Getting endorsed - how difficult?

Cianos

Hi all,
We've built an admin system for property management companies for managing access, incidents, etc.

The system is currently in use in a large central Dublin property complex and is proving highly effective for them, it's been a game changer in how they manage the place.

Part of the design is that the system passively builds a database of people (landlords & tenants) as information is inputted.

e.g John Smith logged a noise complaint, John Smith is now logged as the tenant of Apartment 123, with email address/phone number on record.

This has great safety benefits - if for example the apartment below John Smith's reported leaks through the ceiling, John Smith's contact info could be looked up very quickly (assuming he's already on the system) and access into the apartment could be organised, potentially saving tens of thousands in damages.

Fire safety is another benefit plus any other number of scenarios.

We wish to roll the system out to other companies/developments. If we were able to get endorsement from say the IFESA (Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association) in recognition of the safety benefits it would be brilliant and give us a great boost in terms of reputability.

Would this be realistic? What would be the best way to go about seeking endorsement?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Avatar MIA

What about this commercial application would they be endorsing?

How is this database a game changer compared to a landlord's existing database, be it an excel file or notebook? Are you assuming a landlord does not have ready access to his tenants contact details?

pedroeibar1

Cianos wrote: »

Hi all,
We've built an admin system for property management companies for managing access, incidents, etc. ..............We wish to roll the system out to other companies/developments. If we were able to get endorsement from say the IFESA (Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association) in recognition of the safety benefits it would be brilliant and give us a great boost in terms of reputability.

Would this be realistic? What would be the best way to go about seeking endorsement?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Firstly there are other apps in the market already (far ahead of what you describe) being used by the big property management companies; some include time/date/location stamps and are used to record incidents/repair requirements/etc. Most also have an inbuilt project management facility to track events/repairs/progress.

You need to examine your terminology - there is a big difference between 'endorsed' and 'approved'. In my experience trade association almost never 'endorse' a company/product but sometimes will give it 'approval' as an 'agreed supplier'. There is a big difference. A business I ran had endorsements from PLCs that would dwarf any trade association, but we never were endorsed by a trade association.

Your existing customer might endorse it. 'We have being using X product to manage Y and have found it most useful as its efficiency and reliability have helped us avoid delays at critical times.'

Your best hope is to get the TA to allow you use 'XYZ Apps Ltd is an approved supplier of Y services' but even that would be very difficult.

Cianos

Hey thanks for the reply.

Avatar MIA wrote: »

What about this commercial application would they be endorsing?

It would allow for better communication and faster access in emergency situations, so the hope is they'd endorse it for that reason.

How is this database a game changer compared to a landlord's existing database, be it an excel file or notebook? Are you assuming a landlord does not have ready access to his tenants contact details?

No, of course landlords have the contact details of their tenants. But a management company looking after a complex of hundreds of units wouldn't have the contact details of everyone living there at any given time. A system like ours would mean removing the step of having to contact the landlord to contact the tenant which could take any amount of time.

Cianos

@pedroeibar1 Thanks very much for your reply. Do you know the names of the other apps you mentioned?

You need to examine your terminology - there is a big difference between 'endorsed' and 'approved'. In my experience trade association almost never 'endorse' a company/product but sometimes will give it 'approval' as an 'agreed supplier'. There is a big difference. A business I ran had endorsements from PLCs that would dwarf any trade association, but we never were endorsed by a trade association.

Your existing customer might endorse it. 'We have being using X product to manage Y and have found it most useful as its efficiency and reliability have helped us avoid delays at critical times.'

Your best hope is to get the TA to allow you use 'XYZ Apps Ltd is an approved supplier of Y services' but even that would be very difficult.

Very helpful stuff thanks

pedroeibar1

PM sent.

gargargar

There was that irish startup a few years ago. Propertygate. Seems like they are gone now.

I don't think you need endorsement from IFESA it would be better (and easier probably) to get quotes from existing property companies using the application. You have one who have found it to "a game changer" could you get a quote on your site saying so?

Cianos

gargargar wrote: »

There was that irish startup a few years ago. Propertygate. Seems like they are gone now.

Thanks very much for the reply. I checked Propertygate out and it seems this was mainly for managing accounts. Ours is a management tool for the day to day runnings of a property complex, dealing with incidents, security, staff tasks, access, car spaces and so on, as well as passively building a database of people and logging information specific to individual units.

We have plans on expanding into accounts but again this would be for the management company (contractors/sinking fund/maintenance fees etc) rather than rent between landlords and tenants.

gargargar wrote: »

I don't think you need endorsement from IFESA it would be better (and easier probably) to get quotes from existing property companies using the application. You have one who have found it to "a game changer" could you get a quote on your site saying so?

Thanks, this is something we'd also hope to include alright.

antoinolachtnai

I don't think you need endorsement. You need a sales opportunity and/or a sales channel.

Do they have a conference or AGM or some other event? You need to sponsor the event or the room or the lunch or something and appear at it.

You have to convince these guys that you have a good product and you have to give them some value for the leads they produce.

Moomat

Be very careful how you handle personal data. If John Smith gave his data for x reason but didn't consent to be contacted for y reason, you may fall foul of data protection laws.

MOH

Moomat wrote: »

Be very careful how you handle personal data. If John Smith gave his data for x reason but didn't consent to be contacted for y reason, you may fall foul of data protection laws.

This is the biggest problem I see with it. If somebody logs a noise complaint, and you use that without their permission to add them to a database containing their name, address, and contact details, that could be a problem even if you never contact them.

Also, what happens if John Smith moves out of Apt 123 the next week, and a month (or year) later there's a fire and you ring him at 3am to alert him?

Not dismissing your system, I can see the benefits, but there's some fairly serious data protection issues that need to be considered. At the very least you'd need to get consent from residents before storing their info, and have a clear privacy policy in place.

pedroeibar1

Hi Cianos,
Thanks for the PM’d info and sorry for the delay in responding. It seems you are approaching the next big step, up another level. I wonder if working towards an ISO certification would be a runner? I’ve no idea of the cost but as you would be maintaining the records electronically anyway it might not be as difficult as for many others. It is a standard loved by the govt. services area and if you saw a move into that arena it would be very worthwhile. AO’L’s suggestion in #9 is an idea I’d agree with (the stand/booth, not the lunch!)
P

Cianos

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Hi Cianos,
Thanks for the PM’d info and sorry for the delay in responding. It seems you are approaching the next big step, up another level. I wonder if working towards an ISO certification would be a runner? I’ve no idea of the cost but as you would be maintaining the records electronically anyway it might not be as difficult as for many others. It is a standard loved by the govt. services area and if you saw a move into that arena it would be very worthwhile. AO’L’s suggestion in #9 is an idea I’d agree with (the stand/booth, not the lunch!)
P

Thanks for the reply again very helpful. Getting ISO certification would be brilliant, thanks for the suggestion, I've never thought before how that's a solid step towards being a provider for govt services etc.

Seeking certification would be something we'd have to do (costs/time/resources being prohibitive) down the line and, I'd imagine, after we've gained a bit of traction by acquiring a few more clients as well as having the system 'out in the wild' to see what adjustments and improvements would need to be made before going through that process. Definitely something to keep in mind though thanks.