2024 PM Operations Standards
It’s time to know what a good job looks like.
The PM Operations Standards
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The first research-based framework to measure, enhance, and prove the value you create through each one of your core PM processes
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A powerful set of operational metrics that create value for both you and your owners
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Defines the outcomes that 100+ operators are targeting for these metrics — see how you stack up and find opportunities to improve process efficiency and drive more revenue for your owners… and increase profits for your business
Partners
We are incredibly grateful to our partners for the tremendous support in helping make this project possible. They came alongside and invested in the value of these metrics for the entire single-family residential PM industry.
Partners
We are incredibly grateful to our partners for the tremendous support in helping make this project possible. They came alongside and invested in the value of these metrics for the entire single-family residential PM industry.
Purpose & Methodology
Purpose
ProfitCoach has defined, measured, benchmarked, and discovered best practices for property management finance since 2018. We are excited to bring our proven process to the operational sphere by helping PMs throughout the industry gain clarity on their processes, the true state of their operations, and the opportunities that for many are still hidden under a fog of, “This is the only way we know to do it.” However, when we set out to create metrics and targets for property management operations, we knew we were headed into uncharted waters.
With the NARPM® Chart of Accounts in 2019, we created the first-ever industry-specific financial standardization that allows PMs to calculate and compare their critical financial metrics. Most PMs had existing financial data; their data just needed to be converted to the NARPM® Chart of Accounts in order to calculate metrics in an objective and standardized format.
Now switch to operations, and very few PMs have any significant existing operational data — certainly not enough to be able to benchmark at this stage of the game. The key issue is the lack of a common language or framework for documenting, architecting, and tracking processes. Process and workflow softwares have no necessary standardization among themselves, and few (if any) contain built-in reporting features. And a high percentage of the industry continues to rely on word processor documents, spreadsheets, or even memory and word of mouth to document and communicate their critical PM procedures.
So we had to address this first. The industry needs an operational standardized framework that will enable PMs to manage and track the performance of their processes, allow them to calculate and compare their critical operational KPIs, and equip them to determine, perhaps for the first time, whether they’re really doing a good job.ting, and tracking processes. Process and workflow softwares have no necessary standardization among themselves, and few (if any) contain built-in reporting features. And a high percentage of the industry continues to rely on word processor documents, spreadsheets, or even memory and word of mouth to document and communicate their critical PM procedures.
The 2024 PM Operations Standards, as published in this document, is the first-of-its-kind operational standardized framework for the PM industry.
Methodology
Producing this framework in the absence of existing operational data required months of careful thinking and hours upon hours of intense expert collaboration.
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A multi-day live collaboration with experts and operators at the Process Lounge (NARPM® Broker/Owner Conference & Expo, April 2024)
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Multiple meetings with a hand-picked group of advisors (the PM Operations Council) for careful and seasoned perspectives
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Multiple surveys to a wide audience for broad feedback and input
The surveys were designed to elicit industry-wide feedback in areas where industry-wide conversations had not yet occurred. One survey gathered feedback on the specific metrics and definitions. Another survey asked for seasoned PM estimates of what the timelines should be within each process. This survey did not ask for historical data, but rather for educated estimates on what the target timeframes should be.
Note that all numerical data in these Standards is sourced from this particular survey. Thus, don’t treat these targets as if they were verifiable benchmarks. Rather, treat them as guiding stars. They may not be exactly where you could go, but they’re pointing you in the right direction.
We believe this framework provides single-family residential property managers with the first-ever clear way to structure operational processes, so they can measure and compare their performance to the top performers in the industry.
Versions by date
11/21/24: Version 3: Updated back cover
11/4/24: Version 2:
- Legal disclaimer added (pp. 2, 63)
- Segmentation tables arranged under the correct metrics in "Marketing" (pp. 29-31)
- Headers corrected to read "Other Operational Metrics" (pp. 50-54)
- First Reply Time clarified to 2.5 hours in Appendices (pp. 57, 60)
- Various smaller edits
10/23/24: Original printed version
Testimonials
Testimonials
The PM Ops Summit:
Tuesday, November 12
The PM Ops Summit was a $500 free training day to help you deep dive into the most important operational framework of the year: the 2024 PM Operations Standards.
Are you ready to transform how you deliver value as a property manager?
At the PM Ops Summit, we brought in an extensive panel of PM experts to help you use the PM Operations Standards to:
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Measure client experience
at the process level using industry targets
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Identify bottlenecks
in your processes that are holding you back
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Optimize your processes
with the hacks and best practices of industry top performers
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Prove value
by showing clients why your services are worth every dollar, leaving “junk fees” behind for good
