An obvious way to grow your short-term property management business is by booking more guests, but another way is to bring on more owners. Both means of growth can be nourished with the proper technology, but today, we’ll focus on adding more properties to your portfolio.
With so many competing property management companies operating in the space today - especially in high tourism areas - how do you convince owners that you should be managing their properties?
We’ve put together a list of five strategies for you to employ, to attract new owners to your property management business.
How to attract new owners
1. Listen and learn what property owners need. In order to engage new owners and properties to your business, you have to understand their needs and frustrations in order to communicate how you can help meet their priorities.
You can find this sort of information by distributing surveys, conducting social listening on social media, or simply talking with current owners in your portfolio. Another powerful way to connect with property owners is to attend local networking events. This is also a great way to grow your list of contacts.
Even if you are a seasoned property manager, going back to the fundamentals can be a beneficial exercise.
2. Find a niche. Once you understand the needs of owners, look for specific gaps in property management services that aren’t currently being met in the marketplace.
Then do your best to identify a differentiator or a niche that will set you apart from other property management businesses. One that will make you the obvious choice for an owner. Developing a niche tells owners that you understand and are experienced in satisfying their unique needs more than another management company.
3. Establish a brand. When you’ve identified your niche, make sure that you’re communicating it properly in everything you do. If you haven’t already done so, start working on a brand around your core services that will help establish your company as the go-to option in your niche.
A strong brand is deeper than visual elements like logo and color scheme, it focuses on messaging as well. Carry your brand through everything you do so that prospective owners can identify at a single glance who you are and how you can solve their problems better than anyone else.
4. Develop a portfolio. To help property owners see your experience, put together a portfolio of the vacation rentals you successfully manage and have managed.
You don’t have to list the details of every property you manage, but showing a few properties that are similar to your prospective client’s property will demonstrate your expertise and show your effort in due diligence. Be sure to tell a story of success!
5. Create thoughtful marketing materials. Combine your niche brand, client empathy and great portfolio to create more marketing collateral that speaks to owners. Consider investing in:
- Creating owner portals specifically for each their respective properties
- Blog posts that speak to the pains of property owners in your niche
- Downloadable, thought leadership content
- Targeted ads on social media
Prove to owners in advance that they will see a return on their investment by choosing to list their properties with you. When you’re meeting with owners, demonstrate how your choice of property management software (PMS) will not only enhance their properties’ performance and improve their ROI but also keep them informed about how their properties are doing. This will show owners they’re in good hands.
Not sure if you can add more to your plate? Using property management software with direct connections to the five major channels will save you from spending time on tedious tasks. Proper PMS will not only help you grow your business's bookings but your property portfolio too.
