There are more than 300,000 property management companies registered in the U.S. With that kind of competition, the success of a property management firm relies heavily on its ability to acquire new clients and optimize its business model.
From leveraging people and technology in the most cost-effective way to implementing smart marketing strategies with solid ROIs, a lean and efficient business is the ideal foundation for expansion plans in new regions.
If you’re wondering how to grow your property management company, here are our top 8 growth tips for property managers.
- 1. Optimize Your Current Property Management Procedures
- 2. Prioritize Tenant Retention
- 3. Leverage Local Agents to Free up Your Team
- 4. Invest in Property Management Software
- 5. Get Strategic With Your Marketing
- 6. Set Goals (and Stick to Them)
- 7. Research the New Region
- 8. Obtain Clients in a New Region Before Expanding
- Follow These Tips to Successfully Scale a Property Management Company
1. Optimize Your Current Property Management Procedures
Turning your network of existing clients into loyal customers who want to tell others about their positive experiences with your services is a powerful (and free) form of marketing. With this in mind, the optimization of your current procedures should be first on your agenda before turning your attention to expansion.
Start by looking at how you can improve the properties that you currently manage. Consider boosting your property inspection schedule and take care to stay on top of routine maintenance. Always address any issues raised by the tenants promptly and keep the channels of communication open to avoid unnecessary frustration.
2. Prioritize Tenant Retention
Optimizing your current property management procedures ties into one of the most important growth tips for property managers — the need to prioritize tenant retention. A high tenant turnover can become costly for property management companies and the property owners themselves, so you should be doing everything within your power to improve retention rates.
Start by exploring upgrades and improvements that you can recommend to the property owner that could boost customer satisfaction and retention. You could also consider upgrading your services to include renter-friendly services such as online rental payments and maintenance requests.
By attracting quality renters and boosting retention, you’ll boost your clients’ profits while saving your firm time and money.
3. Leverage Local Agents to Free up Your Team
Adding new leasing agents to your team is a costly investment, so before you post that job ad online, consider whether you really need to make the hire. There are many reasons why a full-time employee isn’t always the best route to take, including the seasonal nature of the rental market. Your business may be swamped some months but your team is twiddling its thumbs during other times.
Put an end to this stressful cycle by leveraging local on-demand showing agents from Showami. For an average fee of $55, you can get help from local, licensed real estate experts for a wide range of tasks including condition reports, pre-listing walk-throughs, showings, and open houses. There are plenty of benefits to this approach, in addition to the clear cost savings:
- Increase the number of properties your existing in-house team can handle without any reduction to the quality of your services
- Cuts down on lost time driving to and from properties in regions further afield — Showami has coverage in all 50 states so you can quickly build a network of trusted local agents
- You have more time to identify new leads and deliver an onboarding process that potential new clients respond well to
4. Invest in Property Management Software
Software for property management is a highly worthwhile investment for streamlining operations and saving valuable time. Pretty much every area of your business could benefit from the addition of time-saving software, from accounting and booking showings to tenant communication and marketing strategy.
Not only will you save time and money by leveraging the power of technology, but you can also improve your overall service to increase client and tenant satisfaction and boost retention.
5. Get Strategic With Your Marketing
Once you’ve optimized your current property management business procedures and identified your internal and external staffing needs, it’s time to turn your attention to your marketing efforts.
As a successful property management company, you’re probably already doing a great job of marketing your clients’ rental properties, but are you being strategic enough in the marketing of your own services? Let’s take a look at some of the marketing tools that should be in your kit:
Build a Website
Property management websites serve as the digital storefront; first impressions matter, so yours must be attractive, easy to navigate, and high-performing. There are many benefits to having a website, including:
- Being able to advertise all of your available properties in an easy-to-navigate way that shows property investors and owners that you know how to market to renters
- Having a time-saving portal for tenants to contact your team to let potential clients know that you offer a quality service with tenant retention in mind
- Giving you a space to share details of your company’s services so current and potential clients know what’s on offer when they work with you
- Gathering data of the individuals visiting your site to improve your targeted marketing campaigns
Get Active on Social Media
Marketing available properties on social media is an effective and low-cost way of targeting renters, but it can also be a useful tool for gaining the attention of potential clients. Do your research and find out on platforms your ideal clients hang out on, then maintain a strong presence there. Targeted social media ads can further boost your reach and deliver a good ROI.
