HOA management software

Work Smarter, Not Harder with HOA Management Software

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Every day, HOA managers take on the responsibility of ensuring the smooth operations of their communities. With the constant stream of resident inquiries and the need to demonstrate your value to the board, it can be challenging to regain control of your day. This is the perfect opportunity to reassess your current processes and technology stack.

However, with the ever-improving technology landscape and so many software options available, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  How do you identify the right technology partner that will help you boost operational efficiency and improve client relations? In this article, we share a list of 7 important factors to consider to make searching for new software easier.

1) Diverse resident communication & engagement options

Communicating regularly with residents is vital because it reduces frustration, helps you operate more efficiently, and leads to overall community satisfaction. Residents of all ages and backgrounds have their own preferred methods of staying connected. For instance, older residents, who may not be tech-savvy, tend to favor postal mail or phone calls. On the other hand, millennials prefer text messages. 

Does your current software or process ensure that everyone feels included?  If not, it’s important to consider adopting software that offers diverse communication options.

With HOA management software, you can cater to the unique preferences of your residents by offering text messages, email, phone calls, postal mail, websites, portals, and community-only discussion boards. Everyone can receive important updates and stay connected in the way that suits them best. By letting residents choose how they want to hear from you, you can increase participation and alleviate the workload for your team.  

Here are some features your automated communication platform should include:

  • Phone, text, email, and postal mailing options
  • Distribution groups
  • Resident communication & language preference
  • Advanced scheduling
  • Templates
  • Message delivery analytics
  • Invalid contact reports & troubleshooting
  • Strong message delivery reputation

Pilera Communications

Pilera’s all-in-one messaging tool covers every aspect of your communication lifecycle.  You can cater to every demographic with phone, email, text, and postal mailing options.

Our dynamic distribution groups automatically update as residents join or leave the community, so you know you’re reaching the right people. Plus, you can track the delivery of your messages in real time and know who opened a text or email or picked up a phone call. Our team monitors delivery reputation, guaranteeing your messages reach every time.

2) Eliminate repetitive tasks

Is data entry, managing repairs, or fielding board member tasks taking up a lot of time? If so, it’s important to consider HOA software that simplifies your workflow and helps you regain control of your day. That way, you can focus on what matters most, such as improving client relations. HOA software enables you to automate time-consuming tasks like communicating with an entire community, storing and sharing documents, managing maintenance, tracking resident requests, and managing resident data. 

Here are some ways that HOA software can help you automate vital community tasks:

  • Maintenance – Residents can submit work orders, which you can assign to your team and monitor for completion. You can send automated notifications to vendors, staff, and residents, keeping everyone informed.
  • Document management – You can store and organize community documents such as CC&Rs, meeting minutes, financial statements, and newsletters.  You can restrict access to documents to staff, board members, tenants, and owners to increase security and ensure no unauthorized access to confidential documents. Residents and board members can then login and view documents, thus reducing calls to the office. 
  • Events – Manage community gatherings and meetings more efficiently with features such as recurring events and email notifications. Residents can log into the portal at their convenience and stay up to date about the latest community.
  • Architectural reviews – Residents can submit architectural change requests online and supply photos or documents.  You can assign ACRs to committee members to approve digitally.  Residents can track their requests online, reducing the need to contact the office for updates.  When you have one place to streamline your ACR process, you can reduce paperwork, speed up the review process, ensure compliance with community guidelines, and improve resident satisfaction.
  • Online payments – Residents can make payments online, helping you create a predictable flow of operating income for the communities you manage.
  • Voting –  Online voting or survey platforms eliminate the need for paper forms and manually compiling responses. With HOA software, you can conduct board elections and other voting activities securely online and view results instantly. 

How Pilera can reduce administrative burden

Pilera’s HOA management platform takes the burden out of managing important community tasks such as document storage, maintenance, ACRs, events, voting, and more.  In our recent client survey, 89% of managers say that time savings with Pilera freed them up to work on more strategic tasks for their communities. Having a single place to manage essential community tasks opens up an environment for managers, board members, residents, and vendors to all work together on their shared community goals.

