Too much to do and too little time.
While that’s the usual state of affairs for property managers, the pressure of Australia’s current skills shortage, combined with rising costs, ever-changing tenancy regulations and increased customer service expectations, means that something has to give.
And what gives is usually your team – in the form of lost productivity, burnout and ultimately high staff turnover.
There has to be a better way and many Australian real estate firms have already worked out what it is: looking beyond Australia’s borders to outsource key property management functions.
They’ve reduced their cost base and freed up their local team to focus on winning new clients and providing great customer service.
Cloudstaff, the Australian-headquartered remote staffing platform, recently commissioned research into Australian businesses’ attitudes towards using overseas-based workers to solve their staffing shortage and cost pressure woes.
The research showed that as 76 per cent of Australian businesses admit finding skilled staff is the single biggest issue facing their business, almost half are considering hiring overseas-based talent.
The property industry in Australia is already well ahead of the curve when it comes to outsourcing key roles in their business.
In fact, around one-quarter of Cloudstaff’s 5000 employees work for Australian real estate companies across a range of roles from property managers, sales and marketing professionals to accountants, bookkeepers and administration staff.
With the Australian property market now firmly in an era of rising interest rates for the first time since 2010, margins in real estate businesses are tighter than ever.
It’s difficult to provide great service at a cost that landlords are willing to pay.
Yet when it comes to the topic of cost savings, most business owners and managers underestimate the benefits of outsourcing.
The Cloudstaff research found Australian businesses believe they can save around 30 per cent, on average, by offshoring roles when the reality is that they are more likely to save around 50 to 70 per cent.
However, while the initial motivation for employing overseas staff is often cost savings, the actual outcome is that freeing up property managers to focus on talking to clients ends up being a huge driver of growth within the business.
Individual productivity and satisfaction soars and customer satisfaction increases.
“Property management has a high level of administration and always a high turnover in staff,” Melbourne’s Metro Property Management Director Leah Calnan said.
“Outsourcing allows my team to be more customer-focused instead of being caught up in the admin side of things.
“By freeing up their time, they have more opportunities to be picking up the phone and out meeting clients. And that means everyone is happier – our staff and our clients.”
You too could streamline rent roll costs and grow your bottom line by having Cloudstaffers help with leasing, inspections, marketing and accounting, enabling your property management team time to focus on growth.
Working seamlessly with the local team, offshore rental management teams are lightening the administration burden by:
- preparing entry and exit notices
- designing sign boards
- writing marketing emails to landlords
- preparing lease renewal documents
- sending vacate packs
- screening applicants
- handling tenant requests and complaints
- organising smoke alarm testing / maintenance
- scheduling inspection times
- updating CRM
- designing ads and editing photos
- copywriting
- administering trust accounts
- preparing annual financial reports.
Over the past 10 years, Cloudstaff has become one of the largest providers of fully trained property managers in the Australian market. Click here to find out how we can help increase productivity and reduce staff turnover in your business.
