Property Management Success
00:46:43 · Stephen Glover
[00:46:43] S1: Right. Yeah, we have we have a um sort of a maintenance package. So instead of charging a maintenance coordination fee, we've created a monthly maintenance package where they pay for it monthly that covers any coordination that could happen. It's a flat rate. Um, they pay monthly, regardless of work order submitted or anything like that. That no one else in our market is doing that currently, right? And so that is a fee we have to explain every single sales call. But for us, it's recurring revenue, it's consistent, it's known. We've done the math a million times based on a um coordination or a coordination fee based on invoice or tickets or whatever. Um, and we've stuck with the package, it's it's simple accounting. Um, and so it's things like that that that that is different than the rest of our market, but we have a ton of value behind that package and what's offered in that package that we can explain to set us apart. And so they could either go with an uncertain maintenance coordination fee or they can go with a known value of the maintenance package and what what that provides. And the investors that we work with really appreciate that package.
00:47:52 · Tony Cline
[00:47:52] S0: I love it. Well, you had mentioned as as we get ready to wrap up here, you had mentioned that you you have been able to hire people, create the teams, create the systems that allow you to be less and less involved in the day-to-day over the years. You're at around that 1300 door mark, and you you are still trying to figure out, or you you have figured out, but you're working on what you should be doing, what you should be contributing. And I talk about there's $10 an hour tasks, there's $100 an hour tasks, and there's $1,000 an hour tasks. And the the job as the business owner as you grow is to relinquish as much of the $10 an hour activities as soon as possible. But sometimes we get stuck in that $100 an hour activity, and you have now elevated yourself where you're you're looking where can I contribute the most? How can I continue to be present in the marketplace? And so I want to dig into the marketing that you that you are doing now. Uh I think we we mentioned in the show notes that you've you've brought on a few people recently for marketing, you've launched a podcast. I just want to I want you to share with the audience what you're doing to continue to grow the company and do the things that only you can do while you've built out this team that does everything else for for the company.
00:49:16 · Stephen Glover
[00:49:16] S1: Yeah, and I'll say like we had a really good word-of-mouth flywheel, it was spinning fast. And so when we hired a um our first BDM, that flywheel spawned for a long time when that BDM was getting up to speed. We were still bringing in plenty of units. Um, over time, that natural like word-of-mouth flywheel starts to slow a little bit if you're not massively like nurturing it and building relationships and everything. So we actually have two BDMs now. They are keeping that flywheel going, but naturally, like people for good or bad, better or worse, people want to speak to the owner. There's there's something about talking to an owner that that feels differently to people. And so the owner, in my opinion, we we are very much a community-based business. I have great relationships in this market. Um, people will forget about me if I'm not putting out something, right? And at our team size, about a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago, I realized I was not getting out anymore. I wasn't talking to anyone. I was I was just focused on running and operating the team, not the business. They were doing the property management stuff, but making sure the team was up to speed. They had everything they needed to be successful and putting in my time and effort there. Plus, where's the business going to go? What direction? But that flywheel was slowing a little bit. The BDMs are still bringing in stuff, they're doing a good job, but the flywheel wasn't spinning as fast. And so the BDMs are getting less leads, and they're like, all right, we're, you know, let's start considering marketing because also at this point, we need to bring in more units to feed the team. It's no longer just kind of like a fun game of just bringing in a few units here and there. We have to be bringing in a solid amount of units. And so I looked at, you know, I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old, um, a wife that I love and want to spend time with. Um, I don't want to go back to 80-hour weeks. I don't want to go back to 60-hour weeks. Um, but I want this business to continue to thrive. I'm still very invested in this business. We have big plans. I think we've only made it a small fraction of the way we can make it with this company. So there's still a long runway of opportunity here.
00:51:25 · Stephen Glover
And so for me, it was how do we increase the word of mouth flywheel without me going to have to have five face-to-face meetings a day or going to after hours meetup events constantly every week and things like that. And so the idea was for me to just start an online presence as much as I don't really enjoy it, uh, being like in being in the podcast or being online or creating content. It's not really my style, but actually, like so I hesitated for about a year and a half. And and I delayed and I made excuses and I made all kinds of excuses. And then finally, after meeting with you and some others last year, it was just like, just do it. You have to do it. And so I started doing it, and guess what? Now I really enjoy it. I I I the podcast, the Virginia Investor Podcast, uh, it's VA Investor Pod on most social platforms. Um, that interviews local investors in Virginia that are doing awesome things, that think differently. Some are real estate professionals, but most are investors that have done awesome things that have different mindsets and different strategies and different tactics that we can learn from. And we record these awesome conversations, get them out there, and then of course, they are sharing it to their network. I'm getting to build a really good relationship with these guests that have come on, uh, some of which I didn't know previously. And then now I'm I'm getting to know their network and their projects and everything. And it's become a really cool way to get embedded in this market without spending 20 hours a week networking.
00:52:53 · Tony Cline
[00:52:53] S0: I think one of the things that you said was you wanted to stay active in the marketplace. You wanted to still have a presence. But I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think one of the things that you recognized is that it doesn't didn't just keep you active, but it's actually elevated your status in the marketplace. And and of course, um status in and of itself doesn't really bias much, but status unlocks doors and unlocks and creates new opportunity and builds that network.
00:53:22 · Stephen Glover
[00:53:22] S1: Yeah, I I would agree. I still think it's early for like the status, like I'm not like a look, quote unquote, like local celebrity or anything. It just it is what it is, uh, but it's definitely getting getting the name out, getting the brand out. Um, and and and the the thing is is I reached out to guests um that I have a high level of respect for um and ask if they want to be on a podcast. And these are people that I don't know, maybe I've never met, you know, I've I've seen them around in the market for years. And I've reached out to like one recently, and he his response was, Hey, I just got done listening to episode number 20. It was incredible. I'm about in uh, you know, 30 minutes into episode 21. Now, I had no idea this guy knew I existed. And he was just like, I'd love to be on the podcast. And I'm like, and this guy owns a ton of property, he knows all kinds of people, he's been investing for years. And so just the fact that like he was listening, I didn't even know. And then another aspect of this is do not, I think people say this, and and and you your ego can get caught up on this, is like, how many likes, how many followers, etc. I think the the the podcast page on Instagram has maybe like a hundred followers. I don't know, I don't I don't even look, but it's probably like a hundred, hundred and fifty followers. It's got close to 20,000 views in the past 30 days. So, like that many people have seen the podcast in some way, shape, or form in the past 30 days. And without the podcast and without posting content, like none of that would have happened. And so we are seeing like we're getting a lot more messages now. We're seeing a lot more things. People are saying, oh, is that the guy with the pocket, or is that the company with the podcast? Um, and so yeah, it's definitely, I think it's gonna increase the word of mouth flywheel on top of what uh the it's gonna supplement what the BDMs are doing. And then we've also hired a marketing team. We now have two RTMs and one in-person marketing person who just started to increase content and social media presence and uh all the other things.