Even before “The Great Resignation” became a trend, the property management industry has been notorious for having low staff retention. In the United States, the industry faces a whopping 33% turnover rate. One could argue that Australia faces a similar attrition landscape.

In such a consumer-facing industry, having high employee turnover can have a disruptive effect on business profitability, staff morale, and customer satisfaction. The costs of constantly finding, hiring, and training new staff can eat up the real estate agency’s profit margins. Staff shortage could limit new business opportunities and drive tenant irritation due to a lack of quality service.

However, just because the industry has been facing a staffing crisis doesn’t mean it has to be your norm. There is a solution to bridge the skills gap, especially when rebuilding your property management team may take time. The answer: technology can help you address the challenge of operating with fewer resources. The right digital tools can help your staff work less, achieve more, and live better.

Here's how technology can help

Time is the most valuable resource a property manager has and always needs more. Especially when you’re short-staffed at your agency, automation will come in useful to delegate the repetitive, time-consuming tasks so employees can devote their time and energy to high-impact activities.

Modern property management solutions can streamline the daily workflows and reduce tedious administrative tasks. You’ll have eliminated the stress and errors so common in paper-based processes. SMS and email communications are premade and automatically sent out to tenants when they need them the most.

When the pandemic hit, tenants’ demands shifted, and property management agencies had to pivot quickly to contactless payment solutions. Powerful property payment software has features that can automate the rent collection process from property setups, invoicing, collection to bank reconciliation.

For example, SimpleRent.com.au, a cloud-based end-to-end property management payment software integrated with PropertyMe enables property managers to set up entry, bond, and rent payments in one click. It provides an efficient online payment experience for both tenants and property managers as well as a real time dashboard and tracking for property managers. Imagine tenants can process payments simply via their mobile phones.

Another key benefit of payment software is reducing rent arrears. Property Manager Olena Pereira of Century 21 Pereira can attest to this, “I have not had a single client fall into arrears since using SimpleRent.”

Collecting, collating, and validating financial information for bookkeeping is a daunting task not to mention time-consuming with back-and-forth follow through with tenants. The best property management software can handle much of the grunt work with 100% accuracy. No more data entry errors as financial reports and bookkeeping entries are done without your manual entry.

You, your trust accountants, directors, and staff will benefit from cloud technology. You will appreciate real-time reporting and views of all transactions even in the comfort of your own homes.

Offset the need for in-person meetings with contactless lease signing solutions. If you’re bogged down by manually crafting lease contracts, printing or scanning, editing, and chasing wet signatures, now is the time to add automation to your lease negotiations.

Having digital lease software such as SimpleRent.com.au can simplify and speed up your entire leasing process from creation to signing. SimpleRent Digital Smart Lease allows you to create, send, and sign leases all in one place. It allows you to get leases drawn up, sent, and signed in as little as 3 minutes.

Conclusion

When facing a labor shortage, it may seem difficult to make a transition. You cannot afford to be confronted with a range of challenges and adjustments that come with it.

Make sure to choose a property management software that is easy-to-use and easy-to-learn. Some software providers may even have a dedicated onboarding manager to help with training and setup. SimpleRent in particular has a dedicated team to provide you with personalised training, tenant migration, and reliable customer support - all FREE.

The best provider will diligently work with you to have you up and running in no time. In the long run, robust property management software will be your best ally to increase business productivity, save time, and more importantly boost staff morale which will ultimately lead to improved employee retention.