Automation is a hot business topic in the wake of several new generative AI solutions on the market, including ChatGPT and Google Bard. In fact, research shows that 69 percent of business leaders plan to adopt intelligent automation solutions—a figure that’s bound to increase each year.
The trend is becoming especially popular among property managers dealing with widespread staffing shortages, tight budgets, and rising customer expectations. Recent automation advancements help property managers do more with less by streamlining and optimizing workflows and taking care of repetitive tasks.
Automation can be a game changer if you want to increase your property management company’s operational efficiency. With that in mind, let’s look at seven ways you can use property management automation to take your business to the next level.
7 Ways to Implement Property Management Automation
1. Accounting
Traditional accounting workflows are very time-consuming and require a lot of manual data entry. When accounting is managed by hand, property management companies often experience slow turnarounds and inaccurate data and reporting.
As a result, property managers are increasingly abandoning traditional accounting processes in favor of financial automation software. With accounting automation software, property managers benefit from fast, accurate payment and billing processes, stronger cash flows, and fewer administrative headaches.
2. Security and Access Control
Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting property managers and looking for ways to steal money and customer data. As a result, property managers need to upgrade their defenses to avoid costly and disruptive data breaches and account takeovers.
Good news: Property managers can use automation to enhance cybersecurity and reduce risks. For example, a comprehensive property management system can monitor and automate data replication, automatically back up data, and provide robust, role-based access controls and password policies. As a result, you can rest comfortably knowing unauthorized individuals can’t access your systems.
3. Business Growth
It takes a great deal of time and effort to achieve business growth. Unfortunately, many property managers lack the resources for business development due to inefficient back-office workflows and manual tasks.
Automation eliminates recurring tasks, freeing workers to focus on higher-value needs. For example, property managers can automate tasks like routine and preventive maintenance modules, reporting, and customer service. This gives employees more time to focus on areas like innovation, service improvement, marketing, and community outreach—all of which are vital for driving business growth and increasing your portfolio.
4. Compliance
When it comes to community violations of pet policies, rental policies, and trash removal, property managers can’t afford to spend too much time in the weeds drafting letters and following up with individuals.
With property management software, property managers can automate the entire compliance management process by using technology to automatically track issues, reach out to residents, and escalate violations. Automating compliance enables property managers to standardize compliance processes, guaranteeing professional and effective outreach at every touchpoint.
5. Maintenance
Property managers must respond efficiently to routine and emergency maintenance requests to secure their properties and keep residents safe. Failing to keep pace with maintenance requests results in complaints and negative reviews.
With the right platform, managers can automate incoming requests, schedule maintenance visits, and communicate with owners, tenants, and maintenance teams from a single platform. This prevents teams from overlooking important maintenance requests and can help managers identify maintenance trends over time.
6. Sustainability
Today’s customers want to work with businesses that care about the environment. The same idea holds true for property management companies. As a result, smart managers are finding ways to bake more sustainability into their operations.
According to one study, 54 percent of companies already use automation to implement sustainability initiatives, whereas 24 percent plan to do so in the next two years. Automation can help with sustainability by reducing energy usage, eliminating paper waste, and extending the life of all assets and utilities.
7. Communication
Tenants, owners, residents, and vendors expect lightning-fast communications across all touchpoints and regular updates about important matters. Poor communication practices can upset customers and vendors, especially when they’re dealing with tight deadlines or emergencies. At the same time, poor communication can create a stressful and inefficient working environment.
One of the best ways to improve outreach is to invest in a property management platform that automates communication. With the right solution, you can automate emails, text messages, and alerts for clear and effective communication across multiple channels.
For example, property managers can use an automation platform to send out alerts before a major weather event, notifying residents and employees about potential damage and encouraging them to stay safe.
INFO-Tracker™: All-in-One Property Management Automation Platform
With so many options, it’s easy to go overboard with automation and invest in too many tools. For a more streamlined experience, it’s better to invest in a single property management solution that automates multiple tasks from a centralized and user-friendly portal.
Netintegrity makes this possible with INFO-Tracker™ property, maintenance, and asset management software. With the help of INFO-Tracker, your business can leverage end-to-end automated controls for a faster and more efficient approach to property management.
To witness the power of INFO-Tracker property management automation, request a demo today.
