The PAVE Method to Achieve 95% Software Adoption in 90 Days

Max McCain has guided hundreds of property management companies through complete software transitions. After two years as a Client Success Manager at Revela and more than a decade in financial software, Max has seen the pattern repeat: property managers commit to new platforms, begin implementations, then revert to old processes when transitions feel overwhelming.

"It's intimidating to move your entire company from one system to the next, and we want them to feel comfortable with that."_{— Max mcCAIN, CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER AT REVELA}

This intimidation creates a vicious cycle. Companies delay implementations or abandon new systems entirely. Historical data becomes more complex with each failed migration. The operational problems compound.

Max’s method falls into what we call The PAVE Method—a four-phase approach that achieves 95% adoption rates within the first 90 days. The methodology operates on a principle borrowed from infrastructure development: you don't shut down the old highway until you've proven the new road works.

Key Takeaways:

→ The PAVE Method achieves 95% software adoption within 90 days by running legacy and new systems in parallel during transitions, eliminating the forced cutoffs that cause most migrations to fail.

→ Vendors absorb manual reconciliation work during overlap periods, reducing client workload during the transition rather than increasing it—property managers send weekly reports while implementation teams handle duplicate data entry.

→ Four sequential phases transform intimidating migrations into controlled implementations: Plan the Route maps current operations, Align the Foundation validates configurations, Validate Through Parallel Routes tests with protective overlap, and Execute Full Adoption measures success through concrete metrics like 95% rent collection and sub-15% owner questions.

Closing Highways Before Building Roads

Property management companies typically operate with three to five disconnected systems—one platform for applications, another for background checks, a third for lease creation, separate tools for accounting and maintenance. When financial reporting requires jumping between platforms, reconciliation stretches from hours into weeks.

The decision to consolidate appears straightforward until migration begins. Staff face learning new workflows while maintaining daily operations. An accountant sets aside Tuesday afternoon to learn the new system and migrate historical data. By 10am, an owner calls demanding a financial report for a refinancing deadline. The accountant faces a choice: spend three hours figuring out how to pull the report in the unfamiliar platform, or grab it from the old system in fifteen minutes. The old system wins. Historical data transfer gets pushed to next week. One accounting mistake destroys months of trust with property owners.

Three barriers prevent successful migrations:

→ Companies underestimate the coordination required to transition multiple operational areas simultaneously. Moving from AppFolio to Revela means changing leasing, payments, maintenance, and financial reporting. Each operates on different timelines and requires separate cutover dates.

→ Teams attempt clean breaks rather than building protective overlap periods. When contracts expire and new software launches the same day, there's no safety net. It's like closing a highway before the new road opens—traffic has nowhere to go.

→ Software vendors provide insufficient hands-on support during actual transitions. Chat bots and delayed email responses can't address urgent questions when staff need real-time guidance.

Each incomplete migration adds complexity to the next attempted switch. Staff resistance increases. The operational problems that prompted the initial software search remain unsolved.

The PAVE Method: Building New Roads While Old Ones Stay Open

Max's methodology challenges conventional implementation wisdom. Instead of forcing immediate cutoffs, The PAVE Method runs old and new systems in parallel for strategic overlap periods, with dedicated support staff handling the manual work of keeping both routes operational.

"We take on a lot of that work," Max explains. "When it comes to moving from AppFolio to Revela, a lot of the other companies don't have someone like us that you can call, email, or text."_{— Max mcCAIN}

The approach deliberately increases vendor workload during transitions to decrease client friction. When tenants make payments in legacy systems during the first month, Revela marks those transactions as paid in the new platform. Property managers can devote time to learning the new platform instead of performing duplicate data entry.

Teams experience reduced workload during the scariest period. They can directly compare how tasks function on both routes, building confidence through observed improvements. Once they've seen the new road works, closing the old highway feels like a natural course of action.

Plan the Route:

Every migration begins with kickoff sessions that include the salesperson, implementation specialist, and client success manager. These meetings establish expected timelines and use collaborative discovery to map current operations—identifying exactly where the old roads are and where the new ones need to go.

In their first call with a client, Max lays out the process:

“We do the formal introductions, we walk through what their expected timeline to launch is, and then we use the time to really understand how they operate today."_{— Max mcCAIN}

The discovery examines how clients collect funds, manage leasing, and handle accounting.

The planning phase creates shared project plans with tasks assigned to both parties. This bilateral ownership makes clients feel invested rather than being passive recipients. When teams know their task completion determines whether launch dates hold, natural accountability emerges.

Max uses planning to identify process guardians who might resist change. Staff members who believe automation threatens their jobs need different conversations than teams eager to reduce manual work. "The biggest thing is identifying those personas in the beginning during our implementation process, and then collaborating with them to feel bought in."

The phase concludes with a clear understanding of current operations and a timeline that sequences tasks based on business criticality—identifying which roads get built first and which can wait.

