How to Hire, Train & Succeed with Property Management BDM’s

Our guest today is Kasey McDonald, who trains Business Development Managers (BDMs) in Australia and here in the United States. She is a consultant for the BDM Academy, which helps property management companies grow and scale, paying special attention to sales.The topic we’re discussing today is how you can support your business development manager so that you can scale your property management business. Without a proper sales system and salespeople, a business will never grow to where you want it to be. In the U.S., it’s a huge area of opportunity. Kasey has been a BDM herself, and has over 19 years of experience and knowledge in this area. The Role of a Business Development Manager The role of a good business development manager is to bring new management accounts and be responsible for the complete sales cycle. This is typically done through different methods like handling telephone calls, building referrals, creating newsletters, and hosting workshops. You’ll need to be clear as to what the expectations are for any BDM that you hire. You need someone who: is organized possesses great time management skills can prioritize and delegate has fantastic sales knowhow has networking skills and most importantly, has the right attitude. Attitude is important. You can train skills, but you cannot train an attitude. If you are able to find someone with these qualities, then you will have the archetypal business development manager on your hands. If the BDM understands the direction and expectations from the business owner, you’ll get great growth, as long as they are dedicated to the process. Two Common Mistakes Owners Make When Hiring Business Development Managers Before starting on your search, be aware of two big mistakes people make when hiring and training a business development manager: * First, owners employ a BDM before the business is ready. You have to analyze and assess your business. Otherwise you could think you’re growing, but properties are actually going out the back door because you aren’t providing the level of service that you need to provide. Make sure you know and understand your business and what you can take on. Have the processes, systems, and a database in place. * The second mistake is not looking at targets and keeping the BDM accountable. Some business owners will employ a BDM and just let them go, leaving them to their own devices. No one is checking in or monitoring performance or keeping them accountable. Then, there’s no growth and no one knows why. You need to make sure that you keep your BDM accountable and sit with them regularly to review targets. In order to have success with a BDM, do your best to avoid these mistakes. Strongly consider the direction of your business. This means knowing what kind of income is being generated, and how much it costs to manage those properties. With this information, you’ll be able to work out incentives for your BDM as well as the Key Performance Indicators (see: Property Management KPIs) and goals. Once you have realistic goals and targets for your business, from there, you can go through individual activities that you want your BDM to handle. When Should You Hire a BDM? Kasey decided her business needed a BDM when she was at 50 or 60 properties. At that point, she herself moved from the role of property manager to the role of BDM, and hired a property manager so she could focus completely on this part of the business. It accelerated her business quickly, allowing her to add 127 new properties in a year. Where Do You Find a Good BDM? * Look at your existing business.