Whether you are a longtime property manager, or new to the job, chances are good that you have picked up a few habits – some good, and some bad. But how can you tell which habits are which, or that you even have them at all?

Simple: Always be willing to listen, evaluate, and adapt.

You know you want to do right by your tenants, bosses, and property management team. If your process doesn’t seem to be working, or isn’t working as well as it could, it might be time for a change in your workflow habits, or the tools you use to perform your job.

Highly successful property managers….

1. Dive into their dashboard. First thing.
   

   What is the first thing that you do when you get to the office in the morning? (Besides getting a cup of coffee!)

   The best property managers use this time to review their property performance dashboard, so that they can plan out their team’s actions for the day.

   For those with Property Management Software, this means a consolidated, online view of real-time property performance. These dashboards views are typically customizable and show, at a quick glance, open and critical work orders, unresolved tenant inquiries, expiring COIs, their team’s schedule, and more.

   But even if you don’t have the tech tools to create an online dashboard, it’s still a huge step toward success to create your own set of key reports that you can view first thing each morning. And if you can have these automatically emailed to you, even better!

2. Love data. Even Bad Data.

   
   At Building Engines we offer a set of Tenant Satisfaction tools that not only allows you to set service delivery benchmarks, but it allows tenants to provide feedback at any point during the work order. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard property managers, who can use this tool for free with our platform, say, “Oh. No, I don’t want to open that can of worms.”

   Truly successful property managers want this data- even if it’s an occasional “thumbs down” feedback rating from a tenant. They understand that it’s better to address the problem immediately rather than let it fester until lease renewal, or an end-of year tenant survey.

   Remember: Every piece of feedback – good or bad – is an opportunity to make the tenant experience better, before their issues fester into a lease non-renewal.

3. Understand the Modern Tenant.

   It sounds cliché, but times have changed. You are no longer selling space, you are selling productivity. Today’s tenants want instant access to building services, documents, and your team. Sure, it’s still great to offer tenant’s the option to call property management, it’s important to have a personal relationship, but it’s also (almost) a given at this point that they can aslo quickly submit a work order online and track it’s progress in real-time.

   Tenant’s expect modern property websites, mobile access, and property management processes that don’t take more time away from their productivity.

4. Build a network.

   Do you have a network of industry experts, peers, and vendors outside of your inner circle?

   When the stuff hits the fan and you need to get the job done, a great property manager has a network of resources available and at-the-ready. But he/she also utilizes this network to stay on top of best practices, bounce ideas, and keep innovating.

   Attending local industry conferences (like CRE Tech Intersect, BOMA, IREM, etc.), meet-ups, and joining conversation groups on social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn can be a great opportunity for meeting individuals in your field.

5. Embrace Tech.

   
   It can be really hard to break out of the old way of doing things, especially if a process has historically worked well. But what if there was a new method that cut out some of the more tedious aspects of that process?

   A highly successful property manager forges through the initial difficulty of learning and adopting a new technology because they recognize that technology is only as useful as the people using it. (And their people, much like yours, are super smart and hard-working!)

   There are so many amazing new CRE technologies popping up on the market (be sure to check out our CRE Tech Landscape Graphic to wrap your head around the depth of the market). Challenge yourself to try at least one new one in your property or portfolio each year.

   If you’re not sure where to start, go with Mobile. The efficiency and cost-savings generated by arming your engineering team with mobile devices so they can complete work orders and PM on the go is incomparable.

What are your habits for success?

If we missed a great habit that lends to your success as a property manager, we’d love to hear about it! Tag @BuildingEngines with your #PMHabits, or send us an email at: asilber@buildingengines.com. Who knows, maybe we’ll feature yours in an upcoming post!