Almost all successful businesses have one thing in common: order. There is a place for everything and systematic, well-documented business practices to follow for the work that has to be done. Perhaps there is no industry that can benefit more from this type of order than property management. Developing and refining workflow processes for each task can ensure that every aspect of the business operates smoothly and at maximum efficiency. Here are five specific benefits of creating business workflows within your organization.

Save time and money

Business workflows are essentially step-by-step guides for how to perform a certain task. They are initially developed and routinely optimized so that they become best practices for running your property management business. By following these established workflows, your team will utilize their time more effectively, since they won’t have to reinvent the wheel. As a result, your company will also save money.

Achieve quality and consistency

Optimized business workflows are specifically designed to result in the same highest quality output, regardless of how many times they are put into effect. Business owners and executives can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that even if they’re not physically present to oversee operations, things will continue to run smoothly in their absence. And since quality and consistency lead to greater levels of client satisfaction, your business will receive a boost in that area as well.

Simplified business decisions

Having well-documented business workflows in place will alleviate your property management team of having to make difficult decisions that could potentially be costly down the road. Rather than manage these choices on their own or have to escalate to upper management, they can simply refer back to the established workflow process and let that process guide their decisions.

Increased satisfaction levels all around

Employees who have access to established workflows tend to be much less concerned about how they should carry out their day to day work duties, because they have a framework upon which to rely. This alleviates stress and also breeds confidence through empowerment. As a business owner, you’ll be much happier since you’ll have far fewer interruptions throughout the day. And finally, your property management clients will be happier because they can rely on consistent quality from your company.

Return on investment

Of course, the biggest benefit of implementing business workflows in your company is the quantifiable ROI they will ultimately deliver. Think about some of the most tedious tasks that currently exist within your business that are necessary to complete but that don’t require a great deal of skill. Creating workflows that incorporate automation through property management software, for instance, can shift those tasks from human to machine, dramatically improving efficiency, and freeing up staff to focus on more critical business tasks and projects.

So, now that you know the reasons why business workflows are so important, let’s take a look at a few of the common property management tasks that should have a documented workflow:

• Marketing vacant properties
• Processing applications
• Marketing property management services
• Qualifying applicants
• Collecting payments
• Coordinating move-outs and move-ins
• Managing monthly financial statements
• Preparing financial reports
• Conducting property inspections
• Enforcing lease agreements
• Managing outside vendor relationships

Of course, this list isn’t all inclusive. The best way to implement workflows within your property management company is to identify those areas that are costing you a lot in terms of time, money and other resources and optimizing them. Doing this consistently will create an environment that’s far more efficient and therefore more profitable in the long run.