Peter Lohmann's Mailing List - Issue #63

Churn Analysis and Re-Convene Takeaways

Author

Peter Lohmann
October 06, 2023

Churn Segment Analysis

I’ve written about the devastating churn we experienced in the first quarter of this year (issue 38), and a follow-up on how things have been going since then (issue 57). In that follow-up email, I shared my desire to perform segment analysis on churned clients & properties, hoping to uncover patterns.

I was finally able to do some of that analysis, and here are my findings (we looked at all churned clients since January 2021):

The most dramatic takeaways:

  • 12+ unit owners only represent 5% of our clients, but 12% of all churned clients!

  • Owners who have at least 1 building with an interior hallway or common area only represent 4% of our clients, but 9% of all churned clients!

Both of those segments have churned out at over DOUBLE their “base rate”, (expected rate of churn given their size within our overall client population).

What does this mean?

Could be a few things, but obviously we’re not meeting the expectations of these clients. This has given us some great direction for further investigation, and I am digging into this with the leadership team at RL.

Also - I was interviewed about our churn by LeadSimple for their blog, and talked about this even more (shared additional details and thoughts). You can either read it or watch the video where I was interviewed - both are here.

Re-Convene Takeaways

I spent 3 days with a bunch of real estate GPs and LPs in Santa Monica last week at Re-Convene. What an amazing “un-conference” that Moses and Simran throw every year. Highly recommended.

The level of conversation was off-the-charts fantastic. I came away energized, inspired, and hungry to keep growing my own real estate holdings.

Beyond that, here are my takeaways and observations:

  1. Interest in property management is HIGH. It was a totally different experience than when I went two years ago. I spoke with multiple people who were either looking to bring property management in-house for the first time, or if they already self-managed, looking to start offering 3rd party management for the first time. (By the way, this is exactly what we help people do with Property Management Business in a Box).

  2. Many people that I look up to and respect asked me why I wasn’t doing my own deals. More thought is needed, but it’s clear that I have two of the hardest parts already figured out (access to capital, and property management/operations experience). Just need to learn how to find great deals on multifamily property…

  3. I need to to think BIGGER. Much bigger.

  4. “Re-Twit” (Real Estate Twitter), for those who have been participating for the last 2-3 years, is going to be an incredibly powerful “alumni network” akin to an Ivy League or Trammell Crow. I look forward to helping, working/partnering with, and benefiting from this dynamic group of individuals for decades to come.

  5. My breakout session on Property Management Bootstrapping was a success. Many thanks those who attended!

This week’s issue is sponsored by: BetterWho.

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Want to see if BetterTeam Consulting is a good fit for your property management team? Schedule a meeting with our expert consultants today!

Podcast Updates

My property management podcast, Owner Occupied, is averaging ~500 listens per episode, with some cresting 1,000. Are you one of them?

Check out these three great episodes that just came out:

Links go to Apple Podcasts, but you can find them on your favorite podcast player (including Spotify). Just search “Owner Occupied”.

The season is wrapping up, but we still have a few more episodes yet to be released.

Industry News & Events

  • Did you know that you can now use your Enterprise Bank & Trust analysis credits to pay for your LeadSimple subscription? This is huge for their customers… I’m jealous (An arcane Ohio law prevents us from using Enterprise for trust account banking).

  • AppFolio released a hype video for their conversational AI (branded Realm-X). Very well done IMO. Check it out.

  • Sales Mastery Live (Allbound Conference) from RentScale - December 4th in Austin TX (right before the LeadSimple conference). I’ll be there!

  • PM Systems Conference - January! I’m speaking.

Closing Thought

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Coaching update: I have one slot opening up November 1st for property management coaching. Reply to learn more.

That’s all for this week! Have a great weekend. -Peter

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