Deadline calendar for every board
Budget adoption, reserve study updates, insurance paperwork and the annual meeting notice appear on each association's calendar, with reminders to directors before each date.
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A Retention App That Keeps Your Association Clients Renewing
SIZ Group designs and builds a customer retention app for HOA management companies that keeps every board and homeowner informed between meetings. Renewal season then starts with goodwill, not with a scramble to explain what the team has been doing all year.
01
Why renewals are won between board votes
An HOA management company rarely loses a contract in one afternoon. The decline builds quietly when the board hears from the company only about late assessments and a broken gate. When the management agreement comes up for review, a director who has seen little of the team's work will listen closely to another firm's pitch.
A retention app gives the company a reason to be present all year. It can remind directors about the budget adoption calendar, the reserve study schedule and the notice deadline for the annual meeting, and it can show what the team handled that quarter. A board that sees the work steadily approaches renewal as a routine decision.
02
Where follow-up breaks down after a visit or a vote
A landscaping crew finishes the spring cleanup and nobody tells the homeowners on the north loop, so the first question arrives as a complaint about leaf debris on driveways. Vendor invoices sit in a shared inbox while the community manager is on site at a different association. These gaps are small, but directors notice them, and they become the examples raised at the next meeting.
Repeat work is the other weak point. The same annual items come up every year: a second pool inspection, a reprint of the community rules for new owners, a parking decal renewal before the lot is restriped. Each one is handled from memory and a phone call, so the work depends on whoever remembers last time.
03
What the marketing manager needs to see before sign-off
The marketing manager will want proof that the app keeps existing associations on the books, not just that it looks good on a demo phone. We would agree on a short list of measures before the build starts and report on them in plain terms. That list becomes the sign-off checklist.
The measures should come from the company's own records. Renewal and termination dates for each association, reminder delivery and open rates, the share of repeat bookings made in the app compared with phone calls, and a one-question check after each vendor visit all belong on the report.
- Renewal dates and outcomes for each association, grouped by account manager
- Delivery and open rates for deadline reminders sent to directors and homeowners
- Share of repeat service bookings made in the app versus by phone or email
- Replies to the post-visit question, grouped by vendor and by community
What you get
Key features
Targeted homeowner notices
Pool closures, paving days and storm preparation notes reach only the households they affect, and an opt-in record is kept for every owner who receives them.
Seasonal guide library
Short guides on spring cleanup, fall leaf pickup and winter parking rules are organized by community, so residents find answers before they call the office.
One-tap repeat bookings
Services the association buys every year, such as a second pool inspection or a parking decal renewal, can be rebooked from the app with the vendor and window already set.
Post-visit check-in
After a vendor visit, the resident receives one question about the work, and the answer goes to the account manager with the job record attached.
Monthly board update feed
A summary of completed work, open items and upcoming deadlines is written from the job log, so directors see the value without waiting for the next meeting.
04
The first release, and what can wait
The first release should cover the work that moves renewal decisions. That means a deadline calendar for each board that sends reminders for budget adoption, reserve study updates, insurance renewal paperwork and the annual meeting notice. It also means a homeowner feed that sends a pool closure or a paving day only to the households on the affected street or building.
Repeat booking comes next, limited to services the association already buys each year. A director or resident taps the item, confirms the vendor and the window, and the office receives the same job it would have received by phone. Post-visit questions belong in the same release because they show the board whether a vendor did the job well.
Later phases can add a homeowner referral program, deeper guides for specific communities and a survey tool that runs across the whole portfolio. We would not start there.
05
The information, content and access we need from you
Start with the renewal calendar and the list of associations, including each governing document's notice rules and any state requirements your counsel has flagged. We also need the standard vendor schedule for each community, the newsletter templates your team already uses and the reserve study dates that belong on the calendar.
Consent records matter. Before any text message goes to a homeowner, we need to know how that owner opted in and whether the association's documents and your practice allow SMS at all.
- Management agreement renewal dates and notice terms for every association
- Vendor calendars for recurring services, including the usual booking windows
- Opt-in records for text and email, with the source of each contact
- Seasonal notices you already send, such as pool opening or storm preparation
- Brand assets, app store accounts and one named approver on your side
06
What drives the cost, and how we keep scope in check
Cost follows the number of associations, the number of notification types and how many homeowner records the app must match against your software. Connecting to an accounting or property system takes more work than a standalone calendar. A single cross-platform build is often less work than two separate native builds when the features match on both phones. Mobile apps start at $4,500, and the final figure is confirmed in writing after the scoping call.
Scope stays in check when each feature has a named owner and a clear first-release line. We would document the reminder rules before design, keep the guide library to a fixed set of categories and move survey tools and referral programs to a later phase.
Do homeowners have to download the app to receive reminders?+
No. Residents can receive notices by email or text, and the app is an option for anyone who wants a calendar and the guide library on their phone. We keep the opt-in choice visible, so each owner decides how they hear from the association.
How is this different from the newsletter we already send?+
A newsletter goes out to everyone at once and is easy to ignore. The retention app targets notices by building or street, keeps a record of who was told what, and lets a resident act on a notice with one tap. Your newsletter can still live in the guide library.
Can the app follow our text message rules?+
It can be built to. Texts go only to contacts with a recorded opt-in, every message carries a way to stop, and we would review the wording with your legal adviser against the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and any state rules that apply. That legal review stays with your counsel.
Will this connect to our association management software?+
It can, if your platform offers an export or an API we can read. We would confirm what is available during the scoping call, because a manual file upload works for a pilot but adds work every month. If no connection exists, the app can run from a contact list your team maintains.
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Let's make it happen
Plan a retention app for your association portfolio
Book a free scoping call, and we will map your renewal dates and confirm scope and price in writing.