I met 4 persons lately to settle some personal matters.
At the end of the meeting, one of them asked what I do for a living.
I replied: “I provide service in problem-solving for strata titled buildings.”
I clarified further that my company provides condo management service that we called strata management service for management corporations (MCST).
They got it.
They then told me that they are staying in condos or had stayed in condos before. One of them has sold his condo and chose to stay in a HDB flat now.
The 1st Person asked: “You provide those people at the condo office, taking care of security and cleaning services?”
“Yes, but we do more than what you have mentioned”, I replied.
The next Person added : “ Very tough job! Facing complaints everyday.”
I asked: “Why did you say that?”
“Many times, I saw residents shouted at staff in the condo office.” came his reply.
The 3rd Person said: “ I saw the manager in my estate checking around the estate and talking to various service providers from time to time. Sometime, I saw him leaving the estate late in the evening. He was helpful to me whenever I seek help from the office.”
The 4th Person shot in: “Where got? The manager in my estate never do that. All my mails to him received no response. When I went to the office, he just sat there ignoring me. No customer service”
Out of curiosity, I asked the 4 persons to rate the condo management service of their condos (or for the condos which they last stayed) using 1 to 10, with 1 being the Worst and 10 being Excellent. They gave these:
Person Rating
1st 4
2nd 3
3rd 7
4th 2
Then the 1st Person spoke again: “Sometimes, the problems in a condo were created by the council members themselves. Some don’t seem to know what is condo management but like to argue.”
I opined that council members are clients with many wants. The basic duties of the appointed strata managing agent and therefore its strata manager (condo manager), must be fulfilled. They could fulfill the basic duties and lead the council, if they are trained.
These last statements from the 3rd Person left the greatest impact on me. He said: “HDB flats are looking more and more like condos . Practitioners for condo management must work harder to stay ahead.”
I acknowledged that council members and subsidiary proprietors are getting more and more learned. Strata managing agents and strata managers must upskill in order to meet changing expectations. There are still resistance from practitioners, choosing not to be trained because accreditation is not compulsory. I do not know when there would be a compulsory accreditation scheme or a licensing scheme. But I know that anyone professing to offer strata management (condo management) service must be trained.
#stratamanagement #managingagent #rating #service #training
