When it comes to technology, you can have a little or you can have a lot. Technology always comes with a certain amount of risk mitigation, particularly with small business budgets. However, even with the smallest technology budget, there are certain minimum requirements that you should have in order to make the most of your technology. For property management companies specifically, there are few requirements that you need in order to be successful and protect the valuable customer and client data that you keep.
Here are some of the top critical technology requirements for property management companies:
- 24×7 Control & Monitoring.
Property management companies are continually responding to tenant and ownership requests around the clock. From leaky roofs to broken AC units to rent discussion – you need to be constantly connected to your clients and customers. This means that you need technology with guaranteed uptime and 24×7 monitoring. Your IT provider should know even before you do that your e-mail or network is down and be able to troubleshoot and fix the problem with minimal impact on your operations and continuity. You can’t afford to be waiting around for hours at a time on issues and missing important e-mails. Your customers count on you to be responsive.
- Industry experience.
Technology is technology, right? It applies across industries and for the most part a technology partner should be able to handle your business. We disagree. A technology partner shouldn’t be able to just handle your business – they should be able to tell you your business. They need to work closely with other organizations in your industry and be very familiar with line of business applications, best practices and technology challenges that property management companies face. An experienced team of experts is better equipped to manage systems that they’re familiar with and make strategic recommendations about how best to utilize technology.
- Security.
We probably should have put this one first. You hold a lot of valuable personal information. That includes financial data, social security numbers, background information and addresses for all your tenants – you also have a lot of ownership information and credentials sitting on your network and you need to secure it. Your clients and customers should have absolute confidence when they hand over their personal information and in order for them to do that you should have a close handle on the security of your systems and the reliability of your network.
- Long-term strategy planning.
You can’t grow without a strategy. It’s important to stay up to speed with industry trends and changes. Properly equipped technology partners can guide you on what’s up and coming and how that impacts your business. Keeping a plan in place for the long term strategy of your business is crucial to staying ahead of your competition.
Let’s face it – as a property management company you can feel as though you’re drowning sometimes in requests from tenants and filling up vacancies in your properties. Get ahead of the game by engaging a specialized technology partner that can help you with the most critical elements of your technology and strategy so that you can have access to technology that organizes your workflows and actually allows you to get ahead for a change.