CANBERRA Property Partners’ pioneering efforts to drive its property management operations to new technological efficiencies have led the agency to win the highly contested innovation category at the REIA National Awards for Excellence. 

Co-owner Paul Kuske says the technological advances were simply a means for the agency to achieve its principal goal of delivering exceptional client service.

The move has already had an impact, with Canberra Property Partners last year winning Local Agent Finder’s Best Renter ACT for the third year in a row, while customer testimonials consistently mention the agency has hit the ideal balance of online services and personal contact.

“Our entire approach is built on forging a truly personal relationship with our clients, but as with any business, there are competing priorities with administration that were robbing us of the time we wanted to spend on client focus,” Paul says.

“We thought there could be a better way, and with my background in digital tools and technology I knew there was scope to automate the administrative tasks, but the challenge was finding the right tools.”

He says he spent more than a year investigating potential technology options but was disheartened with what was available to the market.

“The industry as a whole has been slower to adopt new technology and as a result there are not a lot of purpose-built software options in the marketplace.

“In the end, we decided to build our own.”

The agency used a prominent off-the-shelf US marketing software package and customised it to suit both the industry and its own business-specific demands.

“The software manufacturers tell us this has never been done in our industry anywhere in the world, and we’re now consulting to them so they can enhance their own product’s functionality and potential,” Paul says.

Canberra Property Partners’ new operating system not only automatically takes care of hundreds of repetitive behind-the-scenes tasks that were once done by hand, it also sends emails to property owners upon purchase with handy information about such matters as NBN connections and smoke alarm testing and reminders about new addresses for direct-debit bill payments.

Paul says the approach provides huge advantages, including reducing human error and providing smoother, more consistent transactions with clients, faster response times, higher quality assurance of paper trails and more immediate access to client histories.

“It’s definitely led to a higher level of customer satisfaction and loyalty,” he says. 

“They appreciate that we’re faster, more precise and efficient and that they’re assured of prompt resolutions and continuity in the standard of service they get.”

The agency has recently gone one step further on its technological transformation, introducing a new property management service that provides 3D virtual walk-throughs of residences.

“This allows owners and prospective tenants a remote means of seeing the condition of paintwork, carpets and even garden health,” Paul says.

“It’s a highly accurate and a highly
detailed virtual point of reference. Tradespeople can measure and visually identify any problems without stepping a foot on the property and prospective tenants can visualise arrangement of their furniture, even down to the number of power points in a room. 

“We believe the service is another digital first in property management.”

Canberra Property Partners, 2/18 Winchcombe Court, Mitchell. Call 6103 0843 or email sales@canberrapropertypartners.com.au