'Will a Property Management Consultant Help My Business?'

There are a variety of reasons to bring in a property management consultant—and when you work with Real-Time Consulting Services, you'll be bringing on a new (and unbiased) set of eyes ready to help you find areas for improvement or growth.

There are certainly times when a consultant cannot help. If a company isn't interested in growth and isn't willing to experiment with some changes, hiring a consultant cannot make you ready for those things.

However, if you are prepared to give a consultant's point of view a fair hearing—and then test out the potential changes they suggest—you might be in a place to receive serious benefits from a consultant as a new or experienced property management company owner.

What Consulting Looks Like: People, Processes, and Technology

A property management consultant is going to help you go through your operations with a fine-toothed comb, figuring out what is already best-of-its-kind—and what could be brought into alignment with best practices.

This will mean evaluating a few different areas and noticing which ones have room for improvement. Remember: your current system doesn't have to be 'bad' for there to be ways to make more money, delight more customers, or see growth in your customer base overall. 

Here are some of the areas we'd discuss if you work with Real-Time Consulting Services:

Your People

Especially with small businesses, it is easy to 'build the business around the people,' keeping the wrong mix of staff—even when you know deep down that the work requires people with a different skill set.

• Property management consultants can help you make a plan to slowly and carefully adjust your talent management so that you are hiring and retaining the employees who bring you the most value.

• We also can help you learn about and implement a professional development plan, which can help you bring valued current employees additional skills that benefit both their careers and your business.

Your Processes

If each employee does a particular task three different ways, they waste time, may lose confidence when they aren't sure which way is 'right,' and appear less consistent and professional to your customers.

• Bringing your protocols into alignment and documenting them clearly for future employee training is a key part of streamlining your business. You'll see your efficiency go up even as your customers receive better care.
• We're experts in business strategy, too, so we can help you track how this efficiency begins to help your business grow and stay lean, whether that means setting KPIs and metrics or crafting your goals for the next five years.

Your Technology

From how you market properties for your clients to how you collect rent online, there are powerful software packages available now that can help you do the most rote parts of your work with 100% accuracy and consistency. However, implementing software solutions can be expensive and time-consuming if you don't put in the hours to learn and onboard the first time.

Our consultancy works hard to help you really understand the value-add of new technologies so that you're communicating more promptly and consistently with clients and renters while maximizing the useful hours of your employees.

An Outside Perspective Helps Right the Ship

Many of these elements are things you've probably thought through yourself. However, like anyone who has gotten stuck doing a puzzle because they've looked at it for too long, you may have a blind spot or two.

The goal of a property management consultant isn't to offer harsh criticism but rather to explore areas for growth. Sometimes, a process becomes so common in a company that no one thinks to ask, 'Why do we do it that way?' 

Consultants make it their business to ask these questions—and when they know a faster, easier, and cheaper way to deliver high-quality results, they share it. Yes, it means being open to change, which is hard for everyone—but it can also result in happier employees, long-term customers, and a thriving business that generates a profit.

No Magic Wand: The Impact of a Consultant Over Time

While we want to help you see quick results from a property management coach, you don't want to expect a magic wand—especially if you come to the consultant while in a crisis of some kind.

Your business is ultimately yours, and you'll be able to see changes when you thoroughly implement major improvements to your processes, people management, and technology. We expect these things to take time to show improvement because there is always a 'start-up cost' in time and resources.

For instance, learning how to use property management software well takes hours in the beginning—but results in only minutes of work per task (or less!) over time, where you'll see major savings. 

Consultants also introduce you to processes of evaluating your business that can be used over time. If, in a year, you want to make further improvements, simply take that fine-toothed comb to your business again and ask those tough questions: 'Why do we do this process this way, and how could it be improved?'

A consultant's value continues to grow over time. If you're ready to see where your people, processes, and technology could use some improvement to boost your bottom line, let's get in touch!