In Jim Fannin’s “The 90 Second Rule” Jim covers the importance of planning phone conversations. As Jim points out, by planning the call time is saved, and the caller avoids the embarrassing “I know forgot something” comment as the call is concluding. Such throughness in planning is important in probably most lines of work, but I find it invaluable when working with rental properties at Castle Keepers Property Management is Asheville. Microsoft’s Office OneNote makes putting this practice into day-to-day use easy, effective and it builds a log so that details are not forgotten or action items left to fall through the cracks.
In OneNote, I have a tab for Vacant Properties. Each vacant rental property has its own page for details and then sub-pages as we process credit applications. As is the case with any thorough property manager, I like to regularly follow-up with my client property owners regarding showings and maintenance issues. As the week transpires I make notes on the corresponding page about information that I want to share with the owner or approval for changes such as price adjustments or approval for maintenance. I really like to use the “Ctrl+1″ key combination as this puts a check box in front of action items. When time comes to make the call, I open the OneNote page and quickly review BEFORE dialing the call. Once I have the owner on the phone I date and time stamp the conversation from the OneNote ribbon menu. I work my way through the list and note requests or observations from the owner. This builds a detailed log for each rental property.
OneNote, used in conjunction with MS Outlook, is a powerful time management and journaling tool.
