How AMS Property created a point of difference

In the early years of Allan Satterthwaite’s property career, he received a piece of advice that would stick with him over two decades later. 

The advice was to always provide a point of difference in business and it came from Stephen Collins, former CEO of Harcourts Real Estate. 

At the time, Collins would aim to gain an edge by waking up at four in the morning to log onto the Internet (which was new at the time) to follow what was happening in the American property market. His goal was to try and uncover new ideas he could apply in New Zealand. 

That dedication to staying ahead of the competition resonated with Allan, who founded AMS Property four years ago with a point of difference to truly put landlord’s interests first. Allan devised a two step strategy for how AMS Property would achieve this. Step one was to be an independent agency that would provide impartial service. Step two was using the right software to help deliver better service from the get-go. 

Software powerful enough to keep ahead of the competition

Allan knew that property management software would be a core part of how AMS Property differentiated themselves from the competition. He had worked with several different pieces of software in the past and those experiences helped give him a clear picture of what he did and did not want. 

“I wanted software that was going to be a point of difference and that was going to be able to handle the changes we were going to go through.

“I needed a Rolls Royce right from day one. I didn't want to start off with a Fiat.”

When Allan came across Re-Leased through a Facebook ad, he recalls reaching out to Tom Wallace, the founder & CEO, and setting up a trial to test drive the software. Immediately, Re-Leased stood out from the other software providers.

“Everything else I had used in the past was inflexible. They were clunky, weren’t user-friendly and you would be lucky to get a call back when you logged a support request.”

Whoever designed Re-Leased looked at it from all perspectives and created software that is logical and easy to use. Everything just falls into place. 

The power to work from anywhere with the support to back it up

AMS recently celebrated its fourth anniversary, which also marked their four-year partnership with Re-Leased. In that time, AMS has grown from one management, to now managing over $100 million in assets. Being able to work more efficiently by virtue of accessing all their property and financial data in one place has played a big part in that growth. 

“I can be anywhere and access Re-Leased. Our trust account manager, who was in Cairns not long ago, was able to reconcile the bank accounts from her hotel room! When our property managers got to work in the morning, everything was done.”

“At a gut feel, I would say Re-Leased makes us 40% more efficient time-wise.”

“One of the features I really like is the landlord statements. They provide good quality information that makes sense and is easy to read.” 

Reliable and prompt support from Re-Leased has also been very important for AMS, especially as the company brings on more staff. Getting assistance or guidance when they need it not only helps them deliver exceptional service to clients, it also reassures Allan that his team will be able to achieve the level of service he expects.

“I have to rely on my staff to complete a lot of the functions because I can't physically do everything. When they ask how to do something in the system, I have total confidence in having them reach out to Re-Leased.

“I know that we’ll get an email or a phone call within an hour. In fact, it's normally less than that – I can't rave enough about that! Having a good system and having good support is very, very comforting.”