Admittedly, the property management industry has been somewhat slow to respond when it comes to technological advancements. The uncertainty and disruption of this past year, however, has pushed many businesses out of complacency and forced them to look for creative ways to remain profitable.
Over the coming months and years, technology will offer a unique opportunity for property managers to optimize operations, maximize revenue and, most importantly, become more resilient. Here’s what to expect.
Automation for greater efficiency, data management and client satisfaction.
Adopting the latest in intelligent technology for property management will dramatically improve efficiency and productivity, both in terms of internal operations as well as external customer and stakeholder experience.
Automation can be leveraged to transition the bulk of the manual, day-to-day tasks from human to machine, freeing up workers, reducing errors and dramatically improving performance. Smaller property management companies will be able to use automation to do more with less, essentially enabling them to compete with the bigger industry players using fewer human resources.
Self-service portals will take center stage.
Like it or not, we’re living a world where instant gratification isn’t just appreciated, it’s expected. Customers and other stakeholders don’t want to have to wait for call-backs, email responses or snail mail in order to obtain the information they need. Nor do they want to be stuck writing physical checks to pay their bills.
To address this shift in demand, property management companies will need to offer more self-service options, such as online portals for communication, reporting and electronic payments. Not only will this improve client satisfaction, but it will also improve internal operations and cash flow as well.
Data will drive management and investment decisions.
Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to the world of data analytics. Today’s technology makes it possible to harness mountains of information, automatically sifting through, extracting what’s of value, translating and prioritizing it.
Forward-thinking property management companies will leverage real-time and historical data to gain valuable insight about everything from tenants and properties to lead gen and marketing. Action plans can then be developed around those insights for far more intuitive and effective business decisions.
Cloud-based solutions will facilitate better communication and collaboration.
As the target audience grows younger, property managers will need to embrace digital solutions that are quick to deploy, easy to implement and capable of pivoting based on growth and shifting demands. Enter cloud-based property management software, a solution that allows maximum scalability and flexibility across any and all devices.
Cloud solutions provide property management companies to provide owners, tenants and other stakeholders with the ability to instantly communicate and collaborate. This is also a value-added option for internal operations, as employees will have the freedom to work optimally from anywhere.
While we certainly don’t claim to have a crystal ball, our in-depth experience at the intersection of technology and property management places us in an ideal position to make bold predictions about what the future of the industry will look like. And for companies that take the above trends into consideration, that future certainly looks bright.
