Quick Access To The Case Study Questions
Lauren is the Director of Property Management for Rental Results and has over 13 years experience in the property management industry.
Committed to learning and extending her knowledge Lauren has completed a Bachelor of Business Majoring in Marketing, a Certificate IV in Property Services (Real Estate) and is a licensed real estate agent.
Lauren holds a reputation for consistently achieving excellent results within the dynamic areas of residential rental properties and portfolio management. It is her professional approach and strong focus on customer service that sets her apart.
She is especially focused on building strong relationships with owners and tenants alike, building trust through clear and detailed communication, prompt follow-ups and a highly organised approach to client management.
Find out more about Rental Results by clicking here.
18 Seconds
What Is Your Top Tip For Property Managers For 2017?
Lauren – I think, just making sure that you’re getting into the digital space, and also outsourcing is a really, really good thing.
1 Minute and 3 Seconds
Why Did You Decide To Outsource?
Lauren – I guess initially we started off using Affordable Staff mainly for social media and controlling that sort of side of the business, and just freed up my time so I wasn’t constantly having to post every day and that sort of stuff.
And then from there, that was working really well so we thought we’d try outsourcing a little bit more in the business and it really helped and add support to the staff and that has just been one of the best things we’ve done so it’s completely freed up the property managers to just be able to concentrate on building those relationships with the clients, and also doing things that add value rather than basic administration that you know, anyone can really do.
David – Yeah, that’s really essentially the key for you isn’t it? For your second team members, was around freeing up the admin side the admin side of the tasks for your property managers, wasn’t it?
Lauren – Yeah, a hundred percent. And that’s worked out amazing for us.
1 Minute and 35 Seconds
How Important Is Trust When You Outsource?
Lauren – I guess, a hundred percent, that’s like every staff member, trust is probably one of the most important things.
So we’ve got Aira and she’s part of our team so we see her as equal to all of us. She is one of our most integral people in the business. And yeah, so we love talking to her each day we’re always communicating back and forth. We jump on Zoom meetings. She loves learning everything new. She really likes making sure everything is 100% accurate. She really has taken on the job and made it her own. So, it’s been great.
David – Yeah, and I guess the trust question whilst people think about it from a offshore or an outsourcing perspective it’s really the same case with local staff you’re employing as well.
Lauren – Exactly, I don’t see it as any different. So she remotes into our database or our server, has the same access to majority of the other administration staff in the office would have and we say with all staff there is definitely trust that you have to relinquish but I’ve had no issues whatsoever.
22 Seconds
Why Did You Choose Us For Outsourcing?
Lauren – Well, because I’ve known you guys for a long time. I trust both yourself and Eva, and I know that you always do the right thing by me as well and yeah, I have no hesitation in recommending you as I have done to many other people in property management.
43 Seconds
What Limitations Have You Found So Far In Outsourcing?
Lauren – I guess initially you have to invest some time so you can’t expect, like any staff member, you can’t expect them to walk into the business and know how your systems and procedures work.
We initially set up and internet with videos which was a really good way to train staff, but there’s also other options and that obviously takes a little bit of time but everything we did, we thought, well is this gonna be the last time we ever have to do this, is this something someone else can do for us that’s easy enough and most of the things are fairly easy. Given to someone overseas, that can be outsourced.
30 Seconds
Do You See Outsourcing Replacing Property Managers In The Future?
Lauren – No, I don’t. I really that it’s something that supports our staff. And that’s probably a big thing. Burnout and changes in property management is a real concern for every principal in the business. I’ve been a property manager myself now for 14 years and it can be one of those things where if you have that additional support, you just don’t feel so overwhelmed with your day to day tasks.
1 Minute and 14 Seconds
What Do You Think Your Industry Thinks About Outsourcing?
Lauren – I think there’s a lot of concerns and probably a lot of principals out there that are hesitant to outsource as I was myself, because you just don’t know, I guess it’s the fear of the unknown.
But we’re actually looking at eventually getting a second second team member through you guys and yeah, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. That was probably one of the things we initially thought about doing since last December that we got Aira on board and we were thinking of “Do we need this person? Is it gonna be beneficial?” And yeah, 100% could not recommend it highly enough.
David – Actually, a third, cause you’ve got Guilly and Aira.
Lauren – Yes.
1 Minute and 7 Seconds
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TASKS OFFSHORE TEAM COMPLETE TO GAIN PEAK GROWTH, EFFICIENCY AND SUPPORT!
The Australian Real Estate and Property Management industry is more competitive than ever.
With fixed commissions, pressure to lower property management fees from other agencies and downward pressure on rents eroding management income, Australian real estate agencies are feeling the pressure to balance good service and to remain profitable.
Our solution allows you to offshore tasks that you would normally have a person complete locally, or may not even be getting done due to the pressure freeing up your local staff to focus on higher ROI and client retention tasks.
We employ ‘Full time’ staff that operate within our office within the Philippines. Each staff member is assigned and dedicated to one client and your offshore team member becomes a critical & reliable part of your business.
Over 15 Years Hands On Experience Within Australian Property Management And Real Estate
We employ specific account managers that have existing hands on experience within the Real Estate & Property Management industry.
This insider industry experience combined with our unique recruitment process means we understand how to recruit the right people for the role/s and how to train those people on the software and tasks within that role.
Listed below are a few of the real tasks and software our team complete for their clients.
Lease Renewals
Populate lease renewal documents including special terms from PM software ensuring correct additional documents are current and ready for delivery to your tenants.
Arrears Calls
Follow up arrears with a phone call after rent has been processed.
Processing Applications
Process applications, including following up outstanding documents ready for approval by the owner.
Reference Checking
Contact and follow up application references to ensure timely processing of applications.
