Focus on what matters to your customers
What is a property manager’s greatest asset—the ability to deliver above expectations. The challenge is to identify what really matters to your customers. What are your customers’ pain points? What keeps them up at night? We’ve compiled a set of key considerations for narrowing your focus on those issues that, if addressed, will help to ensure your customers are overwhelmed by the quality of your service delivery.
Focus on prevention
No one likes emergency calls and putting out fires. Costly emergency repairs can decimate a maintenance budget. Stay ahead of break-fix appointments by creating a maintenance schedule that balances the need to ensure proper functioning of the facility or residence’s major mechanical systems and maximizing return on investment (ROI). Skilled property managers are able to produce the numbers that demonstrate the ROI on regularly scheduled maintenance over emergency break-fix appointments.
Focus on safety
Covid-19 has provided an opportunity to refocus our attention on basic safety protocols. Are your team members following the basics-wearing masks properly (over nose and mouth), washing their hands regularly for at least 20 seconds, covering their shoes when enter tenant units, and maintaining a distance of more than six feet whenever possible?
Meet with your team regularly to over-emphasize the basics and reinforce the principles by rewarding diligence.
Automate billing and payment
Make it easy for your customers to pay for services rendered. Automate as much as possible. Manual processes are inefficient and costly, and the billing and payment processes are low hanging fruit. Identify and root out waste by allowing clients to opt-in to automated billing and payment. You will save costs on administrative tasks, postage, and paper supplies. And an added benefit of automation is that it ensures a consistent schedule for receipt of any invoices by your client and follow-up notifications in the event they are late in remitting payment.
Treat their tenants as your own
If your clients customer’s are happy, you are performing your services well. And while they are not your tenants, property managers are on the front line when it comes to ensuring tenant satisfaction. Consider the type of environment where you would like to work and live. Does the environment you are managing meet your standards? Is it clean? Are restrooms well-maintained and regularly stocked with hand soap and toilet tissue? Do you maintain a regular cleaning schedule and quality checks, not just at the end of the day, but throughout the day? Are hallways and parking lots and parking structures well lit so tenants feel safe? Are locks and key coded entries working properly? Pay attention to the details. Operate as if you work for each tenant, not just the building owner.
Assess your customers’ satisfaction
Are your client’s happy? Ask them early and ask them often. They should be comfortable, feel secure and not be distracted by major issues or minor annoyances that could easily be prevented. For non-preventable issues, responsiveness should be immediate. Ask them. There are any number of automated client satisfaction surveys to evaluate your performance and whether your clients are getting what they need from you.
Keep an open line of communication
If your only communication with your customers is for emergencies, you are not communication regularly. Take the time to establish a regular check-in. Property owners relish peace of mind, and you can provide them with that by engaging in routine communication. The corollary to routine communication is being available. How long does it take you to respond to client emails? What is your turnaround time for responding to a voicemail message? Do you keep appointments? Is it easy for your clients to stay in contact with you? Are changes to your contact information communicated to those who need it?
Identifying what matters to your customers and your customers’ tenants is vital to your success as a property manager. Be responsive. Be proactive. Be an asset and an ally that your customers will never want to replace.