Align the Foundation:

Following planning, Max validates everything learned by repeating findings back to clients and building the system as configurations progress. Like ensuring a new road's foundation matches the terrain, this phase confirms the technical build aligns with operational reality.

"We like to validate things that we hear, so we like to kind of repeat that back, or make sure that we're understanding exactly how they're working."_{— Max mcCAIN}

This phase provides specific recommendations based on observed operations. When property managers describe processes, Max identifies where standardized practices and automated workflows can create time savings—essentially finding the straightest, smoothest route between two points.

The critical element: show the product as it's being built. Max conducts training while configuring the platform, allowing teams to see their processes take shape in the new system. 

By phase two's end, property managers understand how their workflows will function on the new road. The system reflects their operational reality rather than generic best practices. The foundation is set and aligned with their actual route.

Validate Through Parallel Routes:

Phase three implements the controlled overlap strategy—the defining characteristic of The PAVE Method. Max recommends extending legacy platform contracts one month beyond planned launch dates. This keeps both highways operational while teams validate the new road handles actual traffic.

When a contract expires December 1st and teams want to launch that day, Max advocates extending through December 31st. The overlap provides protection across different operational timelines:

Background screening shuts down immediately before launch, like closing a small access road. Teams receive applications through the new system, and Revela can manually trigger screenings during configuration finalization.

Website links and advertising switch approximately two weeks before launch, redirecting some traffic to the new route. New applications flow into the new platform while existing leads complete processes on the legacy system.

Accounting systems remain open one to two months post-launch—keeping the main highway operational while the new road proves itself. This handles the reality that not all tenants immediately adopt new payment methods.

"There's still gonna be payments happening in the other system, there's still historical financials that need to be ported over to ours," Max explains. "We'll take on that work."_{— Max mcCAIN}

The manual bridging differentiates this approach. When tenants pay rent in AppFolio after Revela launch, property managers send weekly payment reports to Max's team. Revela staff mark transactions as paid in the new system—essentially maintaining both roads simultaneously so clients never experience a bottleneck.

This creates a powerful psychological effect. Running two systems simultaneously should feel overwhelming. Instead, property managers experience reduced workload because Revela absorbs reconciliation tasks. When the legacy system finally closes, single-system operations feel dramatically easier because teams have already seen how much smoother the new road operates.

Execute Full Adoption:

Max defines success through concrete metrics tracked monthly after launch. Like measuring traffic flow on a new highway, these metrics focus on actual adoption rather than technical functionality.

First month: Rent collection hits 95% through the new platform. "We want to make sure we have 95% of rent payments going through Revela," Max explains. The threshold accounts for one or two tenants using old methods, but anything below signals the new road isn't handling expected traffic.

The team provides all-hands support during first-month collection. Max, implementation specialists, and engineering remain available for immediate troubleshooting—like construction crews ready to fix any surface issues the moment they appear.

Second month: Owner disbursements achieve 95% accuracy, and owner questions drop below 15%. Before Revela, owners frequently asked why disbursed amounts differed from collected rent. New owner statements show rent collected, management fees, maintenance costs, and net amounts in a single view—clear signage on a well-designed highway. 

Ongoing metrics: Occupancy rates should maintain or exceed baseline levels established at launch. Average vacancy days should decrease consistently as teams adopt streamlined leasing processes. These measure whether the new road actually gets tenants to properties faster than the old fragmented route.

The final success indicator: property managers shift from operational questions to growth conversations. When six-month meetings focus on bringing on more properties rather than completing tasks, teams are traveling confidently on the new road with no desire to return to the old highway.

Smoother Roads, Faster Journeys

Property managers completing The PAVE Method achieve transformations that are measurable. Adoption rates consistently reach Revela’s target of 95% within the first month. Accounting reconciliation drops from multi-week processes to minutes. ‍

"Reconciliation, instead of doing that for a week or two weeks, that's done now in a matter of minutes."_{— Max mcCAIN}

Staff who once spent hours on data entry gain bandwidth for high-value activities. Accountants focus on financial analysis and owner communication rather than chasing receipts—they're driving on smooth pavement instead of navigating potholes.

Vacancy periods decrease as leasing consolidates. One client moving from paper to electronic applications discovered an unexpected benefit. By adding a small application fee, they eliminated casual inquiries from applicants filling forms for multiple properties. "They got more of the actual people that were interested in the property," Max explains. The new road filtered traffic to only serious travelers.

When property managers want to revert to old processes, Max challenges the underlying logic. A client who wanted paper applications because they met prospective tenants at properties needed questioning. "How do you know how many paper applications you have out there? How many do you know that have been 50% complete?" The questions revealed hidden inefficiencies—potholes they'd stopped noticing on the old road.

Software migrations fail when vendors prioritize speed over confidence and support. The PAVE Method extends timelines deliberately but achieves adoption rates that justify the investment. The methodology works because it treats transitions as change management challenges requiring intensive human support.

You don’t close highways before you’ve proven the new road works. The PAVE Method builds parallel routes, validates through actual use, then executes full adoption only after teams have experienced the superior journey firsthand.