5 Ways to Make a Real Difference in Commercial Property Management Today
It is important that you make a real difference in commercial or retail property management for your clients if you are seeking more new business and growth of professional services. Many agents manage commercial and retail property very ‘generically’ and in doing so add very little value to the process.
Whilst it is always good to have the fees generated from managing properties, true growth only comes from specialisation and high quality service for your clients.
Consider what you are providing now to your clients in service, and compare that to other agents locally. Why should a client choose your property management services over that of other agents? When I put that question to agents I usually get an answer that includes variations of the following points:
- We know the local area
- We have good people
- We know what we are doing
- You can trust us to do a good job
- We are local and have been here for many years
- We will work hard to help our clients
- We work for you and your property
So the list goes on, and I am sure you may have one or two facts you can add to the process. All of these statements are of no great consequence in winning the new business. They are far too general and of little substance; you should go deeper in capturing the interest of your clients.
Here are 5 points to illustrate what you can do to improve your relevance as a brokerage that provides high quality property management services:
- Income optimisation – The income from a property can be improved in many ways. It is critical that you find ways to do that and help the client see your ideas and strategies. That process will normally include improving market rentals, rent review alternatives, and staged leasing.
- Tenant retention – The tenants in a property will move away from a property at the end of a lease if they are not encouraged to stay by using occupancy incentives and leasing alternatives. Understand what your tenants are doing and thinking. Create a tenant retention plan.
- Vacancy minimisation – A property with vacancies will be losing money. That will be in rent, outgoings, and third income streams. Create an approach to track all the leases and minimise vacancies across the property.
- Lease improvement – Use leases that are specifically designed for the property and the client. Do not use ‘generic leases’ with a general approach to the market and occupancy issues.
- Comprehensive reporting – Most clients like to know what is going on in their property today and what is coming up. Make your reports to your clients more comprehensive and timely so your clients can be prepared for the changes of the market and the requirements of the property or the tenant mix.
From these things you can see some definite ways to improve your processes and relevance as commercial and retail property managers.