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Come Together LUKAS KRAUSE SEES OPPORTUNITY FOR REAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO INFLUENCE A FLEDGLING INDUSTRY NICHE AND ESTABLISH A HIGH STANDARD OF SERVICE.
really be the most respected property management company out there. We have the strength of 280-plus offices, all push- ing in the same direction, sharing best practices, really in- novating and driving the process forward. So, you have the collective
strength of one of the most powerful collections of
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roperty Management Business Solutions, North America’s larg- est property management company and franchisor of Real Property Manage- ment, promoted Lukas Krause from COO to CEO this past March. Think Realty recently asked him about the direction of his company and industry trends. As told to Susan Thomas Spring- er, edited for brevity. THINK REALTY What have you focused on in your first few months as CEO? Realigning the executive team to be aimed at accom- plishing the objectives we have—be- cause we have some pretty ambitious goals and targets that we want to get knocked out in the next 36 months. What’s on the horizon for your company? Our goal is ultimately to elevate the standard of the industry as a whole—it’s a very fragmented space. The barrier to entry to be a property manager is low, so there are a lot of great professionals out there, but there are also folks who are not as sophisticated and at times muddy up the water or give the industry not a great reputation. So we want to be the driving force in elevating those standards. We believe we can do that through leveraging different technology and systematizing how we operate. So by LUKAS KRAUSE
having a much more standard and con- sistent platform and creating visibility at the task level, we think that we can pro- vide a much more consistent product to the customer, ensuring that we commu- nicate more effectively, things don’t fall through the cracks and we deliver a far superior product. How can you influence the industry? We believe in training and educat- ing the consumer, so there’s different things—blogs and communications— that we’re putting out there and training platforms we’re exploring. I think it’s educating not only the homeowner who’s looking to outsource their property management needs to a professional property manager. Addi- tionally, it’s educating tenants. There’s a lot of opportunities on both sides of the equation to create greater awareness because most folks aren’t as informed on their rights. It’s just not a mature industry. It hasn’t evolved like other segments where technology has done a great job of creating greater awareness and knowledge. Obviously, it’s going to take time, given it’s such a large segment, but we think we can play a big role. What do you think sets you apart and has helped you garner industry awards? I think a couple things. If you look at our core values and our mission, it is to
property man- agement pro- fessionals on the planet. That becomes a
very powerful force. I’ve been around a lot of different franchise concepts, and this is a very open and generous group who’s willing to share ideas. It’s really core to who we are—trying to raise the standards and also to innovate and push forward. I see myself as one of the custodians of the brand to continue to deliver those platforms for that to occur. You’ve mentioned innovation a couple of times—can you give an example? Probably a multitude of things as we look at philosophically how we ap- proach the onboarding of a new home- owner or a tenant. Additionally, we have from a technology standpoint really shaped our software platforms. We mi- grated over to a new software platform, and we help reconfigure what the owner and the tenant portal looks like. The improved portal is more convenient for both the renter and the landlord? Yes, it just didn’t have some of the functionality needed. Now informa- tion is easier to access and in real time. There were enhancements that made it
78 | think realty magazine july :: august 2016
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