Are You Worth Your Pay?
Having spent my purgatory of 32 years in the property industry, I am now an old “grey beard” and have earned the right to ask questions that youngsters are not game to mention!
It is with this thought in mind that I can raise the question about whether you give your clients “value for money”.
Every person who buys a management rights business does so on the basis of certain presumptions. The first of these is that the existing rental pool at the time of purchase will remain into the future. Of course, this is a reasonable presumption because my years of experience tells me that humans have a built in inertia and you really have to “stuff up big time” before a client will take the account away.
Many years ago (1972 – 1976), I worked for one of the two great domestic airlines of the era. For my younger readers, I speak of TAA and Ansett. Yes, I am showing my age! This was Rockhampton in Central Queensland and it always fascinated me (as a student of human nature) to realise that my airline brand only held a major corporate account until such time as we screwed up and then the account would move down East St to the opposition. This situation only lasted as long as it took the opposition to screw-up and the account would come back up East St to us!
Fortunately, a permanent on-site manager enjoys a bit more security than we did in the airlines in 1974. If your Forms 20a are correctly structured, your landlords must give you 90 days’ notice of sacking you. But, are you absolutely sure you are giving your landlords the level of service that makes them impervious to the cut price merchants who hold out a carrot to your landlord’s inbuilt greed?
Yes, your landlords certainly expect to get what they pay for but the most successful managers always give a little bit more than what they are paid for. Don’t charge them for every conceivable little service you deliver. Give them a “freebie” every so often but make sure you let them know about it. This builds respect and trust but, most importantly, loyalty.
Greedy managers will ultimately damage their business, because while the owner does not say anything to the manager’s face, he is feeling ripped off and resentment is building. One day at an AGM further down the track, the manager will be seeking support for a motion about extending his agreement and guess what? The resentment chickens will come home to roost!
In closing, can I mention a saying I heard many years ago but which is just as true today as it was then. It is a useful one to pull out when one of your landlords is trying to beat your commission down because some cut rate merchant is in the area.
“The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cut price!”
Mike Butler
RAAS Rights
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