In today’s technology-driven world, every industry is innovating itself to stay ahead of the competition.
Digital technology is pushing the progress of the property management industry by focusing on automation, allowing property managers to be more proactive than ever before.
There is no longer a ‘standard working day’ in the property management industry, and property managers face the task of operating round-the-clock and thus need to manage their time as best as possible.
Property managers with manual and tedious tasks will face many difficulties pleasing today’s tech-savvy residents and should therefore keep up with digital technology.
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TIP: Learn about 7 innovative property management tools to get you into the 21st century with property and residence technology.
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The role of the property manager has changed a lot in the past few years, and as communities are becoming more technology driven, property managers are expected to deliver great resident experiences using digital technology, such as an online property management solution.
As most condo residents are ‘always-on’, they want easy online access to their services instead of having to make several calls to get something fixed or flock around the management office. Today’s residents appreciate an online self-serve resident portal that can be used anytime, from anywhere, that allows them to securely connect with managers, make maintenance requests, pay their bills, and much more.
The relationship between property managers and residents can be a complicated one, however, transparent communication can minimize the friction between the two.
An online resident portal drives efficiency by streamlining the communication workflow and automating tedious processes, improving task management, and building communities through enhanced communications. Furthermore, it helps property managers to be effective and gives them the ability to recognize a need for change as they can actively engage in the community.
Below are the key reasons for using an online resident portal so that managers, the front desk team, and residents can fully benefit.
I strongly recommend a resident portal to synchronize existing resident data with a community’s accounting platform. It should provide a secure environment for residents to check their account- and payment information.
Property managers and the front desk staff should be able to get a straightforward snapshot of what’s going on in their community. This ‘dashboard’ should give an overview of important administrative tasks, community events, amenity bookings, shift notes, visitor and parking details and other time-sensitive issues.
This is a must-have feature for every resident portal. The unit profile is a summary view of all vital information as it relates to each unit. It should provide managers and staff with an overview of resident information including contact details, deliveries, entry instructions, maintenance requests and amenity bookings.
Residents should be able to complete service request forms and send their information from wherever they are. This feature should also allow property managers to respond, monitor, and communicate the status of any task. I strongly recommend keeping residents in-the-loop every step of the way with email alerts and online notifications.
Residents should be allowed to book amenities for a single day or multiple days, depending on availability. They should be able to see a detailed list of common amenities in a calendar.
Front desk should be able to easily track which parking spaces, bikes and lockers belong to which unit. They should also be able to manage visitor parking, track vehicle details, and even print parking passes if possible. For communities with self-parking, residents should be able to print their own visitor parking passes as well.
The media library feature should allow managers to securely store and share all of their community documents online, such as board minutes, forms, by-laws and pictures.
Investing in digital technology is a necessity that can no longer be overlooked. Today’s residents are using the internet for online banking, buying clothes and ordering food among many other things. Developers understand how important digital technology has become and are integrating smart tech into condos as residents want to automate their lives, and live a life suitable for the 21st century
A resident portal not only automate manual and tedious tasks but helps improve the communication between managers and residents. It is a tool that benefits both the manager and residents, which is why I strongly believe that all communities have implement this sooner or later.
Are you ready to use property management software technology for your residents? See the top-rated solutions on G2.
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