ARPM Property Management, one of the largest outsourced lettings providers, recently conducted a Survey via LAT and EAT regarding the Outsourced Lettings Industry and was interested by the fact that in general property professionals were put off outsourcing their back-office functions as they worried that they would lose their overall management control. Here, Dave Hunt – Business Development Director – provides details as to why Clients management control is never lost at ARPM:
“It would be easy to say that outsourcing the ‘back-office’ functions of a lettings business wouldn’t lead to a loss of management control, as certainly at ARPM Property Management it doesn’t, but I am not sure that a sweeping statement of this nature would apply to all providers.
In many instances, outsourcing does result in less managerial control as the people within the outsourcing company simply review Clients as ‘clients’ and not as ‘business partners’ as we do at ARPM Property Management. The way Clients are ‘viewed’ has an unbelievable impact – yes, it may all be about mindset but this mindset really does determine the success of the relationship. Firstly, business partners tend to trust one another more than client/suppliers do – for instance, during discussions our Clients can influence our decisions as much as we can theirs – after all we are both working with the same common goal and will reap the rewards of a success together as much as we would share the consequences of failure. Secondly, business partners have , as corny as it sounds, have a mutual respect for one another – this means that our Clients understand we are experts in our field and trust us to provide the required results and likewise, we trust that our Clients will provide us with necessary information and not hinder our ability to produce the results that they need. Naturally, from time-to-time conflicts will arise – as they do in any type of relationship – but as business partners we build a relationship where frank and open conversations are considered to be a good thing as this which enables matters to be resolved quickly and simply.
In many instances, our business partners have identified that we have brought management skills to the table they didn’t previously have and are more than grateful for the additional experience and expertise they receive as a result (and at a fraction of the cost to ‘buy in’ someone with the same skill set). So in summary, the only thing our business partners lose when outsourcing their back-office lettings functions to us, is the management headache!”
If you would like to find out how your business can benefit from partnering with ARPM Property Management, contact them today for a without obligation consultation. Tel: 01923 775705 or email info@arpm.co.uk
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