DI…Why? Our Industry’s Journey from Self Service to Managed Utilities

History doesn’t loop in circles—it zig zags in figure eights. And after 25 years supporting the property management industry, (did we mention it’s our quarter-century anniversary this year?) we’ve watched property owners and managers navigate everything from the predictable tides of the American economy to the disruptive, business-changing meteorites that have impacted our industry (the 2008 crash, COVID, the sweeping rise of centralizing tech).

And in all these decades, amidst all of the change and opportunity that time has thrown at the multifamily, commercial, single-family, and manufactured housing industries, we’ve seen one consistent throughline year after year: 

More and more businesses transition from in-house software and PMS stack solutions to full-service managed utilities companies like Conservice.

Regardless of size. Regardless of portfolio complexity, growth, or market conditions, it has and continues to be the case that it is far more profitable to hand off the sheer, unscalable weight of ingesting, auditing, and paying utility invoices, billing back residents, and forecasting utility costs to a company that is singularly focused on handling it for you. 

A company that will:

It Wasn’t Always This Easy

In the ‘90s and early 2000s, property management companies approached utility management the same way as any other back-office processes. They hired staff and trained them to use self-service software tools. These platforms promised efficiency and control, but in reality, required property teams to hire and train dedicated staff, manage billing rules, communicate with providers, and manage resident concerns—all while keeping pace with regulatory changes. It wasn’t only tough, it was unscalable. The bigger any portfolio grew, the more exponentially complex managing these processes became.

But two decades ago, that model started to change.

Our founder, Dave Jenkins, introduced a happy, practical alternative: the full service utility management model. 

Instead of handing clients a toolkit and expecting them to handle the work, Conservice took utilities completely off their plate. From the provider invoice all the way to the resident statement, every detail was handled by teams of dedicated Utility Experts™. Twenty-five years of refining this model has proven one thing—full service isn’t just a convenience; it’s an industry standard. 

Year after year, more property management companies across the country are moving away from self-service and embracing managed utility services, and they’re doing it for a pretty straightforward reason—NOI. 

Why Self-Service Utility Management Is Falling Out of Favor

While self-service platforms offer the illusion of simplicity and affordability, the reality is far more complex. Managing utilities in-house requires significant oversight. Internal teams have to apply correct billing formulas, obtain meter reads, track utility usage, and resolve discrepancies. When billing errors, compliance issues, or utility disputes arise, it’s the client’s staff who bear the responsibility—not the software provider. 

Again and again, the initially attractive cost-per-unit rates are rudely, measurably, and consistently overtaken by the additive costs of staff inflation, poor scalability, and regulatory risk.

Even tools that boast user-friendliness still demand personnel to operate them daily. Property teams are left troubleshooting billing issues, negotiating with utility providers, and fielding resident complaints (a number that will only rise as your portfolio grows)—all tasks that drain time and resources, and distract from more valuable priorities. 

In-house solutions work reasonably well until, well, anything goes wrong. Then, you’ll find yourself trying to negotiate with one of the 30,000 idiosyncratic utility providers in the country, each with its own policies, dispute resolution processes, and staffing challenges.  

A Better New Era for Property Management

The trend toward outsourced utility management has been consistent and collectively rewarding. Across the country, more property management companies have moved away from self-service tools, recognizing that the cost of managing utilities internally is far greater than they once thought. They’re seeing firsthand how full-service solutions streamline operations, reduce overhead, increases NOI, and eliminates the need to hire and train specialized staff.

Modern utility management is about partnership, not software.

DI…Why Would You?

At Conservice, we’ve spent decades perfecting utility management so you don’t have to. Let us take utilities off your plate, so you can focus on running your properties and growing your business.

Contact Conservice today and step confidently into the future of utility management.

William Bailey

William Bailey is a veteran writer in the real estate industry and the Content Manager at Conservice. He’s obsessed with utility technology, tarantulas, and the ways that language and stories can bring industries together.