Rental Guys Property Management is a family owned and operated company, managing just over 100 single family homes in the Jacksonville Florida area. Brian Alterman and Elliot Greenberg are cousins and co-brokers of the company.

Brian & Elliot had an innate sense that the company needed systems and a way to keep everything on track. 

“As you grow and you start to acquire more than one door at a time, we weren’t able to become efficient and bring in that many doors based on gaps in communication. And it basically became apparent, and even more so now that we’re utilizing LeadSimple, that we can really hone in on, not just the tracking, but organization and the ability to have everything in one house, so that we know, long term, as we’re bringing in more business, we’re able to handle the volume of added properties.” ~ Elliot

However, as they created spreadsheets and checklists, they struggled with determining the best system design, the complexity of thinking through every scenario, and how best to manage it all. 

“I knew what to do but I didn’t know how to do it. Or the best way to do it and therefore also the easiest way to do it.” ~ Brian

“It’s very stressful to have to think about all of that stuff and before we signed up for the operations program, we were trying to figure that out on our own.” ~ Brian

They had been using LeadSimple’s CRM for a while for managing and following up with new leads. 

“For winning leads, I would say the [biggest benefit is the] organizational side and the processes of the steps so that we know where a lead is in the sales process, you know, from first phone call to getting a signed PMA agreement. … It’s really helped on that side, which I think makes it smoother and of course, I would think on the [client’s] side they would see that as well and it makes them have a good experience with us as well, being a smooth process and a little quicker too.” ~ Brian

As they approached the problem of operations, they began trying to build their processes into LeadSimple’s CRM module. Then they heard about LeadSimple’s operations management features.‍

“I think they are actually clients of yours who had built an amazing system and they showed it to us and that’s what really opened my eyes.” ~ Brian

So Brian and Elliot turned to LeadSimple to help them, not only for software to help them manage their processes, but for the expertise to help them work through the complexity of thinking through and building out their processes.

“Those worksheets that you create where you ask all the questions [were so helpful], because you make it simple for me, while I’m going, ‘Oh my gosh, my heads going to explode. I know what I want it to be and I know what it can be, I just can’t figure out how to make it happen.’ 

But asking the right questions to know what the answers are, will tell you how to build it. I just always had trouble asking the question to then be able to answer it to get me where I needed to. But you guys with those worksheets, I felt like you break it all down, step by step. I don’t think you left anything out, and of course everybody’s business is going to be a little bit different, but I think the structure was very helpful for us.” ~ Brian

Elliot admitted that he wasn’t expecting the level of effort and contribution needed on their part to construct their processes and systems. Now that it’s complete, however, he appreciates how that experience has given them the ability to make changes and build new things on their own.

“Maybe just from the first, when Brian and I first signed up, we probably had the same thought of, ‘Okay, they’re setting up the whole entire thing, right?’ I know that’s what we had in mind, and we came to find out we had to do a little bit more than we originally thought we had signed up for. That’s just my full disclosure. But I am actually happy that we had to learn a little bit on our own, because now, not only does it make us stronger and better, but I know that if I want to make a change to the system, how I can do that myself, and I always have you guys there as an assistant remotely, so that way if I do have questions, I’m not lost. That’s really nice.” ~ Elliot

The best part is that once the initial effort to build systems is over, the benefits will be felt in every area of the business going forward.

“Once you have it set up, it’s automated. It’s become easier and easier and easier and overtime, as we add more properties and more staff members, we don’t have to panic about starting this whole thing over again. Even training somebody new becomes that much easier and more efficient.” ~ Elliot

Now, they are feeling the benefits of streamlined systems in every area of their business. 

✅ Time saved to work on higher-value, dollar-producing activities

“Where do you want to spend your time? I know that if I am not personally bringing in a new owner, if I’m not connecting a tenant to a rental to start getting that owner paid, all else is just  time consuming. It’s necessary, but without the organization portion of it, it makes that take 50 hours of your work week, where you should be focusing on that dollar producing activity stuff.” ~ Elliot

“It’s much more efficient, so yes, where before maybe we were bringing in two doors a month, I see us now bringing in maybe 2 a week and you have to account that to something, and that to me has been the LeadSimple system. It’s been that total package of communication, organization, and automation.” ~ Elliot

✅ Proactive communication with owners and tenants has lowered the number of inbound questions

“I’ve stopped getting text messages from owners all the time now: ‘Where’s my house at? Is it getting leased yet? Is there an approved application?’ Now that’s all been solved because I don’t get those text messages anymore.” ~ Elliot

✅ Organization

“I like just knowing that every morning I can go into my tasks list and know exactly what to expect, what to get done, and then obviously it shows me future things so if I want to get ahead of schedule, I can do that. It reminds me with an alert if something’s overdue.” ~ Elliot

“It makes you more efficient in your day, which trickles down to your relationships and your communications with your owners and your tenants, and even in house, just from being more organized and efficient, so I think that’s another big reason.” ~ Brian

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✅ Internal tracking and collaboration

“The biggest one was communication, I think, just in house. Knowing what was done, who was doing it, what was not done, what we are still waiting on, where we are at really.”

“I have a good balance there when I need to take off or Brian can go on vacation. Again, because of the systematizing of everything, we know what’s going on with his properties, what’s going on with his communication.” ~ Elliot

✅ Automation

“Just to be able to reach everybody a little bit quicker, a little bit simpler, easier, and who’s doing what. So to me it's the automation side that gives us that push and helps us reach everybody a lot quicker.” ~ Brian

✅ Condensing platforms to become more efficient

“Why have everything on 50 different platforms or systems? Just having it in one system makes all the difference in the world. It makes my job easier so I can take my day and, once I’ve hit that task list, focus on, ‘Okay, what can I do to bring in another management account?” Dollar producing activities, you know, is what we always talk about.” ~ Elliot

When asked what their advice would be for other property managers looking to improve their businesses, Elliot answered:

“If you have a property management business, you should be on LeadSimple. Period.” ~ Elliot

Ready to be able to focus on those dollar-producing activities rather than the busy work? Schedule a discovery call with LeadSimple today!