The term “growth hacking” has never been more popular. Take a quick look at Google Trends and you can see that it is at the height of its popularity!
Not surprisingly, when we did a podcast on this very topic on “The Property Management Show” it quickly turned out to be one of the most well received episodes.
So for this week’s blog we’ve asked Jordan Muela (LeadSimple.com & ManageMyProperty.com) to join us for a recap on that episode to give you, our readers, some great tips. Here are the 10 growth hacks you can use to grow your property management company:
1. Productized Rental Reports
A lot of companies have different offers and enticements to get people in the door. A popular offer is to establish an exchange of information for an email address. The rental report allows landlords to see how much their rental property will rent for. You want something that is well-designed and companies like RentRange.com and Rentometer.com are recommended as they professionally put together reports for you. They can produce graphs with basic information about the property, including valuations and comparable prices. Use this rental report as an offer. When someone goes to your site, offer them the ability to get that report. More people will fill out those forms, and you’ll generate more leads.
2. Content
Content like informational videos and educational blogs can help you reach leads who have questions about property management and investment property. You’ll get landlords and investors who want to educate themselves and this is a great avenue for you to get found online with the keywords your customers are searching. Amazon.com makes 57 percent of its sales from keywords outside of popular terms (Search Engine Guide). So people aren’t searching for shoes, but they might be searching for green shoes that reach the knee for fishing. This demonstrates that content is by far the foundational way to monetize just about every avenue of your business.
3. Lead Nurturing
Let’s say you close 40% of your new leads, what will you do with the other 60% of those owners? Most property management companies are only having sales conversations when someone is ready to have a sales conversation. But not all leads that come by are ready for property management. Stay in touch with owner leads and keep your company top of mind when they are ready for you. It can be something as simple as a set of emails that are getting sent out periodically. Pull them closer to your business one email at a time with a drip campaign.
4. Reputation
No matter how good your sales process is, you won’t close as many leads without a solid and stellar reputation. Care a lot about your online reputation. Get obsessed in a good way. Don’t obsess over bad reviews, obsess over receiving good ones. Get your happy customers to write online reviews that can drown out the negativity. Most of your customers are happy, come up with ways to let them speak on your behalf. 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations (BrightLocal).
Click Here to Listen to Our Other Episodes of “The Property Management Show”
5. Throttling Pay-Per-Lead Services
A lot of people have mixed feelings about Pay-Per-Lead services but they are good for two reasons:
a) In our experience with ManageMyProperty.com, we know that in aggregate, looking at thousands of leads, they work.
b) They will tell you a lot about your sales process. If you turn the lead spigot on and you’re getting lots of leads but nothing is closing, you can take a look at your sales process and figure out what needs improvement.
6. Pay-Per-Click
The customer acquisition cost for an AdWords campaign is between $300 and $700 or an average of $500. Would you buy a customer for $500 if they are going to provide a lifetime revenue stream of $10,000? It’s a no-brainer. Pay-Per-Click campaigns can be fairly complex, so do some research and hire a company that specializes in Pay-Per-Click specifically in property management. The reason is that you have multiple constituencies; owners and tenants. You don’t want to pay for tenants, you want to pay for owners, and that’s the key if you want to keep your costs low.
7. Calling FRBOs
FRBO stands for For Rent by Owner. Calling these potential leads is not pleasant or fun but it is worth trying, especially if you are starting out your property management business. You can check Craigslist ads for qualified prospects or use pmleads.com as a vendor who can provide you with these owners. This has to be done in a structured process and it’s a special animal but if you get good at it, it will work for you to grow owner portfolio.
8. Join Local Organizations
This is something very few people do and even fewer people do it right. Join your Chamber of Commerce, your local Rotary, referral networks and any organization that has people to associate with in the local area. You’ll get referrals when you talk to people about what you do. That is not the only thing, you’ll also get an organic link to your website in your profile on their site. This is a valuable inbound link that will help you rank higher on search engines. It works for SEO and for leads that come from personal relationships.
9. Having a Growth Plan
You need a structured process for your aspirations. If you drill down, most property managers have a plan to do more, get bigger and get better. Be specific on a macro level and then drill down to what you have to do on a weekly and monthly basis. Having a goal and plan will force you to make certain decisions and allow you to know where you need to focus.
10. Have a Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan needs to be specific about what you want to do this year. If you want to add 100 properties, decide what you are willing to pay to get them. If it’s $300 per property, you’ll need a marketing budget of $30,000. Then, you’ll need to decide which marketing channels you will use and how you will organize that spend. Convert your property management marketing plan into something that makes sense. You’ll continue improving the plan to give it structure and execution.
If you want to hear this talk in full, the 40-minute recording is available on iTunes or on our site “The Property Management Show.” If you have any questions about what we’ve discussed, contact us at Fourandhalf.com – Internet Marketing for Property Managers. If you like the content, be sure to check out our blog for property managers.
