I think it was my recently departed Mum that first introduced me to the great old saying: “if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem”….
If you’ve already read the article you’ll know I was talking about the obligations on employers that commenced in April to ensure they’re genuinely looking after the mental health of their employees, and the potential dire consequences if they do not.
Employers have the obligation to ensure that Employees are fully trained to do their jobs, are properly resourced, and rewarded appropriately for their skill level, and their performance reviews are set and measured on realistic outcomes. Your Team need to know that it’s not acceptable for them to cop crap from customers, clients, or in some cases, each other and that they are fully supported by management, and that abusive or inappropriate behaviour or advances will be dealt with head on by management.
The other waving bright red flag of course is the rapidly disappearing number of Property Managers from the profession and the fact that they’re not being replaced by the same rate at which they’re disappearing. Its being agreed in many circles that the real estate profession is today paying the price for not investing appropriately in rewarding existing Property Managers, for not training the next wave of Property Managers, and for actively promoting profit-sapping fee-discounting offers that have resulted in a race to the bottom where the expectations of consumers has been set to seek the lowest possible cost above quality and professionalism.
As a profession, the actions of the cheap and nasty wham-bam-thank-you-Ma’am fee discounter agency has taught consumers that the first question they should ask is ‘How much are you’ rather than “ How good are you?”…
Now I’m not suggesting that fees can’t or shouldn’t be competitive. I support free markets. But if your fee model is preventing you from paying key people appropriately, lowering service levels, and you’re not investing in nurturing new talent, I think you’re part of the problem.
After the recent article ‘She just needs to take a cup of cement and harden the f#ck up’ appeared, I received a text message from a senior figure in our profession that read,
“Peter, any advice on this mate? – An agent (female) verbally abused face to face this afternoon by a drunk seller (male). Agent shaken and felt very vulnerable. Seller tole her to ‘get your fucking sale board down etc etc’”
My response was quick and simple:
“Business owner needs to step up and formally release the Seller from their obligations under the Form 6 (Selling agreement) *Qld .
Business owner needs to report the abuse to the Police (if it was threatening).
Business Owner needs to offer (insist) that the Employee receives counselling using the businesses EAP. And if they don’t have an EAP, then they need to initiate one and at the very least ensure the Employee receives professional counselling immediately.
Business owner needs to call a meeting of the entire office and reaffirm to all that the company policy is to not accept any physical or verbally abusive attacks from anyone, and that any abuse, or sexual or inappropriate advances are to be immediately reported and acted on by the business owner.”
That text message wasn’t the only message I got after that article aired. Around a dozen Property Managers from across Australia messaged me expressing their thanks for shining a light on their challenges. Some of those notes were highly emotional and contained horror stories of the way they’ve been treated over many years. I was also chuffed to receive a call and several emails from Principals and Directors who took the time to give their thanks for awakening them to their obligations and the severity of the challenges at their feet. Needless to say, I also received some hate mail from business owners who hated the thought I was making them publicly accountable. I’m 100% ok with that. Hopefully they’ll move on to a discounted retirement village.
I started this musing quoting my Mum, “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” My Mum, one of the wisest people i’ve known, would be saying to me right now, ‘Peter, you can’t stir up a hornet’s nest if you don’t have a solution to eradicate the hornets.’
So, in order for me to be true to my word, and to honour my Mum’s words, I offer this friendly food for thought.
After growing, managing, and selling a significant Property Management business over several decades; after studying the profitability of hundreds of Property Management businesses across Australia, NZ and the USA over several decades; and after taking a deep dive into the stale labor intensive business model still being employed by way too many businesses, I’m ready to say that the property management profession in its current form in many businesses is on life support in the ICU with little chance of survival without undergoing major surgery.
You’ve only gotta read the Annual Rent Roll Market Report provided by Brad Robson detailing the number, size, profitability, and multipliers being achieved by business owners who are selling up to get a feel for what some of the bigger challenges are.
It’s bloody expensive to stick your head in the sand and to pray that the bad man is going to go away. #Protip: He’s not going anywhere. It’s time to think and act. The bad man is not going away and his footsteps are getting louder. Who is the bad man coming to ‘get’ your business?
Is it Amazon?
Is it Google?
Is it a Portal?
Is it your own lack of action?
Is it Mr 1.5% from the next suburb across?
What will they beat you on?
There’s no question that models need to change, roles need to change, fees need to change, people management needs to change, and the services our profession provides to investors and tenants largely needs to change.
What do I think you need to do to survive?
Find out at my upcoming webinar on October 4th where we’ll be exploring what the new normal looks like, and the 5 key actions my expert panel including Cloudstaff’s Chief of Compliance Wayne Bucklar and others believe you need to implement before the sun sets on 2023.
Will I see you there? Will you be part of the solution or part of the problem?
