Naaman Fraser, owner and founder of This Space Real Estate, told PM/ONE property management leaders to use technology to free up time for personal service, while building roles their staff want to stay in.
In his Fresh Thinking session, Naaman described staff retention as the problem he wanted his business to solve, linking that ambition to the service clients receive.
“Our mission is to attract and retain genuine and passionate staff so that our clients experience long-term quality service,” Naaman said.
He said that approach starts before recruitment, through coffees and conversations with people interested in real estate, and support as they work towards their real estate licence.
Within the business, Naaman said performance reviews explore whether employees enjoy their work, what they want to do, and whether they are moving towards it.
He said the business then tries to create a pathway towards the work each person wants to pursue, while maintaining professional standards, policies, and procedures.
Naaman applied the same people-focused approach to technology, recommending that property managers use software to create more opportunities for direct contact.
“So use these programs and these systems to buy back your time and provide better service, person to person,” he said.
For leasing enquiries, he recommended automated responses that come from the lead agent, allowing prospective renters to reply directly to the person they need.
He also advised testing whether those emails reach the inbox rather than spam, and including mobile numbers on property listings.
Naaman said another practical communication habit was using phone text replacements to acknowledge missed calls and ask callers to text what they need help with.
He said he marks the message unread as a reminder to return the call, while the caller’s response helps him prepare for the conversation and assess its urgency.
For Naaman, service quality also includes hospitality, which he said features on the agenda at the company’s Monday huddle.
“It’s about how people feel when they’re interacting with your business.”
His example was sitting down with an elderly prospective renter, offering a coffee or water, and helping them complete an application form.
He encouraged leaders to test their own website as a prospective renter or landlord, checking the application process and whether enquiries receive a response.
Where self-assessment is difficult, Naaman recommended asking someone else to review the experience, then acting on their feedback.
He also described an app he built to send appraisals and proposals, generate investor property reports, and prepare marketing materials, including resizing photographs and producing advertising copy.
Naaman said he wanted to launch the app officially and make it available to other agencies.
Actionable
- Ask staff whether their work supports their career goals.
- Test your application process from a prospective renter’s perspective.
- Send automated enquiry replies from the lead agent’s address.
- Create a text replacement to acknowledge missed calls.
- Include hospitality in your regular team meeting agenda.