Property managers are often considered quiet achievers in the real estate industry. Diligently getting on with their jobs without complaint. It’s a property profession that I understand can often feel overlooked, undervalued and underappreciated, particularly when it comes to real estate training, wellbeing and industry support.
In recent years, several property managers have stepped forward to coach and support their fellow comrades. Hermione Gardiner is one such person, she provides support for property management businesses through her business Sidekick, alongside other property management coaches, such as Hayley Mitchell of Mitchell PT and Fiona Blayney of Realplus.
As a judge of the Real Estate Business (REB) Awards, I enjoyed gaining insights into Hermione’s philosophies and solutions for helping property managers improve their performance at work without burning out or becoming overwhelmed.
As a qualified coach and trainer, Hermione draws on neuro-linguistic training to help her clients get results and has designed a four-week Zen PM Programme to help property managers handle stress, manage their time and energy more effectively, and thrive.
On her website, Sidekick, Hermione offers training courses designed specifically for property managers to help them work smarter and be more successful. These practical courses offer guidance on everything from ‘non-sleazy selling’ to time management and stress reduction.
Why did Sidekick’s marketing strategy stand out?
Developing a great service
By harnessing the convenience and low cost of online training, her offerings are well-priced and fast-paced, ideal for busy property managers. Her courses suit everyone within a property management team, from principals to administrative staff, and she also has lots of free tools and resources so you can get a feel for her teaching style before signing up for a paid course.
In addition to serving individual clients, in 2023, Hermione collaborated with BDM mentor Sarah Cincotta to create and host The BDM Summit in Melbourne, a tailored event catering exclusively to real estate business development managers. With industry leaders speaking and delivering workshops, it covered mindfulness, emotional intelligence, high-performance habits and other topics that offered new ways to approach work as a property manager.
Showing you know your stuff
Hermione worked as a property manager for many years, where she was always looking for ways to streamline her processes. Now, she brings those years of experience to Sidekick.
As a property management trainer, her mission is to bring about a shift in the way people perceive success. For her, it’s not just about revenue and transactions; it’s about recognising that people are at the heart of every successful business.
Her qualifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) have played a pivotal role in shaping this perspective. To her, true success is holistic, encompassing personal development and well-being as well as financial growth.
Creating a niche with wellness and stress management
Property management can be a pressured and often thankless role, with the need to balance the sometimes competing demands of landlords and tenants. Rather than focusing solely on performance and selling, Hermione looks at the whole picture. She has recognised the importance of health and well-being and incorporates this into her courses.
One of her key messages is that people can be empowered to adopt technology and tools that not only streamline processes but also help them work more efficiently.
Being generous with your expertise
The free offerings on her website include a downloadable stress-busting worksheet, a day planner and a habit tracker, among other things. These giveaways give people a taste of how Hermione can help and lead prospects toward buying one of her courses.
Hermione also has a monthly subscription service that supports people at all career stages and management levels in the property management industry. She also has a selection of podcasts and videos on her website that prospects can listen to or watch in their own time.
Show your personality and have a bit of fun
Hermione features herself in her marketing to help build her personal brand and become more familiar to people. She mentions that her name is unrelated to the Harry Potter series but that she can still ‘sprinkle a bit of magic.’ What a brilliant way to help you remember her!
Other standouts in her marketing are the names she gives her courses, such as The Zen PM, Pimp My Procedures, Shrink Your Stress, Calm Conflict and Raving Referrals.
Ensure your marketing is consistent
Throughout her website and social media, Hermione’s branding is bright, colourful and modern. This complements her message, which is also an optimistic and modern one – “People are looking for ways to manage their stress, achieve a better work-life balance and be more efficient in their daily processes so they have more time for the fun stuff.”
Both her Facebook and Instagram social pages are regularly updated, ensuring she is visible, easily identifyable, and maintains consistency and appeal with her messaging.
Become a thought leader in the industry
Retaining talented property managers in the real estate industry will continue to be difficult if we do not have people like Hermione, Hayley and Fiona looking out for the people that our landlords, tenants and principals rely on.
Hermione is committed to driving change as real estate businesses expand. By focusing on wellbeing, mindset and achieving a better work/life balance, she’s helped business development and property managers achieve great results in improving their bottom line.
Having worked as a property manager herself, Hermione knows that burnout is a real risk in the job, and with her skills and knowledge, she is aiming to change that. Positive, engaging and forward-thinking, Hermione is leading by example and using her skills to empower and help colleagues in the industry and raise standards in property management.
We need to continue to find ways to promote a better work/life balance for property managers, and teaching property managers how to work smarter and not harder is increasingly appealing and encouraging them to stay with their agencies and within the real estate industry at large.
Get our help
Getting your real estate business to stand out from the crowd is no easy feat, but with a team of creatives, it can happen faster and more effectively. In our work, we see the advantages having a unique and engaging brand gives our clients every day.
When we create or refresh your brand, we can align activities with budgets. Our approach is to first develop the brand and then work on awareness. As a team, we can work faster together than employing individuals, and we can pass the baton on to one another as necessary. Working with Hoole means you can draw on the skill sets of a team rather than trying to be all things at once.
If you’re a real estate professional looking to take your brand or idea to the next level, get in touch with me, Melanie Hoole. I’ll show you how digital marketing can take your idea and turn it into a business, and get you in front of the people you need to reach.
Written by Melanie Hoole
My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.
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