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January 8, 2021
This past year was an interesting one, to say the least. It was unexpected and everyone was affected in varying ways. In 2020, Park Road Concierge was born - and some would say that was unfortunate timing. We experienced our share of challenges - like many businesses - and learned a number of lessons. Here are 5 of our biggest takeaways, based on our experience managing properties and tenants in a pandemic year.
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Our business is centered around caring for people’s homes with our personal touch. In 2020, many of our clients spent much more time at home and in doing so, realized the importance of having a well-maintained space that is functional for living and working. We were able to work with our clients to help optimize their spaces according to each of their unique budgets. The importance of our routine maintenance schedules were also underlined in 2020. Routine maintenance helps avoid any major surprises, which is especially important now more than ever. Dealing with a major emergency during the cold months can be challenging, let alone during a province-wide lockdown!
I think we all realized how important washing our hands is - if we didn’t already know! We hope that's a trend that continues well past 2020. Our clients number one concern was the health and well beings of their loved ones. When we are entering their homes, it's has been imperative that we sanitise, wear masks and respect the space of the homeowner. While some of these trends may not carry on past 2021, they remain top of mind to our team. For this reason, we also make sure to only work with contractors, tradespeople and technicians who share our values for health and safety. For properties both lived in by the owner or tenanted, we learned that the more information you can provide ahead of time, the more relaxed and comfortable the client will be with your visit. Examples of this are more accurate arrival times when possible, assurances of masks and sanitization, respecting space when inside the home.
A key value of ours is transparency - and this really proved valuable in 2020.
If you weren't already digitizing your documents and processes, we bet you are now. More than ever, people and businesses are relying on email, mobile apps, electronic payment and digital signatures to get things done. Having the proper tools and software at your disposal is key when offering a bespoke, stress-free experience to your clients. We had already built many of these processes and resources behind-the-scenes, including our own mobile application the PRC Secure Property Portal, but we took the time to fine-tune them to better meet the needs of our team and clients. It's also worth noting that it's important to do your research and ensure you are using the safest and most up-to-date technologies to communicate and share information with our clients.
Spending more time at home, everyone noticed how they could improve their space for more comfort and enjoyment (even personally we did some home improvement projects!) With the pandemic, we saw the importance of planning ahead and booking your contractors early. Not only to reserve their time, but also so they could reserve and secure materials. Wood was next to impossible to find in the summer (with all those new deck additions!). Stoves, sinks and cabinet fixtures were sold out for a period of time as the kitchen upgrade craze began. This taught us that even outside of a pandemic, planning your home improvement projects ahead of time is always better. This way, you are not rushed in the planning, you can budget accordingly and you have your first choice in materials.
Our biggest takeaway living through this pandemic, is our health is invaluable and our time with loved ones is the greatest gift. We are excited to see how 2021 unfolds, but we will continue to put our health and family as a priority. Wishing you all the best for the coming year!
