In the Press

• Electronic Purchase Order System Eliminates Paperwork
  Canadian Apartment Magazine, Spring 2008. Download e PDF.
• Third Party Management for the Self-storage Business
• DMS Property Management's Cencourse Project Wins the Biz X 'Oscar'

Staffing and Customer Service:

A third party management group can assist owners with growing complexities in an increasingly competitive market. An external management solutions firm is there to assist in the daily operations relieving owners and allowing them more time to focus on the high level decisions for their business.

Working in conjunction with owners, a good management company will help in the training and management of staff. An institutional grade company will train staff in becoming well-equipped sales and marketing employees, while providing quality service. This will allow staff to be increasingly effective in bringing in customers and closing on rentals. As well as training staff, companies can offer facilities extensive networks and business relations, which allow for additional customer referrals.

A management company also has access to Human Resource Services, and will be able to staff your facility if an employee is away. Floater staff will be trained as qualified employees and be able to effectively fill in during a full time employee’s absence while not forcing the owner of the facility to carry the cost of another full time person.

Another advantage is their ability to monitor a facility while an owner is on vacation or away. Third party management firms offer 24-hour support. Therefore if an alarm goes off in the middle of the night, or while an owner is away, the company’s support system will respond - a nice feature to assure the safety and accessibility of your facility.

Maintenance:

Maintaining a facility and its grounds are also part and parcel of a finely tuned management strategy. Regardless of whether the facility is large or small, maintenance requires managing snowplow and landscaping services, as well as the daily upkeep of a clean and inviting building. Because companies are handling a number of maintenance duties for various groups, their industry connections allow them to obtain very competitive rates. These connections also allow them to be aggressive when looking for an Insurance company. A management company can approach insurers and ask for and obtain aggressive quotes because they are bringing insurers the possibility of working with many clients.

Operations

Bookkeeping, handling the accounts payable and receivable, is a constant operation. Knowing when the bills need to be paid and when rent payments are due, requires constant maintenance of your business’s books. Third party management is required to provide facilities with institutional grade financial management. This means that the management company will constantly update a facilities accounting. Having recent accounting provides the opportunity for better rents, better debt and less instances of having to go to auction.

Another component of operations is handling marketing and client relations. Management solutions will market a facility as well as provide follow up with customers. Follow up means that owners will know why a customer moved out or moved in to a unit. This provides you with knowledge of your customer base, allowing you to understand any changing concerns and needs.

Financial Reporting:

Current financial reporting allows owners to make the best decisions for their business. If your books are recent then you know how each aspect of your business is performing. Keeping a finger on the pulse of financial successes and potential pitfalls, allows owners to make confident decisions regarding daily operations on a regular basis. They allow you to decide whether it is this a good time to start investing in marketing strategies designed to increase occupancy, or if occupancy is consistently high maybe it is the right time to think about increasing rental rates. A third party management firm helps you maintain high standards of accounting that are GAAP compliant. This allows owners to make sound choices and push through important business decisions at the appropriate time. It gives owners the ability to look at all their business systems and understand where everything sits

A third party management team can effectively build institutional grade management strategies that enhance the productive of your site. They provide unbiased options and opinions for your business, and offer institutional grade management of staff, customer relations, financing, marketing and maintenance. Working in conjunction with owners a company can help you assess what areas of your business are running smoothly and which areas may need attention. Maintaining healthy finances and services in an increasingly competitive industry provides owners the opportunity to know when to increase rates and improve their revenue.