The saying, ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is rather…old. First of all, ‘old’ is just a frame of mind, and second, you can always learn new tricks. Sure, sometimes there’s a steep learning curve, or old habits are hard to break, but learning those new tricks is possible, and always pays off in the end.

That includes transitioning to a new property management software solution.

Learning how to use new technology is tough for everyone, even for younger generations (though they’d never admit it if you asked them), because technology has evolved at a very rapid pace in the last couple of decades. With so many changes and enhancements being made to the systems we just finished learning, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed and frustrated. So naturally the idea of completely moving from one technology to another sounds impossible. It’s not.

Switching Software Shouldn’t Disrupt

If you’re thinking of switching to a new community association management (CAM) software, it’s likely because what you’re currently using isn’t cutting it in some way. Maybe the system isn’t capable of producing the reports you want, or you’ve gotten sick of all of the clicks you have to do just to get to the dashboard you need. Maybe the issue isn’t even the platform, it’s that you can’t get a live person on the phone to help you fix a problem.

But you’re probably still having flashbacks from when you had to onboard to your current software solution to begin with and that’s making you sweat a little. It’s a very normal reaction, but you can’t let it be the thing that stops you from making a smart investment into your future.

Think of it like learning how to drive.

We were all new drivers once, right? That’s a scary thing to be, and we’ve probably all had that cliché movie moment of hitting the wrong pedal and nearly ramming into something. But we all also learned, and now those pedals are second nature. The transition period from one platform to another may be a little rough, but if you’ve got the right teachers, tools, and support system, you won’t feel more than a few bumps in the road on your journey.

The onboarding process is often the largest challenge with transitioning to a new property management solution because it can be a lengthy process that has a lot of moving parts. Data migration, accounting needs, change management, and overall time to go live are often the primary challenges in the process, and they’re the top concerns CINC Systems has worked to address after 15 years of improving their processes.

Learning the Ropes

Migrating to a new software solution typically means working with a lot of different people to accomplish the many goals that the onboarding process has: securing and transferring your community data, which can sometimes take more than one expert to handle the data acquisition, and another to handle the actual transition process; ensuring your accounting department is up to speed and understands the new software offerings; product specialists and trainers to teach the software, and more.

Having to engage with so many people is one of the software transition challenges CINC has aimed to solve. During a migration to CINC, you’ll still have the benefit of working with multiple resources; we have accounting experts, professional trainers, and data wizards ready to jump in and get your community information prepared for transfer–but none of the responsibility to initiate and engage with them is on you. CINC’s Onboarding process provides new customers a single point of contact who will handle all of the coordination, which means the time many waste playing telephone tag with their new software partner just to get a single training scheduled is nonexistent. Your CINC project manager is your champion, your advocate, and will guarantee your time isn’t being wasted begging for the attention you deserve.

Crash Course…Minus the Crash

The worst thing about learning to drive was how rigorous the whole process could be. Months of time spent in a classroom, plus the 50+ hours you have to bank up driving with another licensed driver, and then the hours waiting at the DMV just to take a test? Unbelievable. But it makes sense for a process to be rigid when applying for a driver’s license. Not so much for going live with a new software.

CINC has streamlined their process to prep your data for transfer swiftly and efficiently, and a time-tested training process that customizes each new client’s training to their specific team and community needs. This reduces the most time-consuming aspects of onboarding. We only have a few simple asks for our new clients:

• Set Top Down Expectations: Engage your full team.  This is not difficult and does not take much time, but it is very important and pays off exponentially.
• Verification/Questions When Needed: We do everything else such that you do not need to be data experts or perform mass excel manipulation
• Learning The Systems and Processes: We will use great people and tools to teach you so all you need to do is participate

Driving with a Co-Pilot

After getting a license, most kids still spend time driving using their parents as a personal driving coach. They’ll go together to the grocery store, to pick up take out, or just around the block a few times. It just makes one feel better, even if they already know how to drive.

For at least your first month using CINC after finishing your Onboarding and Training, you’ll get a team of driving coaches of your very own.

The idea behind this is that regardless of how seamless and thorough the transition process is, you’re still diving into a brand new property management and accounting software. Just like purchasing a new car, there are going to be some differences that will take adjustment and time to really learn. CINC is there to check in with you every single day to talk through each task you complete, no matter how small, and help remind you of the best practices and guide you in the right direction.

Back on the Road

Even experienced drivers can use a helping hand from time to time. You run over a nail and get a flat, or maybe you forgot to fill up the tank and ran out of gas on the highway. There will always be moments where muscle memory and second nature fall a little short–so what do you do? You pull a lifeline and phone a friend!

And you’ve always got a friend in CINC.

CINC is that supportive mom friend waiting for you to give them a call, day or night, no matter how big or small of a problem you have.  You forgot how to pull the report you need? Don’t worry, there’s a video for that in CINC’s little bag of tricks. You don’t like watching videos? Not a problem, there’s a reference document with all of the steps in it, too. CINC Support is more than documentation, it is a team of real people you can talk to.  You need a quick fix on a Friday afternoon? You’ll get it. Seriously.

Get Onboard

If this sounds like the kind of quick, comprehensive onboarding process you’re looking to get with your next software partner, #GetInCinc to learn even more about how you can get completely up and running in CINC Systems with minimal headache.