1. 20 Vision Fall 2015 | www.cacm.org
building relationships
PAYING FOR SI
OF TH
W
e’ve all taken over an account where the
board was convinced that the outgoing
management company had failed to
uphold their contract. Example after example of their
failures is spouted over the phone, in meetings, or
basically to anybody who stands still long enough to
listen. Marketing interviews are filled with questions
and statements that revolve around past real and/or
perceived transgressions and present the outgoing firm
as a bunch of doofuses.
It’s very difficult, especially during the marketing
period, not to automatically side with the disgruntled
board and ooh and ahh and shake your head at the
incompetence of the current management company.
After all, you want the account, and agreeing would
give you that edge over the competition. Seasoned
managers or executives typically attend marketing
interviews, and we can usually determine the real
culprits a mile away, and quite often it is NOT the
outgoing management firm.
Playing into the hands of these types of boards
does a disservice to our industry as a whole and the
newly assigned manager. In siding with the disgruntled
board – especially when you know the failure lies with
the board – you are setting unrealistic expectations and
making promises that outweigh the time commitment
you as the manager will be able to put into the
oncoming account. The Board is going to assume that
your company will solve all of their issues within the
first month or two of the contract, and the manager
will be viewed as an indentured servant rather than a
professional manager. He/she will be micromanaged to
2. www.cacm.org | Vision Fall 2015 21
INS
HE PAST
the point where sending out an email answering a simple
question will result in a case of hives. When the magic
cure doesn’t net immediate results, supervisors will spend
hours on the phone talking down the new account board
president. The manager’s other accounts will also suffer, as
there are only so many hours in a day.
The interview process should be viewed as an
opportunity to not only market your company, but as a
means of educating a potential client and setting realistic
expectations. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard
way. I once took over an account where the previous
management company was terminated after a fence repair
and painting project went over budget by 25% (close to
$100,000) without the board’s knowledge. In fact, the
board didn’t learn this until a month after the project was
completed and the final project totals were reflected in
the financial statements. (Unbelievable! First mistake, I
said as much in the interview process.)
Upon termination, the board continued to run the
management professional into the ground. They even
called a special meeting to discuss filing a lawsuit. After
listening to them laminate for over 30 minutes, as well as
doing a little investigation prior to the meeting, I learned
that the board approved the contract, chose not to hire
a project manager to write specifications and oversee the
project, and instead placed the president and the treasurer
in charge of the project, both often keeping management
out of the loop when decisions were being made.
The treasurer and the president signed off on
each change order and signed every reserve check, yet
NOBODY on the board knew the project went over
When you inherit a
disgruntled board, staying
neutral and professional is
the best course of action.
By Vicki MacHale, CCAM
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