We recently lost our newly appointed Estate Manager. That’s a blog post for another day. The fallout was that we had to pick up and do the work ourselves(as trustees) while at the same time, looking to fill the vacancy. Fortunately, at our weekly service provider meeting, after it was indicated that we had to make do for the foreseeable future, our service providers pitched in to assist our trustee looking after the estate manager’s phone and email in taking some of the burdens off her shoulders. The issues discussed normally rests with the EM on the coordination of work, organizing schedules, etc. Our service providers jumped in on doing what could be done with a little bit of extra effort. Something wonderful to experience! Essential work and services in a large complex are never-ending. An estate manager’s role is critical in ensuring that owners are not screaming that their drains are clogged, there is low-pressure water feed to their units, the bins are full due to someone moving in and dumping all their boxes etc.
Service providers who work together and assist over and above their contractual duties really make a difference in the running of a complex. The trick is to get the right people to work together. Service providers are not all created equal – dear Lord no! In the trustee’s drive to ensure we get the best we could for our complex, we had to find out from other complexes as to services provided and perform checks on online reviews. Typically on reviews, as is the case with most, people have the energy to complain but not to compliment and then there are the ‘friends’ of the service providers who provide a biased review. Google reviews provide some level of authenticity in that you can check the reviews of reviewers and get a sense of their motivation and bias in all their reviews. The Hello Peter platform is just a shit show in my opinion. The proof is in the pudding and how the service provider provides a consistent service over time. What I have typically found as well is that companies who market themselves well, fall on service delivery, and those who really provide a good service, fall hard on marketing – it’s almost nonexistent! Go figure.
You also cannot expect service providers to provide an above-average service if they are being paid peanuts. Shoddy services cost you more in the end and therefore as trustees, you have to balance keeping costs low with ensuring the service levels are to the standard required. Feedback mechanisms and measurement of services then become necessary – another blog!
We hope to get our Estate Management services sorted soon – live and learn!