For the second year running @home property management specialist Michelle Williams has been listed by Elite Agent readers as one of Australia’s top 50 Industry Influencers.
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The Launceston managing director said the accolade was a thrill – particularly two years in a row – as it was voted by her peers across the real estate industry, including property management, sales and training.
“It’s based on the influence you have within the industry,” Ms Williams said.
“I do provide my knowledge through training, public speaking, consulting with other organisations, and I do lots of volunteering. I have spoken in Western Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland, and I’m involved with quite a few different networks.
“That is valuable, particularly for property managers that haven’t had a lot of training and the resources to go to someone for support,” she said.
At least 97 per cent of our business comes from someone talking about our service.
- Michelle Williams
Besides sharing her knowledge and experience through public speaking, Ms Williams started an online member-based property management community for Tasmanian real estate professionals.
“If a property manager has a curly question, or if they want some information, they can ask other property managers, who may have the answers. That’s been running now for 12 months and has been very good. I think we have 500 members.”
Ms Williams has been managing rental properties for 23 years – 12 with another agency before launching @home with a business partner in 2009.
Starting from scratch with no clients tested the new business owners, but they networked with anyone involved in property transactions and grew the business organically, with the team of 12 now managing almost 750 properties within a 15-kilometre radius of Launceston.
“Aside from social media, all of our business has come from word of mouth. At least 97 per cent of our business comes from someone talking about our service,” she said.
“I was very fearful, because walking out of a very secure job and starting with zero clients and zero money was quite scary.
“I had already established a reputation after 12 years of doing the work, but it was very important to me that people could see I was out to start my own business, not steal someone else’s. I didn’t connect with any of my past clients at all.”
The fledgling business grew at a rate of up to 150 properties each year, and new staff were hired at least annually to cope with demand.
One of the reasons Ms Williams enjoys working in property management is its diversity.
“I love the fact that it’s a really good combination of people base and administration base. You get that combination of being able to get out of the office and meet and greet people, plus that admin side as well,” she said.
“It’s quite a mixture of different tasks and roles. That’s what I love about it.”
However, the role is not without its challenges.
Property management means being the conduit between the property owner and the tenant, but @home staff strive to keep both parties happy.
“Whilst we work for the owner, we’ve also got a customer over here that we keep satisfied as well. It can be quite challenging being that middle person and trying to find a solution that both parties walk away happy with, because reputation is pretty important to us in such a small community,” Ms Williams said.
“We need to look after both sides so we’ve got two people saying good things, as opposed to just one.”
@home conducts a customer service survey every year, so “we know exactly what they think of us, we don’t try and guess,” Ms Williams said.
The role also involves keeping on top of property and tenancy legislation, negotiation, customer complaints, property vacancies and tenants moving house.
“Without being there for the team, you’d have a constant turnover of staff. The support and training has to be there,” she said.
Now the business has been established, Ms Williams is spending time developing staff.
“I’m working with three of our senior property managers and I’ve set them up as mentors of other team members. I get satisfaction out of seeing my team grow and develop.”
And the investment is paying off, with one staff member winning a national property manager of the year title for 2018 and another was a finalist.
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