When it comes to using technology, property management leaders often feel like they are living in two different universes. On one hand, their Property Management Software (PMS) is a sophisticated, enterprise-level platform that keeps everything super-organized by property, unit, and resident. But when it comes to property management team communication, they’re stepping into a world of chaotic emails, Teams messages, and texts, a tangled web of inefficiencies and confusion.
After talking with countless property management professionals, it’s clear that this is a shared struggle that comes down to the lack of purpose-built communication technology for property management teams. This “purpose-built divide” not only wastes hours of productivity, but also creates liability and risk for property management companies.
A Tale of Two Tech Worlds
In the world of Property Management Software, information about properties, units, and residents is just a click away. Need to know who’s paid their rent this month? Easy. Wondering about move-out dates or whether that lease got signed? It’s all there, organized and accessible for anyone who needs it. This system is not just a tool; it’s the backbone of your operational efficiency, ensuring everything runs like a well-oiled machine.
Looking at the day-to-day company communication that happens outside your PMS, however, feels like stepping into chaos. Though most leaders would say that fostering internal communication is critical to running their business, here’s what happens in reality: executives, office teams, site staff, vendors, and external partners scatter across various communication platforms – MS Teams, email, text, even WhatsApp – creating a patchwork of interactions that are as disparate as they are disorganized.
Here’s some of the complaints I’ve heard about property management team communication:
- it’s nearly impossible to find a specific message, file, or photo when you need it
- vital information gets buried under an avalanche of irrelevant CC’s
- the departure of a team member can often mean the loss of critical historical knowledge
- hours are wasted filing emails into personal folders that are invisible to the rest of the company
- onboarding new employees by trying to get them access to property knowledge is very labor intensive
The result? Your team is swamped with emails, shifting between systems, unable to focus on the things that matter most and out of sync with each other.
Pinpointing the Problem – the “Purpose-Built Divide”
So, why is a PMS so organized while communication is such a chaotic mess? The answer is simple: property management software platforms are tailor-made for the nuances of property management. But your communication systems? They’re as generic as they come. Email, text, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams – they’re built for everyone and anyone, from dental offices and bowling alleys to car washes and banks, not specifically for property managers.
This one-size-fits-all approach is the root of the chaos. It’s like trying to keep your property accounting on a spreadsheet meant for grocery shopping. Sure, it can be done, but it’s going to be a mess.
The fact is that property management is a unique business, because of the physical assets managed, the frequency of communication around issues and between residents and management, and the need for someone to be physically present at the property to complete many tasks. For the same reason you don’t use generic CRM software for leasing, or small-business software for accounting, you shouldn’t be stuck with generic communication tools.
The Synco Advantage
That’s precisely why we created Synco. Our goal is to bring the same level of organization to your company communications as your PMS does to your property records and accounting information. Imagine a world where all communications with your team, vendors, and other external partners are in one single, unified system. Where conversations are organized by topic, project, property, unit, and so on. Where everyone has the visibility to access the information, updates, files, and photos they need without ever having to ask, “Where are we on this?”
Property management teams that collaborate on Synco can recall information more easily, resolve issues faster, and gain more visibility into what’s happening at their properties. It’s time for property management teams to have the purpose-built communication platform they deserve. It’s time to Meet Synco.
