I recently attended the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM ®) annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. One of the highlights of this year’s convention was the long-awaited release of a newly updated financial benchmarking report. In a collaboration between the trade association and ProfitCoach, the program #BeatTheBenchmark! was rolled out.
The study focused on the financial health of the property management industry by zeroing in on some key financial metrics that are strongly correlated with the most profitable companies. The 2022 study expanded the overall number of companies surveyed and dug deeper into the financial analysis of those companies’ operations, all to help the industry as a whole to provide great service while also remaining profitable.
To my surprise and delight, our company beat the benchmark measure for customer loyalty by two times the national average of the top-performing property management companies.
I’ve always prioritized the level of service over profit. I’ve eagerly invested in systems and processes and of course, quality people. I’ve added contractors when needed to make sure we cover the work to fulfill our obligations. While we sometimes have a miss, we will do what is necessary to serve our clients well. I cannot express enough gratitude for the clients who have been with us for many, many years.
As with any service industry or knowledge-based company, we don’t have products or goods to sell. It is not always evident how to price our services or to know when costs are out of the norm. This is why this study and the guidance it provides are critical – not only to the health of our company but to all residential property management companies.
You would think providing great service is the norm for small property management companies. But as I speak with landlords, I have discovered it is not. There are many mediocre companies out there and unfortunately, others that are less than mediocre.
The intentional approach of a years-long focus on maintaining high service levels (and not profit) yielded a loyalty that surpasses even the most successful property management companies surveyed by NARPM in 2022.
As a team, we take a caring approach to our customers and residents and seek to provide a similar caring culture to our employees. I believe this focus has created the results we’re seeing, a churn rate so low that we are beating the national benchmark of the top-performing companies.
Scott Bloom, Owner and Senior Property Manager,
Columbia Property Management
Bloom founded Columbia Property Management in 2012. CPM’s goal is to provide a powerful, personal level of service to our clients. We focus on smaller landlords, professionally managing their assets, so they can succeed by investing in rental real estate.
Scott is an active member in multiple professional organizations including the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) and serves on the property management committee of Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS® (GCAAR).
For more information and resources, go to www.ColumbiaPM.com
