Management company executives are a very busy group of people. Fires to stomp, accounts to pitch, meetings to attend and crises to avert are all in a day's work; yet, when it comes to developing and maintaining relationships with the clients (Boards) some executives can't seem to fit it in to their day or worse, don't think they need to - limiting the client relationships to managers and support staff until they absolutely must intervene as some crisis has occurred. Attention executives: Creating and maintaining relationships with your clients can make the difference between losing several accounts this year, or none. These relationships will require some investment of executive time but not nearly as much as you may think. Regardless, all executives should spend at least a portion of the work week on the most effective method for account retention: Relationships. To that end, here are some proactive relationship-building strategies that can be worked in to the executive's to-do list with minimal impact on their time, but maximum impact on the clients.

Executive and client relationships - Personal contact

Pick up the phone and check in with your largest accounts. The calls do not have to be lengthy, but they do need to be at regular intervals, say every 2-4 weeks. Put it on your calendar just like any other appointment. This frequency and regularity will allow the executive to keep their finger on the pulse of the Board. Imagine how pleased (and surprised) a Board president would be to receive a phone call from the executive for no reason other than to check in! The executives asks how things are going, what the latest news of the community, how is our manager performing, what can I do to help, and how about those Giants? This simple touch signifies to the client the executive is not only aware of their existence but is interested in them and appreciates their business.

The smaller accounts should not be neglected; however, due to time constraints the executive may have to delegate the relationship-building to a second- or third-in-command. As long as someone at the executive level is maintaining relationships with the clients, it works. This delegation does double duty by allowing up and coming executives to develop relationship-building skills. The bottom line is that executives shouldn't wait for a call from the client because they don't call just to touch base. Clients call with a contract-threatening crisis. Pick up the phone. In doing so the executive is creating a relationship that will keep them in the loop on a personal level.

Send email. Executives may only have time to call the top accounts personally, but they should send emails to all of them. The message doesn't have to be long or tailored to individual accounts (i.e., general company information or a legislative update) but should always have the executive's picture and contact information. This personal touch creates a relationship from a distance for the executive yet feels personal to the recipient.

Golf, lunch, CAI events, et al. Executives should always carve out this type of schmooze-time for their largest accounts. Play golf with the client, or buy tickets to the next CAI luncheon and sit with them at their table. Or take them to dinner. It's a small price to pay to keep friendly, personal lines of communication open. These are standard techniques employed by sales and marketing professionals because they know it works: People like to do business with people they know.

Executive and client relationships - Impersonal contact

Board seminars and retreats. Whether with a few dozen or a few hundred, Board events are a time efficient way for executives to keep in touch by talking to the group, pressing the flesh and being seen by the clients. These events don't have to cost as much as you think, your business partners are more than willing to be sponsors if they are afforded recognition. The Boards appreciate the information that is imparted, the executive is creating value for, and a relationship with, their clients.

Newsletters. E- or snail mail, company newsletters sent to all your Board members, or anyone else who wants to sign up, are another way to keep that touch going, albeit it from a distance. Make them positive and easy-to-read with information that is relevant to their everyday Board experience. Include pictures of the executive staff along with everyone's contact information - these are clients, not Soviet spies. Don't make them hunt for executive extensions and email addresses. You can't create the feel of a relationship when you're only on "send" and not "receive." 

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The Silence is  Deafening - 5 Signs You May Be Losing An Account
By Rolf Crocker
 

There is an old saying that no news is good news. That may be true in some cases, but not in our industry. If you've been in this business for any significant length of time, you've gained accounts and you've lost accounts. Sometimes those losses are a complete surprise. Other times, losing an account is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The issues can be as varied as managers and boards of directors. But, in my experience, the run up to a parting of the ways usually contains at least two of the following 5 warning signs that you may be losing an account.

1) A manager says an account is 'fine,' but can offer up no significant details regarding what is happening with the account. I won't go so far as to use Dr. Gregory House's axiom, "everybody lies," but virtually every account will have some kind of issue pending. It occurs anytime you pool individuals together under a common set of rules. If a manager can't articulate what is happening on that account except for the fallback position of "everything's fine," it's worth pressing in to see if the account is in fact "fine" - or not.

2) An ever-growing Action list with more unresolved items than resolved. When a manager falls behind in their Action Item list, the tendency of the Board is to pile on with everything else they perceive as not getting done. Boards are generally tolerant of how a manager handles most of their business. If a manager is not handling business, then every little thing becomes evidence of the manager not doing their job.

3) An increased demand for detailed reports. This deals with trust. If there have been significant accounting errors, the Board will want a year-to-date General Ledger so they can double-check the manager's work. If there is a volume of member complaints regarding customer service shortcomings, the Board will want to see your call logs. If they see the same cars illegally parked in Guest Parking for three months or more, the Board will want to look at the details of your violations report. All of this is an attempt to "manage" the manager. Granted, some Boards do this without a warranted issue but, in the main, they pay us to do our jobs. They don't want to feel like they have to do our job for us, especially when they're not getting paid for it. (Continued Below)

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4) Requesting a copy of the Management Contract. It's my fervent hope that your Board already has this and that you are reviewing it with your Board on at least an annual basis. However, if they don't and significant issues arise, they'll ask for it so they can determine A) what they are paying for and B) what is the termination clause should they decide to choose new management. If the request comes during contentious times, be assured that they are looking for the off-ramp.

5) Board unresponsive to e-mails sent from either the manager or management company executive. The Board that has been all over your case suddenly goes quiet. They may ask you to book the clubhouse or post an Agenda for an Executive Session, but when you ask what it's about, they don't tell you, or give you some generic reason and let you know it's not necessary for you to attend. At that point, it's time to gather up the Banker's Boxes.

Occasionally, a good Board will let you know if there are issues and request an opportunity to sit down, discuss the issues and re-align expectations. If they feel the need to test the market, they may allow you to re-bid and re-present to the Board. But more often that not, by the time they have gone through the steps above, they have made the decision to move on.

Remember - no news is not good news. There should always be a healthy level of traffic regarding ongoing issues in an association, whether they are maintenance issues, violations or general complaints. And, more importantly, there should always be an avenue of communication both to and from the Board to insure that any significant issues can be raised with enough lead time to correct. This is true Account Retention. It reminds me of John Maxwell's classic saying: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." When our Boards know we care, it makes up for lot of shortcomings. To use another old saying, "love covers a multitude of sin." Don't wait until it's too late. Show them "the love" today!

Rolf Crocker is Chief Marketing Officer for Axis Construction and Consulting http://www.axisconstruction.com/and he can be reached at