Inspection Scheduling and Follow Up
Schedule inspection runs, email entry notices and follow up with reminder call or message prior to inspections to ensure agency time is not wasted
Monitor Compliance Registers
Monitor and maintain smoke alarm, body corporate, pool safety and other registers to ensure compliance.
Maintenance Follow Up
Follow up outstanding maintenance and invoices with contractors to ensure that maintenance is completed in a timely manner and entry notices are issued if required for contractors to attend properties.
Booking Open Homes
Schedule and list open home times on web portals and book people into viewing.
Welcome Packs and Local Area Information Packs
Compiling of local information sheets for tenants, buyers and sellers to ensure that you are front of mind during the stressful move process.
Past Client Marketing and Client Satisfaction Surveys
Ensuring that past buyers, seller, tenants and owners are not forgotten by maintaining contact with them by email or phone.
Data Entry and CRM Maintenance
Filing documents electronically and ensuring that all data is synchronized between the real estate CRM software, trust accounting software and other software platforms that are used. Maintaining the agency CRM to ensure it accurately reflect the current position of the business.
Sales and Rental Agreements
Typing up management agreements and contracts for agents ready for reviewing and sending.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Scheduling and executing newsletter campaigns for owners, tenants, buyers and sellers.
Social Media Marketing
Planning & executing Social Media paid advertising marketing campaigns and social media plans.
Cross Selling Value Added Services
Contacting clients of your business to upsell value added services i.e. tax depreciation, mortgage broking, insurance, home maintenance service etc.
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HOW YOU CAN GET A FREE CONSULTATION!
We understand Outsourcing Sales and Property Management is a great move, especially if you want to remain competitive and continue to grow your business.
At the same time, it can be daunting to consider how Outsourcing can fit within your current business model especially when you want to understand how well it will integrate.
We understand how well it works for our other property management and sales agencies that we’re prepared to offer a Free consultation (normally valued at $197) where we can discuss if outsourcing is a good fit for your business.
After talking with one of our local Australian team you’ll understand the exact steps we follow when working with other real estate agencies and whether it will be a good fit for your business.
To find out more complete your details below, where we’ll grab a few simple details and will be in contact shortly.
OTHER HAPPY CLIENTS
I’m happy to talk to you about how it’s assisted us, and how we’re able to trust David and his team, and we’ve got other mutual clients that you could talk to as well.
I’ve had a long term relationship with Affordable Staff as a client and Trust them strongly.
Affordable Staff are great. My full time virtual assistant has been a game changer for my business and the terms you enter into are easy and straightforward.
I can’t recommend Affordable Staff highly enough, the entire team from the management to the VA’s to our representative Damien have all been with us every step of the way in implementing processes and structure which has created an efficient streamlined business. If ever I need anything Damien is only a call away and always willing to listen and introduce new ideas to provide solutions.
The introduction of a VA to our property management division has been nothing short of a game changer’.
I can now provide a new level of unequalled support to ten property managers across three separate sites.
Bite the bullet and give it a go. It’s been an incredibly valuable addition to our business. We’ve taken steps forward, we’ve been doing it for a few years and I’ve already seen significant change to our business.
I’d just like to thank you guys for what you’ve done for us as it’s been really, really helpful.
I can’t recommend Affordable Staff highly enough as my team are fully supported. The pressure is taken off where we can now have lunch every day and actually leave on time every afternoon.
We have operated with a remote team assisting our property management processes over a year now. Our experience with Affordable Staff has been fantastic.
The way they recruit and then induct the team is second to none. I can say this because we have had experience with another company. They are easy to deal with and upskill the girls on the programs before they start working with you.
Their understanding of the industry is great and they are all very easy to deal with. If you are considering hiring a remote team, Affordable Staff are the people you should be talking with.
My recommendation for any business is to take a step back and look at what’s coming to the market. Look at software, hardware and social media.
Look also at outsourcing but don’t look at it as something that’s going to take away from your business, rather something that’s going to add value to your business.
I’ve always been apprehensive of outsourcing as I didn’t know where to start, thought it would involve a lot of my time and had fears around working with a person based in another country. Damien and the team at Affordable Staff held my hand throughout the entire process. I am now 12 months on and could not work without the support of my VA. I found the transition of working with Affordable Staff surprisingly easy, cost effective and my VA to be loyal, polite and always going above and beyond my expectations.
We haven’t employed the team overseas to get rid of any team we have in our office… It’s to add value to the team in our office. Our local staff can now focus on more client-facing and client-building relationships while our team in the Philippines are doing some of the back-end things to help them out in their day-to-day operations.
We’re also adding more value added services to our clients, too. We’re introducing a lot of things that we just could not have done otherwise. Whereas before we just didn’t have the manpower to achieve it. So I think now, we can give a much higher level of service to our clients because they’re helping the team do that.
Once I learned details of your business model and your structure there was an automatic TRUST and it wasn’t a difficult decision to use Affordable Staff once we’d completed our own Due Diligence of your business. It’s a good feeling to be able to pick up the phone, talk to someone locally which gives you an ultimate sense of confidence.
Affordable Staff have been brilliant for our business. Through their staff selection and training of those staff specifically for our needs, we now have highly skilled, outsourced staff helping us with a range of functions including marketing, SEO, data mining, administration, and reception. They have helped increase our human resource skill base significantly while reducing our costs. It doesn’t get better than that in business!!!
I would recommend Affordable Staff to anyone needing a reliable and cost effective outsource solution.
Quite honestly, the biggest feature for me is the foundation in how Affordable Staff works. There is a strong focus on support and development of the team. For anyone looking at outsourcing I encourage you to give it a go. From first hand experience it has all of the positives and none of the negatives.
I chose to work with your company as I already knew who I was dealing with and we worked together to find a solution for me.
I felt supported and I was confident that my concerns and needs were acknowledged and responded to.