5 Ways to Grow Your Business This Year

Success involves doing the little things just right. Attention to detail—everything from prompt snowplowing to replacing burnt-out light bulbs—is the path well understood by the companies that have grown while they have watched competitors stay the same size or get smaller. Top firms manage buildings that sparkle, that leave owners aglow with pride of ownership and tenants happy to say this is where they work. What other secrets do fast-track property management firms know for growing their business? Read on for quick tips that just may let you jumpstart business growth in 2006.

Five Steps to Profits

1. "Word-of-mouth marketing will help your business grow," says Melodee Wagen, a Lexington, Mass.-based business consultant who is active in the International Facilities Management Association. Building owners tend to know other building owners, and they talk with each other about property managers. Keep owners happy and they will become walking references. Ditto for tenants. Probably the single smartest marketing strategy in property management is to get owners and tenants talking positively about the job you do.

2. "Get involved in local organizations," Wagen says. Many states and counties have property management associations. Join and get your face known to others in the business. Higher visibility usually translates into opportunities. While you are busy networking, make sure to develop ties to real estate brokers specializing in commercial properties. Many property managers say their biggest source of business is referrals from brokers. For their part, brokers admit that knowing good property managers they can refer clients to sometimes convinces a hesitant prospect to agree to a purchase. Don't know any brokers? Get on the phone, introduce yourself and attend any meetings with reference lists and photos of properties under your management. These fast sessions can mean big dollars to you.

3. As leads start percolating, nurture your best staff because "good property managers are hard to come by," says Scott Perkins, managing director of NAI James E. Hanson, a property management firm in Hackensack, N.J. Talk to property management executives and they'll relate that a sure way to stumble is to expand too fast, without employees to back up the growth. "This is a people business," Perkins says, and the fast-growing firms make sure they have top-notch staff on hand. Fill your roster with good staff, and business growth will follow.

4. The next step is to pick the right properties to manage. Every building should be a billboard for your firm's services. To shine you need properties where the owner's goals are in sync with yours. When the owner's goals differ from yours, don't take on the property, says Barry Blanton, managing partner of Lorig Management Services in Seattle. His point is that if an owner is, for instance, bent on maximizing profits but you think the building needs significant capital improvements, say so. The only way to enjoy lasting growth is to manage properties that reflect your values. Every managed building is, in effect, a calling card for your company—and you want every card to be a winner.

5. Property management should be as much low-tech as high-tech where building good relationships is paramount. Do you keep your word? Are you proud of the work your firm does? Get everything lined up in support of your reputation and that's the fast track to winning abundant business in 2006.

No Vacancy

"Owners don't want empty units. Period," says Alan Weiss, an East Greenwich, R.I. management consultant. A steady stream of rent checks is what ties a building's owner to the management company and the reality is that vacancies weaken those ties. That's why successful property managers agree that a key measure of how well they are doing is the vacancy rate. But they also agree that getting commercial tenants to renew isn't mysterious. On the residential side of the business, money talks, and tenants will frequently move to save very few dollars. Commercial tenants are much less likely to do that—moving is often a hassle for businesses, says Barry Blanton with Seattle 's Lorig Management Services. But they will move if they feel their concerns aren't addressed, so the key to low rates is to listen closely to tenant concerns. That doesn't necessarily mean fixing everything they ask for; but it does let them know that when they have issues, management cares enough to listen. Tenants also will move out when they feel the building has become bad for their business, Weiss says. That means maintaining basic standards of cleanliness, security and upkeep.