This week, the VPM team attended the NARPM Broker/Owner conference in New Orleans, and I spoke about a topic I'm passionate about: building an exceptional team. In this blog, I'll share just some of the key points of my presentation and why you need to use data to create a successful team.
Most property management business owners think they know how their team is performing. I hear: “We’re good,” or “My team is handling it.”
But ask one simple question—how do you know?—and things get quiet because a lot of companies are still managing by feel.
If the inbox isn’t out of control, maintenance isn’t completely backed up, and no one’s complaining, it feels like things are working. But that’s exactly where problems hide because feelings can’t be measured. And that which cannot be measured cannot be improved. Or, applied to a team's productivity: if you don’t have KPIs, you don’t know if your team is winning.
Managing by feel means relying on intuition rather than data.
It shows up in subtle ways, like assuming performance is based on effort or equating busy with productivity. You wait for problems to surface instead of catching them early.
The issue is simple: activity doesn’t equal performance. A team can be busy all day and still miss leasing targets, delay maintenance, or create inefficiencies that slow down growth.
Now, I'm not saying that you should completely ignore your gut or your instincts, but I 100% believe that business leaders need to be data-driven.
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) give you a clear answer to one question: Is this role performing or not?
Without them:
You can’t measure success
You can’t coach effectively
You can’t scale with confidence
With them:
Expectations are clear
Decisions are faster
Accountability is consistent
If you don’t keep score, you don’t improve.
You don’t need dozens of metrics. You need a few that actually matter.
Start with:
Occupancy rate → Are your units filled?
Rent collection rate → Are you getting paid on time?
Vacancy rate → How long are units sitting empty?
Net Operating Income (NOI) → Is the portfolio profitable?
Operating expense ratio → Are costs under control
Each KPI should be:
Less is more—but it has to be clear.
If someone on your team isn’t performing, the first place to look isn’t the person. It’s the role. Because if they don’t know exactly what they own, what winning looks like, and how they’re being measured, they’re going to default to what feels productive. Staying busy. Checking boxes. Reacting all day.
That’s not performance, that’s survival. But clarity fixes that.
When a role is clearly defined, when there are a few measurable outcomes tied to it, and when those numbers are reviewed consistently, everything changes. Now the person knows what matters. Now you can coach. Now you can actually improve.
That’s how you turn effort into results.
Most people think KPIs are just for managing performance. In reality, they’re just as critical for hiring the right people in the first place. If you've ever heard me speak before, you know I'm huge on "right person in the right seat."
When you’re clear on the role and the outcomes, you’re not guessing anymore. You’re not hiring based solely on gut feel. You’re hiring based on whether someone can actually do the job you need done.
It also makes onboarding faster, because expectations are already defined. And when someone isn’t performing, you don’t have to wonder. You can see it early and address it.
Most hiring failures aren’t about skill anyway. They’re about attitude and alignment. So if your system isn’t clear, even a good hire will struggle. If your system is clear, you’ll spot the right people faster and get more out of them once they’re in.
Property management is already complex. You’re juggling owners, tenants, vendors, maintenance, and accounting at the same time. If you’re running that on gut and instinct, it’s going to feel chaotic. It always does.
But when you add structure—clear roles, clear KPIs, consistent tracking—you start to see what’s actually happening in the business. Problems show up earlier. Bottlenecks become obvious. Decisions get easier. You shift from reacting to leading. And that makes all the difference.
Busy teams stay stuck. They burn out. Clear teams scale.
If you want to grow, it’s not about adding more people. It’s about building the right system that those people plug into. Because without structure, more hires just create more noise. Whereas the right structure provides leverage. You get consistency. You get a team that can actually perform.
That’s what we focus on at VPM Solutions. Helping property managers build better teams, not just bigger. People who understand the work, fit into a defined system, and help you scale without the chaos.
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building a real team, let’s talk. Schedule a demo today and learn how the VPM Solutions platform has everything you need, from browsing among 44,000-plus virtual assistant profiles to hiring and processing their payroll.