Condo Media - July 2018 - 37

One of the ways North Point provides that personal
touch is by extending its team dynamic to the way properties are assigned. Instead of assigning an association to
a single property manager, a team of three handles each,
so that someone familiar with the property is always
available, and portfolios are limited to roughly 1,000
units for the entire team.
"One of the things we're striving for is that exceptional
level of customer service," says MacKenzie. "Putting
team approaches into place and smaller portfolio sizes
allow us to reach that level. When people call, they talk to
a live person-someone who can answer their questions,
not an answering service-and they get quicker responses on emails. That speaks volumes, because people
feel validated and important."
Chris Moffett, a board member at Meredith Moorings
Condominium Association in Meredith, N.H., appreciates that approach. "The team approach works out well,"
he reports. "There are two people who seem to have a
bigger role in managing the property. We do a lot of our
correspondence through email, and we have both of
them on the email. They divide work among themselves,
and it gets done. They're very responsive."
To the staff of North Point, it all comes down to treating every property as an individual. "Every client is different," says property manager Donna Lemire. "No two
properties are the same, so the needs are different. What
one community likes, another may not like. You have to
maintain a balance of who you're supporting and what
the issues are."
"Some have a lot of maintenance needs, some have
financial needs, so you have to take a look at each individual property and figure out what can we bring as immediate value-adds to that association to improve their
operations," adds Arel. "It's like juggling a lot of colored
balls and, while they're in the air, figuring out which color
ball is right for each association. You present options to
the board, but they have to determine what really works
for their association."
Treating each property as an individual includes
providing a flexible pricing structure. Freedom Village
Condominium Association of Freedom, N.H., started
out as a self-managed association when it was founded in
the 1980s, and it still manages most day-to-day management functions in-house. "North Point handles all of the
financial aspects and provides us with monthly balance
sheets," says Dann Lewis, who serves as treasurer on the
three-member board. "When I have questions, I contact
them by email or phone, and they're very quick to respond. I'm quite happy with them."
PAYING IT FORWARD
Benefiting the industry as a whole is also key to
North Point's corporate aesthetic. Education is an
important component, as indicated by the company's

accreditations from Community Associations Institute (CAI). North Point Management is one of only
five companies in New England who have obtained
the designation of Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC). Arel himself holds the
designations of Professional Community Association
Manager (PCAM), Accredited Management Specialist (AMS), and Certified Manager of Community
Associations (CMCA), and all North Point property
managers are required to earn their CMCA.
Arel's goal is that, by 2019, all North Point staff-
including maintenance and accounting-have their
CMCA. "Improving our knowledge can correlate to
the service we're bringing to our clients," he says.
"Earning their CMCA gives everyone a better understanding of their industry and gives them different
ideas for how to help out our clients."
North Point also publishes a quarterly informational newsletter for their clients and holds free
educational seminars that are open to everyone in
the industry-whether they are clients or not. The
last seminar, held last fall, drew 80 participants-and
rave reviews. "The last one was two hours and could
have gone on longer," says MacKenzie. "People are
already asking me, 'When's the next one?'"
Priscilla DiLuzio, treasurer of the board of Hartford Village of Bellingham, Mass., was one attendee
who found the seminar highly beneficial. Not only
did she learn from the experts who shared information about financial and legal issues, but she also
enjoyed meeting her peers. "I got to know people on
boards of associations other than our own and got
some really good ideas," she says. "That was very
helpful to me."
North Point also gives back
through community service.
After years of sponsoring an
annual fundraising event, the
company recently established
its own charitable foundation.
"One of the goals is to bring the
entire team into ongoing efforts,"
says Buck, a co-chair of the committee,
whose mission is to donate to other worthy charities
in the area and establish a scholarship.
"I'm really excited about the charitable foundation and having something where we can make a
difference," says Arel. "We want to be a leader, by
improving the knowledge in our industry, serving our
community exceptionally well, and adding value to
our clients."
For more information about how North Point can aim
for excellence for your association, call (877) 423-5050,
or visit northpointmanagement.com.

http://www.northpointmanagement.com

Condo Media - July 2018

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