Seamless integration leads to endless possibilities

Executive summary

In 2004, Robert Koop was ready for change. Having lived several years in Northern California, he decided to venture from the Golden State to the Lone Star State. That led him to a career at Community Management Associates (CMA), which is based near Dallas and is one of the largest and most respected management companies in the industry.

Robert started with CMA as a Community Manager. The company is known for its customer service and superior knowledge of the industry and was already quite established. What wasn't established, however, was a fully integrated software solution that showcased the big 'WOW' one needs when pitching to a potential client. That changed, however, when CMA switched to CINC Systems in 2008. Robert is now Executive Vice President of Operations and CMA has added more than 35,000 doors to its portfolio.

"Before we were with CINC, we were using one system for accounting and another system for the operational piece," Robert said. "It was frustrating having to log in and out of two to three different systems to get the information needed. Now that it's all under one umbrella with CINC, we are able to work more efficiently. Our homeowners and board members are able to review information with greater ease as well."

But the integration didn't end with CMA's initial 2008 launch. While many new product additions and enhancements have occurred over the past 13 years, one of the biggest achievements happened in 2021. CINC Systems acquired HOAst, Inc., and for the first time in the industry's history, an evoting platform was fully integrated into a software solution for HOAs and COAs. CMA was quick to take advantage of the acquisition, and clients were enamored with the tool.

A tech stack built for growth

While the term "tech stack" is quite popular among Silicon Valley companies, it may seem like a foreign concept in other industries. Simply put, a tech stack is an ecosystem of technology services used by an organization to run all its processes on a single application.

The challenge with the tech stack in community association management is that many of the technology services used by management companies include outdated systems that make communication from one platform to another nearly impossible. As a result, many services don't run on a single application, and homeowners and board members find themselves logging in an out of multiple systems.

This is certainly true in e-voting. Prior to CINC's acquisition of HOAst, Inc., CMA was using a different solution that wasn't integrated into the software. "When boards would hold an election, they'd have to export data out of CINC into the evoting system," Robert said. "Having to export data is never a good thing - the moment you pull it out of your system, it's already old. That's why we were so excited to learn of the HOAst acquisition."

CMA first launched HOAst with one of their larger clients and were ecstatic with the results. "Our staff was very well trained on the solution, and the support we received was incredible. Because of the openness in the conversations and service provided, it was very easy to train people on how to operate the system."

No qualms over quorum

Robert noticed that through HOAst's integration with CINC Systems, his boards were able to achieve quorum without the hassle. “We knew that electronic voting was essential because paper elections are so time consuming and bound for error. HOAst eliminates the usual anxieties one experiences during the election.” His team was also pleasantly surprised to realize other benefits to using the platform over other solutions in the industry:

Homeowner Apathy

"Communicating with homeowners during an election is now fun. We congratulate them on their voting progress, are able to share results right away, and we really feel like we're directly involved in improving homeowner experience."

Time Savings

"A board meeting with paper ballots can take over 30 minutes to collect votes, and it can take hours to verify. Now, the system does it all for us."

Community Involvement

"It's not just about voting. Through survey collection, homeowners can share their thoughts about anything - from social events to CCR amendments."

For management companies to keep growing, Robert believes it's they use software solutions that continuously and seamlessly add to their tech stack. "When we share CMA's value to potential clients, we always talk technology. When you're using one solution over several fragmented solutions, you're able to train quicker and provide an overall significantly better experience to the homeowners. That's what really matters."