
Emotional intelligence should extend to a property manager’s team leader as well. The team leader is the person who needs to match the right manager to each building. This requires the understanding of the personality of the property and choosing a manager whose personality meshes with it. Even the most stellar manager won’t succeed if they aren’t the right fit.
 

Do Your Residents Know What to Expect From Your Property Manager?

Residents’ awareness and understanding of the role of a property manager can affect how they perceive their manager. The most incredible manager ever won’t be seen as capable if residents have expectations that are outside a manager’s responsibility.
 
The board is responsible for creating policies based on their vision for the property, while the management team simply executes those policies. However, a lot of residents mistakenly believe that the manager sets policy. Therefore, when they are unhappy with a policy or rule, they respond by voicing dissatisfaction with the manager.

Sometimes residents don’t understand what they are responsible for in the building. Is management responsible for helping with storm preparation or snow removal? Who pressure washes and cleans balconies on high-rises? New residents need to be walked through the roles and responsibilities of everyone in the community so they have the right expectations of their management team. It doesn’t hurt to remind long-term residents of those responsibilities from time to time either!
 
Great management and exceptional service are essential to the harmony and success of your property. To ensure that you get what you expect, you need a manager with the right support and the right personality. And, of course, you need to set the right expectations with residents about the role of management. To learn more about what makes an excellent property manager, download our guide, Dream Team: The Key to Service Excellence, today!