There are two sides to every problem - and sometimes even more. When one crops up in a co-op or condo, someone has to step back, take a breath, maybe eat some crow, and get the issue resolved. In this episode, Josh Koppel, president of HSC Management, shares how an aggrieved shareholder was soothed and what it took to make that happen. This story has important takeaways for board directors and property managers. Habitat’s Emily Myers conducts the interview.
Emily Myers: Welcome to How to Run Your Building, a conversation with New York's leading property managers. I'm Emily Myers with Habitat Magazine, and my guest today is Josh Koppel, president of HSC Management Corp. Many managing agents now rely on online portals for payments and work orders, which while efficient removes the personal element that can be crucial in resolving conflicts.
Automated responses in the absence of direct human interaction can leave residents feeling unheard and frustrated. Josh, you've been dealing with a situation at a co-op in the Bronx that I think underscored the importance of early communication and the human touch. Can you explain what happened?
Josh Koppel: A shareholder was extremely upset and irate about a situation where we had packages being stolen, people breaking into mailboxes, stealing checks, stealing mail. So the board decided to put cameras in every nook and cranny in this building-- public hallways, stairwells, mailbox area-- to limit the amount of theft going on. This particular shareholder was not pleased that we did not give them enough advance notice about the video cameras and got very upset with us. Then it doubled the frustration because a new laundry room was being installed, and she thought enough advance notice wasn't given for that as well. She then proceeded to berate me with very nasty emails. We went back and forth for a little while and she showed up at my office one day.
And really laid into me, cursed me out, walked outta my office. Before I know it, I got a notification that she put on Facebook, a very nasty post about myself and HSC Management. So I decided to try and email her again and calm the situation down. It didn't work. It only made it worse. I decided to take a step back and said to myself, remember, this isn't personal.
We're dealing with somebody who has special feelings about the situation. Maybe it's not really directed at me. So I took a step back, I took my feelings out of the situation which managers should do on a daily basis. 'Cause this isn't personal. It's all business. I waited a couple of weeks. I spoke to my board president.
I explained to my board president the path I was gonna take going forward, and that's apologizing to the shareholder, eating crow and trying to make the situation nice. So I called up this particular shareholder and lo and behold, caught her in the right mood and she heard me. We spoke like human beings, resolved the situation, and she actually ended up taking the post down without me even asking.
Emily Myers: What do you think was the key then to deescalating the situation? Because it obviously got a little bit outta control.
Josh Koppel: I think a major factor was me eating crow and taking, the personal feelings out of it because again, it wasn't personal and really going to the shareholder with my hand in my, with my hat in my hand and saying, hey, let's put this in the past and move forward together.
I work for you. You're a shareholder. I'm not here to fight with you. I'm here to help you.
Emily Myers: You were obviously trying to solve the package theft problem with security cameras, but the dissatisfaction came from a lack of communication about those cameras.
Is that what the problem was?
Josh Koppel: Yes.
Emily Myers: How, might this situation have been avoided?
Josh Koppel: I. I think more advanced, detailed notice about situations where people will be caught on video would've helped. People get crazy when they find every nook and cranny on video in a building. Hey, I'm coming home.
Emily Myers: I'm leaving and I'm on video. I don't wanna be on video. What if I have, a visitor? What if my husband doesn't know my boyfriend's coming over? You just never know.So then what are your recommendations for communicating these kind of changes to shareholders and owners?
Josh Koppel: I think advanced communication prior to a job starting, with as many details as possible and leaving the door open for a personal conversation about it is the best route to take.
Emily Myers: Do you encourage the board to have a newsletter or have a specific way to distribute information, and is that changing In our increasingly digital world?
Josh Koppel: It would be nice for boards to have newsletters, but not all boards have the time to put together newsletters. As managing agents, we don't prepare newsletters.
When a board decides to do it, they give it to us. We'll blast it out, we'll email it out, we'll hand to the building. But newsletters isn't part of a manager's job.
Emily Myers: So how do you get the ideal balance then between the efficiency of using technology, distributing communication via email and a more time consuming human interaction, which in your case, deescalated a situation?
Josh Koppel: I think making it clear to your shareholders that you're always here for them and open to a conversation and you'll listen with an open ear and again, taking the personal feelings out of it because the second you change your voice inflection on the defensive, it just blows up the situation.
Emily Myers: Wow. And emergencies are obviously gonna require something different from perhaps more mundane complaints. What's your approach there?
Josh Koppel: Emergencies are dealt with, immediately we don't communicate with anybody about an emergency except for the party that it's affecting and we deal with the issue at hand.
Whatever ramifications come after that because of the lack of communication again: address it without the personal feeling, nice, calm, professional, and people usually hear you.
Emily Myers: So actually, what are your clients' expectations around communication? And can you talk a little bit about what is a realistic expectation for shareholders and unit owners with regard to communication with their property manager?
Josh Koppel: There's a property manager's view of realistic, and then there's a shareholder's view on realistic As a property manager, when I get an email, I like to respond within 24 hours. Even if it's, hi, I don't know the answer, I will get back to you in a couple of days. That always helps. If you ignore the email, wait 2, 3, 4 days to get back to them, they feel ignored, they get angry, and then they take it out on you.
Emily Myers: So proactive communication can prevent misunderstandings, and even the most agitated individuals can be calmed with a personal approach. We talked a little bit about communication. Can you perhaps talk a bit about what would be a realistic expectation on how often management is actually on site in the building?
Would your clients expect to see you or a representative at the building weekly or monthly? How does that work?
Josh Koppel: We're at our buildings weekly, depending on the building. Sometimes biweekly.
Emily Myers: So what are perhaps the takeaways for boards and shareholders on this issue?
Josh Koppel: I think shareholders and boards should make it clear that they expect their manager to have that personal touch.
I run a mom and pop shop. I'm not a big corporate company, even though we're a large management company. But that mom and pop feeling goes a long way.
Emily Myers: Great.
Josh, thanks so much for chatting with me. That's Josh Koppel, president of HSC Management Corp.