Q&A with Blocsphere
Congratulations on your recent success at the News on the Block 2022 Awards. What does it take to win the ‘Scale Up Property Management Company of the Year’ and be a finalist in the ‘Customer Service’ category. What sets Blocsphere apart from your competition?
Scale Up Property Management Company of the year
- A clear vision of what you want to achieve in the long run
- Ensuring a smooth onboarding process for new staff members
- Making sure that there is no disruption to the clients as we grow
- Nurturing and training staff
Customer Service Category
- Maintaining professionalism at all time
- Providing as much information to residents as possible, even if it something which they may not necessarily want to hear!
- Strengthening the relationship between residents and property managers Going the extra mile
Your property managers walked away with the highly commended award in the ‘London Property Manager of the Year’ category and finalist in the ‘Regional Property Manager of the Year’ category. Tell us about Sophia and Chloë’s Blocsphere journey and what drives them to deliver award winning services?
Sophia has filled the gap with the London portfolio superbly. She is attentive, friendly, approachable and hard working. She is able to relate to her clients and really provides a service above and beyond. She manages buildings with combustible cladding remediations and has really put the residents at ease with her updates and communication. Sophia is a real asset to the company and we hope to have her with us in the long term.
Chloe took over some of the Midlands portfolio whilst the property manager for those sites was off on maternity leave. Choe is never afraid to ask for help and assistance if needed and works closely with the facilities management team to ensure that all sites are looked after. She is an effective
communicator and very hard working.
Ash and Joy have been Directors since Blocsphere’s start up - tell us a little about its origins, why block management, how has Blocsphere grown and where is it heading?
Blocsphere started out of frustration felt by Joy. Joy used to be in service charge recovery and would advise other managing agents of how to be compliant etc. This however often fell on deaf ears and she would regularly hear “tales” of property managers really not caring about their managed developments. As such, Joy felt she could do a much better job that the others – so started Blocsphere Property.
Ash and Joy have grown Blocsphere from a small lettings establishment to a thriving block management company, usually obtaining clients through word of mouth. Our real “selling point” is
knowledge. The whole team is very knowledgeable in all areas of block management, which we feel puts our clients at ease that they are with a company who will ensure everything is being done properly.
Blocsphere have now added on sales, lettings and facilities management to their service which is gaining in strength on a daily basis.
Block management is a fast paced, ever evolving industry, what has made the greatest impact on the industry since Blocsphere’s start up?
In a nutshell, Grenfell changed property management forever. The tragedy highlighted the dangers leaseholders in high rise blocks of flats face every day. We are still working through the new rules
and regulations, however, the safety of residents is of the upmost importance.
Many managing agents working with Resident believe the industry has become more demanding. Is this your experience? Why do you think that is?
Very much so. Unfortunately, a managing agent is the only “person” a resident can speak to. This isn’t always a pleasant interaction and we do feel that some people have simply lost the ability to be courteous to others. It is a thankless job, but a very necessary one.
In a recent interview Resident’s founder was asked “Some say the property manager is an engineer, lawyer, architect, economist, and a psychologist in one” Can Sophia and Chloë relate?
Everyone in the office can relate. We are so much more than just property managers. As the
founder of residents has correctly said, we are all of the above. Sophia and Chloe have both had
experiences in all of the above.
How do you see (or want to see) block management evolving in the future?
We are already seeing an increased focus on fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire and expect
to see this increase over the coming years. We welcome these changes and improvements as we
strive to make the buildings we manage as safe as possible for occupants and visitors.
What advice do you have for the new generation of property managers?
Have systems in place to keep everything organised as it is easy to lose track with so many different things going on. Ensure that as you are working to solve problems, you keep interested parties such
as Leaseholders and Tenants informed at every stage.
Quote from Sophia: It can be busy, but keep the customer (owner, contractor tenant) in mind with the best intentions to help them, always offer a resolution and keep your client updated and communicate with them where you can. It can be very busy, with no day the same, but rewarding when you see a job well done and a safe, compliant block.
Blocksphere has been using the Resident platform for some time now, how has Resident helped you achieve growth, efficiency, and transparency, win awards?
Resident has enabled us to automate more tasks and streamline existing processes. This creates more time for our client accounting staff and property managers to spend dealing with leaseholder
queries. One of the main reasons we moved to Resident was because of the leaseholder & director portal. We felt that this offered a much more user-friendly environment compared to the portals of other software providers we considered. It is extremely important to us that our clients can easily find important information regarding their building.
