Software can change your community for the better, but convincing your HOA/Condo board that it’s an important investment can be tough. In this article, we’ll take you through 4 simple ways to persuade your board that software is necessary, and how to overcome the 4 most common objections that we hear.
How to convince your HOA board
Convincing the board they need a software can be difficult, but these 4 steps will help you get their support.
Current Issues
Layout the issues that your community currently faces. Try not to place blame, for example, “The secretary never sends the meeting minutes out”. Instead say “Currently, residents feel that they don’t have access to important documents in a timely manner.” If you blame people they’ll shut down and not listen to your idea. You need them to listen to you.
Try to talk to other residents to make sure that they also feel the same way as you so that you truly bring what the HOA members feel the community’s issues are.
Value
You’ve now laid out the issues, and (hopefully) persuaded the board that they need fixing. The next step is to show how your idea of bringing HOA/Condo software will solve them.
Going back to our example of residents not having access to the minutes, with software you can post them in documents and send an email out to residents letting them know that they’ve been posted. Residents will be kept in the loop and have access to key information quickly and easily.
You need to show the board the value of making a change and investing in software.
Show a demo
Show the board a demonstration of different software options, it’s good to have 3 alternatives. Either at the same moment or at the next meeting, you should bring 3 software options for the board to evaluate.
If you can, schedule software vendors to join the meeting so they can talk to you and the board can ask questions. If that’s not possible, bring a recorded video demo and information on pricing and benefits.
Be honest
You need to be transparent with the board about what the benefits can be, and what their effort will look like as well. If you’re a larger community, you can create a website committee that will do all the work for the board, so they can choose their involvement.
However, they need to know how long it’ll take to implement, and how much the software will cost. You can also sketch the return on investment, so if you switch to software you’ll spend 3 months setting it up and spend $600 per year, but you’ll save $300 if you cancel your email and calling software that you currently use.
How to overcome common objections
At Vinteum we hear a lot of objections from boards. Often board members are divided, some want to modernize and others want to stick to the way things are currently done.
“It’ll add more work”
Board members are often concerned that software will add more to their plate. They have a lot going on, juggling a lot of responsibilities, and they don’t want more to do. This is completely valid, and it’s important for you to take this concern seriously. That means that you have to convince your HOA board that software can help.
Software will help them save time with manual processes. So rather than checking written maintenance forms one by one, they can do that online.
“Things work fine now”
Being alright with the current status quo is very common. People get used to how things work and don’t want to shake it up. Again, this is understandable and can’t be rejected out of hand.
However, showing the benefits of the change is what’s important. Show them that they will save time and money, board members don’t want to spend hours working on HOA/Condo things. Everyone wants to enjoy their free time and spend time with their family and friends.
“Our data won’t be safe”
It’s worrying to put sensitive information online, and you should discuss this with your potential software provider. You should ask how the information is encrypted and who has access to your information.
A simple answer is that all financial and contact information should always be in a password-protected area, that way only authorized people can view it. The software provider should also have a secure website and encrypted database.
“No one will use it”
The best way to get residents to use your new HOA software is for the board, manager, and committees to use it. All documents should be available, events should be posted there and you should use it to post notices for residents so it is useful. Residents could check in guests and reserve amenities through it as well. If Condo/HOA members see that it’s useful and that they can use it to improve their experience in the community, they will adopt it.
Neigbrs by Vinteum
We provide the only software that is focused on communication. So if like the majority of HOAs and Condos in the USA, your community association needs help with communication, we can help you.
Neigbrs by Vinteum offers emails, texts, calls, chats, and a modern website to improve communication between boards, managers, and residents.
As well as communication, we offer a secure portal where you can book amenities, create group chats, and a community forum as well as register guests.
Wrapping Up: Convince your HOA board to use software
Persuading anyone to change the way they do things is tough, the key to helping you convince your HOA board that the community needs software is to show how it can help. You can do that by showing them the current problems, and the value of software, showing the board how it works, as well as being honest with them.
