Friday, December 20, 2013

What type of community manager are you??

Ever wonder what type of community manager you are in the eyes of your vendors? I know I often wonder how community managers I work with see me!

These are certainly stereotypes as everyone has their own personal traits and style. After 25 years being a pool service vendor for many, many different community managers, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of community managers.

Most of you are good. You work hard, you have an amazing ability to keep an even keel while under verbal attack, you understand budgeting, funding, HOA protocol and multi-tasking is, "the only way you survive!"

The best of you realize that your vendors are your eyes and ears in the community. You understand that time spent being proactive is much more productive than time spent reacting. You understand that like community managers, there are good vendors and lousy vendors. But, have you really considered what, exactly, makes a good vendor (community manager). I'm betting you would say something along the lines of... a good vendor (community manager) provides great service in a timely fashion. You know this because the vendor (community manager) communicates frequently the state of the community. The vendor(community manager) calls or emails to give you a "heads up" about a problem, situation, event or communication with a homeowner/board member. A good vendor (community manager) answers your calls more times than not and returns yours call quickly. A good vendor (community manager) emails you with information realizing that you spend a good part of your day prioritizing and putting out fires, and answers your emails quickly. A good vendor (community manager) doesn't talk down to you because you don't understand his/her job expectations. A good vendor (community manager) works under the assumption that it is a team effort. It's the community manager's job to handle the community's endless needs. It's the vendors who are your teammates in this often frustrating part of your job. If the vendor (community manager) is not a positive contributor to the team, the team suffers. The best vendors realize the line community managers walk daily between the board, the management company for which they work, and lastly, the vendors. The best community managers coach. That's right, they coach. They coach the board, and they coach the vendors. Now, what do all great leaders and coaches have in common?? The answer...All of them are great communicators. All of them practice what they preach and everyone of them pays meticulous attention to little things. Little things that all start with communicating goals and expectations and well, coaching.

Needless to say, the bad and ugly community managers are not coaches. They are everything but. They are lousy teammates at best, and angry opponents at worst.

One vendor's humble opinion. I would be interested in responses. What, in your opinion, makes a good vendor or community manager. Are we teammates or adversaries? Or, what are we? Business is business but does it have to be impersonal?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I GOT A GUY!!

I GOT A GUY!!

After 25 years working with property management companies I kept finding myself saying to community managers, "Yeah, we can do that. I got a guy..."

Thus, "I GOT A GUY" services began. Given my formula of hiring semi-retired men to service our community pools, I have accumulated a workforce of reliable, ethical and responsible hard working men, with various skills, who understand the meaning of a job well done and taking ownership in their work. The same quality of pool service community managers and HOA boards have come to expect from us is also the same quality of handyman services our "I GOT A GUY" system provides.

Next time you need a guy, "I GOT A GUY" services is a phone call, work order or email away.

I even have a guy to find a guy if I don't have the right guy!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Talkin Handyman Services

Little by little Community Managers are using our handyman services for those small tasks that need to be done sooner, rather than later. Checking and changing community light bulbs, adjusting/replacing photo cells or light timers, replacing broken/stolen light post globes, removing graffiti, cleaning gutters and downspouts, repairing perimemter fences and fixing hose bib drips are just a few of the light handyman jobs we have performed for communities.

Community Managers use our reliable services for communitites whose pools we service, as well as communitites that do not have a pool.

Is there a way my semi-retired work force can lighten your work load?

If given a list of items, my guys would happily and thoroughly do community "walk arounds" and submit a report to CMs, make the repairs we can and suggest repairs we cannot make all at very reasonable prices.

Please call or email if Talkin Handyman Services can be of help.

Feel free to post any comments or questions.