That is why Susan Watts – Managing Partner at RE/MAX Living in Cape Town – expected nothing less than perfection when she set out to grow the property management side of the business.
Interview with
Growing rentals
“We started out primarily in property sales,” says Susan. “And while we did have a few agents that were managing rentals for buyers, there was so much admin involved that it wasn’t worth growing. We also had to make sure that we met client expectations, but to offer property management to all our clients would have meant hiring additional employees.”
Once Susan discovered PayProp, it quickly became clear that expanding property management while maintaining a high level of service was not only possible, but could also make a big difference to her company’s bottom line.
After speaking to PayProp we knew we had found a system that encompassed everything that we needed and that could scale with us as we grew the rental side of the business. Susan Watts, Managing Partner
“We knew across the area we covered there were some good rental prospects, but it was key to make sure that we manage them correctly,” she says.
New system, no problems
Getting to grips with a new system can be a challenge for teams and clients alike, but Susan found that PayProp’s winning combination of tried and tested technology, plus a world-class support team made all those fears disappear.
“I thought PayProp was going to be difficult to set up and learn and that there was going to be a huge change.” Susan adds.
I was prepared to deal with a lot of technical issues, but we didn’t find any because the back office support PayProp offers is so fantastic that any issues were ironed out easily. It was such a pleasant surprise and it really put me at ease that the extra admin I was expecting just didn’t happen. Susan Watts, Managing Partner
“That level of support has continued to this day. PayProp really do treat my business as if they have a personal stake in it. You don’t call a call centre and struggle for days or weeks to get through to somebody, it is simply the case that you can pick up the phone, someone will answer, and they’ll talk you through your problem and actually know what they’re talking about. This service-orientated approach is hugely refreshing in the world of PropTech.”
Accurate insight
Once PayProp was fully implemented across all branches, Susan found it much easier to manage her business thanks to the insight PayProp offers — all of which is at her fingertips 24/7. Checking on any of the branches is easy, as PayProp is available on any device with a Web browser.
“Using the phone in my pocket I can log in to PayProp and run checks on each of my agents. You can generate a graph and see how their business has been growing. It’s easy to quickly spot if the business is not growing and then you can have any necessary conversations with that branch. Everything is in one place and easy to find – I absolutely love that because it makes my job so much easier.”
PayProp also assists with security and gives RE/MAX Living a complete overview of the rental payment process, so any errors can be quickly corrected. “PayProp has given us peace of mind. With the audit log it’s easy to make sure someone hasn’t accidentally ticked the wrong box,” explains Susan. “We also get alerts, for instance, if a beneficiary’s details change – which is a big security risk if those changes include incorrect bank details. As a typical business owner, you would not know if those changed, but PayProp had thought about that, which makes it far safer for us to transact than a normal rental agency.”
Great service = growth
One key driver for investing in PayProp was to take admin away from the agents that were already managing rental portfolios, so they could do what they do best.
“It’s simple really, the less admin you have as an agent, the more business you are actually able to do. And PayProp takes care of a lot of that admin. It streamlines and simplifies it, which allows the agent to go out, network and negotiate, which is what they do best.”
“We’ve seen the impact of that change. Clients have come back to our agents asking them not only to manage their properties, but also their dad’s, their uncle’s, their friend’s properties as well. As a result, their portfolio has grown to such an extent that they’ve actually had to hire an administrator to manage the day-to-day and run their PayProp account for them. And that’s where the success story is for our business.”
Vision for the future
As her business continues to grow, it is important to Susan that the companies she partners with have the same thirst for expansion and international horizons as RE/MAX Living.
“RE/MAX is an international company, so seeing PayProp growing with such leaps and bounds in the international arena is wonderful to watch. It is vitally important for us to partner with friends that are recognised internationally because of the number of international clients we work with, so PayProp’s global growth is a fantastic opportunity for us as well.” Susan’s advice to any RE/MAX agencies around the world considering PayProp is simple, just do it.
To me, PayProp is a time-saving genius. Susan Watts, Managing Partner
