How to Connect With Property Management Companies

alliewhite7
Sep 4
6 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

Property managers and property management companies are typically the key decision-makers for many B2B commercial real estate operational decisions. It’s a property manager’s responsibility to maintain, develop, and renovate (or oversee renovations of) the properties they manage. Typically, it’s within a property management company’s role to select vendors, especially for day-to-day operations. For larger purchases, they are the gatekeepers to owner/operators who make capital expenditure decisions.

As you can see, connecting with property managers or management firms is especially beneficial for:

Professional service companies (landscaping, HVAC, electrical and plumbing, sanitary supplies, etc.)
Material and supply vendors
CRE recruiters
Insurance companies
Proptech

This article focuses on connecting with property management companies who may be key decision-makers in running a commercial property. This is not to be confused with property owners, who often employ the manager or management company. In a typical arrangement, property managers make the final decision on selecting vendors and suppliers; owners usually set the budget.

We’ll be covering the responsibilities of commercial property managers, management companies, and how your organization can potentially connect with them to grow your client list.

Where Can You Find CRE Property Managers?

Here is a sampling of a snapshot in time from Biscred’s database that breaks down the 22,356 companies and 260,065 people who work in property management. Numbers change as we update the data regularly.

Midwest (12 states): 3,196 companies and 42,666 people
Northeast (12 states): 3,428 companies and 43,940 people
Southeast regions (12 states): 5,170 companies and 69,679 people
Southwest (4 states): 2,761 companies and 40,961 people
West (11 states): 4,252 companies and 59,808 people

What Do Commercial Property Managers Do?

Commercial property managers oversee the daily operations of commercial real estate properties including office buildings, retail centers, industrial parks, warehouses, healthcare complexes, and more.

The roles of CRE property management firms and property managers include:

Leasing and tenant relations
Property maintenance and repairs
Day-to-day financials, budgeting, common area maintenance (CAM), and regulatory compliance
Security

It’s not uncommon for property managers to be located on-site of the properties they manage, so they tend to be tenant-facing (and vendor-facing!). On-site management varies by asset class. They’re common in large apartment complexes, retail centers, office buildings, and mixed use CRE; however, they’re less common in industrial warehouses, government buildings and data centers, for example. Although property managers are hired by a property owner, they provide a service to the tenants on behalf of the owner.

If a property owner manages its own properties, we consider the firm to be an owner-operator, not a property manager; we reserve the property management designation for third-party firms. You can read more on the 4 types of property managers here to understand more about how the assets of a property manager may change depending on the assets they manage.

What Do Residential Property Management Companies Do?

A residential property management company can oversee a range of asset types, from single-family rental homes to apartment buildings and complexes, condominiums, townhomes and communities on behalf of the property owner. It’s the management company’s responsibility to monitor the property and maintain it within the budget of the rental income so that the property is managed efficiently and, ideally, profitable.

Because of this, property management companies are directly responsible for contracting out services and supplies from third parties. They’re the party that’s responsible for negotiating with other businesses on behalf of the owner. Property management companies may also manage the property revenue (such as the rent) and expense reports.

These are the most common types of properties that CRE property managers oversee:

Multifamily: 27.88% of property managers oversee multifamily CRE
Office: 14.87%
Retail: 13.98%
Industrial: 10.92%
Land: 8.47%
Hospitality: 5.27%
Mixed use: 5.22%
Entertainment facilities: 1.81%
Senior living: 1.71%
Self storage: 1.66%

Who Are Decision Makers at Property Management Firms?

It depends on your company’s goods or services and how they relate to the property management firm. There are parties that are responsible for larger purchase decisions, for example, a contract to redo the roofing for an entire apartment complex. But there are also employees at a property management company who handle the lists of third-party contractors for plumbing and other maintenance concerns. Here are the roles that your company needs to be aware of:

VP, C-suite, regional manager, director of operations: Responsible for larger purchase decisions and contracts; manages the budgets of multiple properties or complexes.
Senior manager, leasing manager: Focused on leasing strategies, tenant retention, and rental income; oversees the budget, vendor negotiations, and the strategy of property management.
Community manager, property manager, assistant property manager: Handles the day-to-day property management operations and contacts directly with tenants; handles maintenance requests and works with third-party contractors.

Here’s how property management roles break down by seniority, according to data from Biscred’s database:

Traditional Lead Generation Methods

Traditional lead generation methods in commercial real estate have been around for decades and can still be effective in the right circumstances. These methods include:

CRE lead lists
Networking events and conferences
Cold calling and direct contact with lead
Paid advertising
Lead services for your industry

These lead generation methods can fail to capture a complete view of your target audience, leaving out key information that can help you find the right prospects and nurture relationships. You can read more about modern lead generation with Biscred’s eBook on the future of CRE lead generation.

Best Alternative to Property Manager Lists

Biscred is a CRE-specific database that provides up-to-date information on more than 550,000 CRE companies and over 4.6+ million professionals in the real estate industry (updated weekly).

Biscred’s prospecting platform includes all of the largest property management companies in the U.S., as well as CRE operators and property managers in your local city or region. Our platform delivers contact information for businesses looking to connect with:

Nationwide property management companies
Rental property management companies "near me"
Industrial property managers
Retail property managers
Residential and multifamily property managers

Lead Lists vs Smart Prospecting for Property Management Companies

If your firm uses CRE lead lists, we recommend enriching your data to get an edge over the competition. Smart prospecting is about targeting specific segments of your audience most likely to convert to a lead. These are the segments most relevant to your business and worth spending time to pursue. Smart prospecting is more effective for many reasons:

Data enrichment: Go beyond basic contact info (name, address, phone) by filtering property managers by asset class, geography. job seniority, company type, size and more.
Improved quality control: Avoid inaccuracies in who manages a property and connect directly with the contacts that align with your business’s specific needs. Spend more time and resources pursuing higher-quality leads.
Personalization: As a CRE-specific database, Biscred is adaptable to your firm’s niche or unique requirements. Tailor your data results to the criteria essential for potential leads.
Wider reach: Unlike lead lists, which are compiled from public records, Biscred gathers data from multiple sources and we validate it with human analysts so your firm can maximize its reach.
Accurate data: Biscred updates its database weekly so that the data you use is always useful and does not diminish in value over time.
Better data insights: Biscred’s leads have comprehensive insights into the methodologies used to collect and qualify data. Gain insights into the needs of a specific property management organization.

Example of property management companies

Biscred’s database includes contact information and enriched data for thousands of firms, ranging from big property management companies to local commercial property management firms.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL): One of the top property management companies in terms of the number of properties under management (10,000+ in the Biscred database), this firm manages more than 4.6 billion square feet. It's headquartered in Chicago, and has property management offices in 32 states plus Washington D.C. As with many CRE operators, JLL also does business in CRE brokering, investment sales, consulting services, equity and more. Biscred has contacts for 12,000+ professionals who work at JLL.

Wickfield Properties: This Ann Arbor, Mich., real estate investment firm is an operator for several multifamily, mixed use, office, retail and student housing properties. Biscred lists 73 estimated properties under operations in Michigan.

JL Gray Company: Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, JL Gray is a property management and residential HOA firm that manages approximately 109 properties in affordable housing, multifamily, office and senior living asset classes. Biscred has 48 contacts for professionals working at JL Gray.