Embrace Networking
Networking in person and online is a highly effective method of getting the word out about your property management business. In-person events and seminars are ideal places to swap business cards with investors and owners, and by getting active online you can make connections via LinkedIn and in social media-based property manager groups.
Utilize the Power of Video
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, so if you aren’t already utilizing this powerful medium, you might be missing out. One of the best applications for video in the property management industry is creating video tours of available rental homes. These videos can be shared on social media to promote not only the properties but your services, too. Save yourself the time of creating video content yourself and hire a Showami showing agent to do video walkthroughs for you.
Leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Making your business as easy as possible to find online is a surefire way of beating the competition and expanding efficiently. SEO optimization does exactly that — by using keywords relating to your services, investors and owners will see your website on search engines like Google and click through to find out more (this is likely how you came to find this blog!).
Invest in Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Paid advertising such as Google Ads is an effective way of targeting high-intent leads who are actively interested in the services you are offering. It’s also a smart way of guaranteeing your place on Google’s first page if you aren’t able to rank for your target SEO keywords (in regions with a lot of competition, for example).
Want more expert-approved property management marketing ideas? This informative article takes an in-depth look at how to get the word out about your services.
6. Set Goals (and Stick to Them)
Once staff, services, and marketing are all being managed efficiently, it’s the ideal time to scale a property management company. This begins with setting very clear goals and being intentional about the steps that are needed to achieve them. Once you have those goals and steps in place, hold yourself accountable and stick to them.
7. Research the New Region
Most property managers start building their portfolio in their local area and will know the market well. When looking at how to grow your property management company in new regions, it’s important to research the area, its population, and the property market.
Whether you’re looking to expand five or 500 miles away, take the following steps to get to know your new region:
Visit the Region
Spend time getting to know the local market before trying to expand into it. A boots on the ground approach is ideal: spend a day or two walking/driving around the local area taking note of the following:
- Type of property – check what kind of rental properties are on offer in the area and whether there is a decent existing rental market
- Population – find out whether the area is popular with families, young professionals, retirees, etc to better understand your target audience
- Local amenities – look into whether there are shops and schools nearby, and whether public transport and highways are accessible
Connect with Local Property Experts
If you’re short on time or your new target region isn’t close by, a cost and time-saving approach to conducting market research is to connect with local property experts. In addition to the networking that we mentioned earlier in this article, another way of meeting real estate professionals is via Showami.
Our bank of licensed and experienced showing agents is constantly expanding and we have great coverage throughout the U.S. When you work with agents you have the option of ‘favoriting’ them so you can build a working relationship and have a local agent (or multiple agents) to call on whenever you need support on the ground.
Create Marketing Collateral Specific to Your New Real Estate Markets
Every region is unique and as such, marketing shouldn’t be approached as a one-size-fits-all tool. Cultural differences can mean that a hugely successful marketing campaign can fall flat in another region, which is just like pouring cash down the drain. Utilizing geographic segmentation is key when looking at how to grow your property management company as it will ensure that all of your communications align with the exact needs of your various target audiences.
8. Obtain Clients in a New Region Before Expanding
Once you have conducted your research and are ready to expand into a new region, the next step to scale a property management company is to obtain new property owners in the target area. In addition to the marketing techniques we’ve already discussed, try these tactics, too:
- Leverage your existing network – tell friends, family, and professional contacts that you’re looking to expand your existing customer base so they can keep their ear to the ground for you
- Cold calling – supplement online marketing activities with traditional cold calling to directly reach out to real estate investors and property owners
- Foster strategic partnerships – approaching businesses that serve the same market in your target area (such as a moving company) is a smart way of getting an initial foothold in a new region
Follow These Tips to Successfully Scale a Property Management Company
When it comes to how to grow your property management company, the optimization of your current business is where that journey begins. By identifying ways of reducing costs and freeing up your team’s time, you’ll be in a stronger position to acquire clients in new regions.
Whether you’re expanding five miles down the road or in a new state entirely, our eight growth tips for property managers will give you the tools to compete with national brands and expand into new and exciting markets.
Get more top tips for property managers here, including how to stay organized when juggling dozens of clients.