3) Stability

Whether doing on-site visits, working in the office, or at a meeting, it’s important to have reliable tools to work uninterrupted from anywhere. We recommend choosing software that is known for its stable and reliable performance.  Before investing in software, research user feedback on review platforms like Capterra to understand what your peers like and don’t like about a particular software vendor. Then, schedule a demo with your interested software providers to help you understand how they can solve your challenges and serve as a technology partner you can rely on.  

Pilera has a 99.9% uptime, so you can count on uninterrupted access to the platform.  Our platform is also built with other measures in place, such as fault protection for communications and a responsive design so you can work from anywhere.

4) HOA Management Software that grows with you

The industry is continuously evolving, and so should your software. Consider choosing an HOA software solution that updates its platform regularly, is responsive to market changes, and can adapt to your needs.

One of the common myths about finding new software solutions is that a software provider may offer more features than you need. This often results in you overpaying for features you don’t need, potentially diminishing the value you provide to your clients. Choosing a software provider that can tailor its offerings based on what you need is important. That way, you can feel confident that you’re getting value.

At Pilera, we are committed to providing our customers with the best tools to improve their workflow. Pilera regularly rolls out new features, enhancements, and bug fixes on a monthly basis.  We continue to develop many new features backed by our client’s feedback, such as discussion boards, bulk ticket creation and editing, and more. Our software is designed to cater to the unique requirements of management companies and associations of all sizes and processes. With our a-la-carte model, you have the freedom to choose the specific products that meet your needs. As your business grows, you can easily add more products to further streamline your operations.

5) Proven customer service, training, and onboarding:

The right technology partner should be there to assist you with questions when you need it, right from onboarding and throughout your journey. In the beginning, it’s essential to have comprehensive onboarding and training so you can start managing your communities more effectively. On-demand and responsive support helps you to get quick resolutions to your questions, so you can focus less on getting help and more on the tasks that matter. It’s important to ensure your chosen software solution offers many ways to get help when needed.  These include self-help options such as videos and help articles.  It’s also essential to have rapid email and phone support for detailed questions.  

Pilera’s support team is highly regarded for providing exceptional service in a timely manner, at no additional cost.  We also offer many ways to get help via phone, email, a self-help knowledge base, and videos.  Our onboarding team guides you through the rollout process and provides extensive training to help you get started.  

6) Visibility & security:

You’re working with a lot of community and resident data daily, so security should be a top priority.  Choosing a software provider that is built with security in mind is vital.  Look for a software solution that offers password-protected portals and different permissions levels.  That way, the right people in your organization can access only what they need.  

Pilera is built with industry-standard security from the ground up to keep your community’s data safe.  Our cloud-based platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has been proven to work in the toughest situations.  Our team is on call 24/7 to handle any security or stability issues.   

7) Value for Money:

Maximizing the value of your software is essential to improve operations and grow your company. Digitalizing all your community processes, such as communications, document storage, resident data management, forms, and voting, can reduce paperwork, time, and money.  Through task automation, you can allocate more time and resources towards other important aspects of community management, improving productivity, keeping your team happier and organized, and enhancing client satisfaction. View community management software as a positive long-term investment for your company rather than an expense.

Pilera’s community management software helps you automate repetitive tasks and provides on-demand access to important community information. In our recent client satisfaction study, managers report getting one day back per week on average.

Resource: Community Management Software ROI  

Conclusion:

Choosing the right HOA management software can help you boost efficiency, improve resident satisfaction, and create stronger client relations. Your chosen software should be easy to use, flexible to meet the needs of diverse communities, reliable, and secure. In a tech-driven world, where communication is critical, and residents expect quick and accurate updates, HOA software plays a vital role in the success of your communities. By considering the factors above, you can find a software provider that will cater to your specific needs, optimize your workflow, and achieve ROI – leading to happier residents and less stressed management teams.

Smarter HOA Management with Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. To learn how Pilera can help to improve efficiency and reduce costs, book a personalized demo. Discover how you can communicate with residents 30x faster and regain work efficiency by 25% with Pilera today!