I recently attended my third Yardi Annual Spring Conference in Washington DC (YASC 2018). Not only does the event inform attendees of new products, it also offers support for existing and core functions. As institutional asset managers, we are always trying to automate and improve our processes and procedures. Below is a summary of two key takeaways from the conference:
- Automation
Key components of asset management and property management are often labor intensive. Shindico believes that automating these processes will free up team members to do more analysis, focusing on maximizing revenue and minimizing expenses while providing tenants with a superior experience.
This year, as a result of YASC, we were able to automate our inspection procedure. Work orders are now automatically generated from site while property managers are doing inspections. As a result, admin staff spend less time inputting work orders, and have more time to obtain pricing and follow up to completion. - Improved Tracking
Tracking open work orders is very important for a business of Shindico’s size. It is not uncommon for us to have 100 open work orders at any time. By leveraging core Yardi functions and integrating the information we sought out at the conference, we can easily track this work and ensure it is completed to our satisfaction.
This year we also learned how to better track our residential advertising spend and look forward to making adjustments to maximize our ROI.
YASC 2018 was a success from Shindico’s perspective, and we look forward to further leveraging Yardi’s capabilities.
Alex Akman, CPA, CMA
Manager, Property Management and Development