The CEO-MC Retreat from the Community Associations Institute is always one of our favorite events of the year. It’s an intimate setting where business owners connect to learn best practices, develop their leadership skills, and proactively plan for the new year.

This year’s event in La Quinta, California gave us the ability to connect one-on-one with our customers during a critical time in community management. While we connected with our colleagues, there were three key areas in which leaders were focused on improving the most: operations, talent, and overall business maturity. Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways we heard from CEO-MC:

Companies want to learn how to improve operational practices.

Entrepreneurs in community association management can’t scale at a productive rate if they can’t manage operations in a productive manner. But in an industry fraught with urgency, executing a routine day-to-day can seem impossible. That’s why so many leaders were enthralled with the keynote from EOS – Entrepreneurial Operating System. The session was focused on teaching how to get what entrepreneurs want from their business by setting the vision, holding everyone accountable, and developing team cohesion and transparency. As costs continue to rise for both supply and labor, the need to enhance productivity will be extremely important in the upcoming year. Improving operational practices often entails not just software operations, but people operations. Are you providing the right tools to help your team get their work done in the most efficient manner, and does that therefore improve continuity between your team and the organization’s vision? And operations seamlessly dovetails into the next key takeaway…

Companies are STILL struggling to find qualified talent.

We’ve heard of problems related to recruitment and retention since the dawn of the Great Resignation. And while the job market may be cooling down, the need for qualified talent continues to heat up. This becomes very challenging for those trying to hire in community management. Asking someone to be a rockstar in project management and client relationships means asking someone to be extremely skilled at two very different skillsets – this conundrum is why good talent is so hard to find! Since most companies don’t have the budget to split the job into two roles, they’ll need to take advantage of tools that streamline project management within multiple communities. It’s also vital to empower managers with technology that gives them the ability to communicate with their board members and homeowners quickly and efficiently. Finally, homeowner self-service is a necessity to improve a manager’s schedule. If a homeowner knows how to manage their payments, work orders, and communications in one location, they are far less likely to consistently call for help. The more leaders can do to reduce manager burnout, the more likely they are to find better talent for their organization.

Companies want to know how to exit strategically

There are many entrepreneurs in the space who have reached their personal peak in business development. These leaders aren’t necessarily thinking about operational efficiency and talent development – rather, they are asking themselves, “what’s next for me?” When does one know when it’s time to sell their business? Where can one turn to valuate the company, and how easy (or not easy) is it to find the right buyer? These questions can seem big and scary when a business leader doesn’t know where to turn, and that’s why our founder Bill Blanton created CINC Capital. As the only firm dedicated to the community association management industry for business acquisition, CINC Capital works one-on-one with CAM owners to understand the value of their business, create a plan for a future sale, and achieve a maximized return on investment. It’s the reason why Cyndi Sullivan of Key Community Management was able to comfortably sell her business and enter her next chapter in life.

From people to operations to business development and acquisition, we’ll continue to drive the conversation for key 2023 priorities impacting our industry. Follow our blog to stay up to date on all of the emerging trends facing community association management professionals today.