The Magic Bullet: Relationships
Bells and whistles are nice, but they're but it's not why we keep accounts
By Julie Adamen

Competition between management companies is more fierce than ever. Firms are going to great lengths to sign accounts, and with few new associations being built and feeding the pipeline, everyone is looking for a magic bullet to mitigate account loss, while associations are looking for the best management services for the lowest possible price. What is that elusive magic bullet? Is it more service, less money, bells and whistles or a Blue Angel flyover? Nope, it's the same thing it's always been: Relationships. Relationships are the easiest and the most difficult way to retain accounts because developing, nurturing and maintaining client relationships takes time; time we perceive we either do not have, or think it better spent elsewhere. Wrong! Relationships are the glue that binds service providers and clients.

Three crucial relationships that must be built between management and client

Executive-client relationship. The first relationship a potential client association has with a management firm is usually with an executive at a marketing presentation. The executive makes promises, the parties agree to a price, and voila! It's beginning of a beautiful relationship... Except that more often than not, it's the last contact the executive will have with the client unless or until something dire happens and the executive has to step in at the last minute in hopes of retaining the contract.

What message does this send? I care about getting your business but not about your ongoing business until I must  because it's going to affect my bottom line."  By neglecting the development of even a rudimentary relationship with the client, the executive loses all hope of being able to head off issues before they become crises. Not surprisingly, this method of operation is not conducive to client retention.

Client-manager relationship. Far and away the most crucial relationship on a day-to-day basis is that by and between the community manager and the client account. We know that the best community manager is not only one who can get the lawn mowed or the trees pruned, but one who has great communication skills, which allow them to develop good working relationships with their Boards by listening to and understanding their needs, politics, finances and property, and rolling it all in to how they relate to that particular client over a long period of time. These are the managers that stay in the business, successfully, and are worth their weight in gold. Managers who neglect, or are ignorant of, the keen relationship they should have with the client are doomed to fail themselves, the client and the employer. Needless to say, the quality of the relationship between the manager and the client Board(s) they serve is the fulcrum for account retention.

The client-customer service relationship is the third fundamental component of our overall relationship with the clients, yet its significance can get lost in the hubbub of our crisis-oriented industry. Let's remember that the average resident will have little if any contact with the manager personally, so the quality of service provided by the receptionist, customer service, assistant manager and accounting staff is the platform for the firm's relationship with the overall community populace. Are the residents' issues handled with efficiency, grace and care, or handled as if they are a bother? This is how our management services will be judged by legions of people. Does poor customer service alone mean account loss? Sometimes, but mostly it acts as the tipping point: If relations with the executive are non-existent and the manager poor, bad customer service on top of that will send the client packing.
 
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Management companies are continually looking for the magic bullet to mitigate account loss in this economy where there are few newly developed associations coming on line. Associations look for as much cheap and free stuff as they can possibly can. That's certainly nothing new. What is new is that management companies nowadays have a lot of value-added products and services to provide the client. Wrap this all together and you get accounts being promised three months free management service, discounted cable and internet, a rocket scientist for a manager *and* a Blue Angel flyover. It's all well and good, but we are giving short shrift to the easiest, but the most difficult and overlooked component in account retention: Relationship building. Next month we'll discuss easy and practical ways to develop, nurture and maintain client relationships for the long-term, because They ARE the magic bullet.
- Julie

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