It is a new year, hallelujah! We have much to look forward to and improve upon in 2021; the healing of our world from a pandemic, the healing of our political climate and the healing of our business operations to name just a few. And some things have become abundantly clear over the past year. New technologies and operational practices have been forced to scale quickly to fill the gaps…crevices unearthed by lack of human contact and leave us craving the opportunity to fill them. Let’s discuss a few of these gaps in front of us; solutions designed by actual operators to solve real pain points, technologies that work together, and technologies that scale and can be affordable to all walks of life.
Designed by Operators
First, find systems designed by operators like you. You want your property management solution to work for you and the unique challenges your teams face. They should be people-centric at their core, meaning they cleanly manage work functions of all teammates and follow the intricate comings and goings of your residents. They should automate and simplify tasks. What good is a solution that your accounting team loves but fails to provide efficiency for frontline property staff and residents. Multifamily operators frequently work around or settle for inflexible system integrations. We want to work in a framework that makes the most sense for our business, solutions that are user-friendly, intuitive and work seamlessly with services important to property staff and residents.
Open Source
You may frequently use terms like “fragmented” or “patched together” when referencing your PM technology stack. An effective property management platform should be open source. Open source meaning “come one, come all”, you design a kick-ass solution for the industry and we cleanly operate together inside one core people-centric property management platform. It’s a new idea for property technology, but not a new idea at all. The beauty of an open system is that operators and technologists can create valuable solutions, remove the swivel chair and make them evermore user-friendly and broadly accessible in the market.
Accessible & Scalable
And, this is where the real leadership opportunity lies. A property management stack can and should allow accessibility to the best and most useful services for our team members and residents alike. The “digital divide” is real and growing. As examples, high-speed internet and smart home solutions are often reserved for newer construction with more affluent residents. According to the Pew Research Center, 44% of adults in households with income below $30,000, do not have broadband. This then translates to what is called the “homework gap” between school-aged children with and without high-speed internet. Yet, we have proven models to provide those technologies to multifamily properties of all demographics, ages and construction types. Yes, we can make technology broadly available, save residents money from individual retail pricing and create significant property value at the same time. A model like that is what scale is all about.
We have entered a new era. The pandemic has challenged us, exposing our vulnerabilities and opportunities. Solutions designed to truly solve pain points, work together in an open core platform, and made broadly available for all are exponentially scalable. No longer do we need to work around the dinosaurs of property technology. It’s a new year, find the innovators and give them a chance to help you scale and create real value for your business.
