Is your data costing you new business?

No one would ever challenge that property management is a data-driven business, but what I do find interesting is that many companies I visit, have at least three databases, all doing their operational role in the company. Few businesses are leveraging off this tremendous opportunity to grow their business by combining, both the many databases they have and the services they offer to leverage new business.

Most businesses I go into have at least three databases, and many have more. Most have a sales database where all leads into the company have been recorded and every sale tagged, no news here. Each salesperson also has their database which they are often reluctant to share with the broader business. The rental division has their trust database where they hold all their owners and tenants details to manage properties. Many companies are also using a booking system to lease their properties, an entirely different database.

While these databases each have their operational purpose, not many are combining these into a single database to generate new business. Let's have a close look at each. Most real estate salespeople record every enquiry they receive into their database so they can build a relationship with them, in anticipation of selling them a property either now, or in the future. This data should be entered into your growth database so that your growth team can also stay close to them. These people may not buy through your business today, but they either, maybe investors that have another property you don't manage, or they may purchase an investment property soon. The business sales database, which is a record of every client whose property you have sold, may also be used in this way.

The trust account database is where the business holds all your landlord, tenant and tradespeople data. I don't have hard data to support my theory here but if I was to guess, up to 40% of your existing landlords have properties that you don't currently manage or will buy another property soon. Up to 20% of tenants could be considering purchasing a home soon, or own an investment property not controlled by you. Many millennials won't live in these properties as they often buy in areas that they can afford, but not where they want to live.

If you are using a leasing management system, you are currently collecting the data of every tenant that enquired on a property you have had available for lease. I recently spent time with an agency that never touched this database except for their leasing process. They had over 5,000 names, contact numbers and email addresses in there. That's property management gold!

What do you do with all this data? You should be using a mechanism to segment these leads into areas where you can market to them based on their needs. This could either be done by surveying them or by your growth team ringing them, to start the relationship. Once you have done this, you now have an opportunity to market to them with your services. Those looking at buying, whether it be investor or owner-occupied, should receive a free mortgage health check. New investors should be getting informational material around what makes a suitable investment property or how to choose a great property manager. The purpose is to market to each segment with information that offers them value and warms them through the lead funnel to a point where they are ready to do business with you. The role of your growth manager is to close these leads.

You already have a vast amount of data in your business. You need to segment it out and manage each lead through your lead funnel. You could be missing out on hundreds of new business opportunities each year if you are not capitalising on all your existing internal databases.