1. Divide and Conquer/Specialize
Leasing professionals have long been regarded as the type of individuals who know how to and are expected to roll up their sleeves and play with an all hands on deck mentality. On a given day, they might give 3 tours, draw up the paperwork for a few leases, field complaints, answer the incessantly ringing phone, and dispatch the maintenance crew. Or they might do this on a given half day. When they’re doing it all, the question becomes, “If given the chance, could they do just some of it even better?” If you have the luxury of employing several leasing pros, no doubt each of them has qualities that make them very suitable for dealing with all of your renters’ needs. But, perhaps one has a natural ability to deescalate conflict, or another has a real knack for closing the deal after a tour. Breaking out your staff into specialties—phone desk, sales, tenant management—can not only boost your customer service quotient dramatically, it can also make a calmer, more effective staff. Think about how your business would run if that daytime phone call rarely went to voicemail or your “ace” salespeople could be giving the biggest percentage of the tours. How much happier would your current tenants be if they had an immediate and direct point of contact to answer a question or respond to a problem, without having to wait for a tour to wrap up?
2. Everything online, all the time
In our 24 hour world, if your property information cannot be accessed and sold with a few clicks, someone else’s can. If you aren’t on the web, you’re way past deadline. If you are, make sure that your pricing, floorplans, and unit availability info are there with you. To earn significant bonus points, have all of it available in your leasing or sales office for those who know what they want even before they speak to one of your employees. “Available” can mean something as simple as a makeshift laptop kiosk at a comfortable desk, a place where any walk-in can see what you have to rent them and any tenant can report a repair or pay her rent.
To be clear, machines will never take the place of human beings, especially in a business as people-focused as property management. However, the Internet and technology in general has turned buying of every kind on its head. The first step in any sales process, in any decision in our time, can and does begin online.
3. Never stop training
In addition to making sure your employees can recite federal, state, and local fair housing laws and the best pizza joints in a five mile radius, invest in their development just as you do in other areas of your business. Next to your property itself, your employees are your greatest resource and the first (and sometimes only) customer facing impression of your organization. If we’ve learned anything from the recession and its resulting impact, it’s that the rules in business are constantly changing. What worked in leasing in 1995 will not work in 2010, and having your staff working by yesterday’s rules won’t do either. Invest in qualified consultants and experiment with new ideas. Even those that fail will teach you something.
Filed under: General Information, Landabout Features, Property Maintenance, Property Management Topics, Real Estate Investment , affordable housing, customer satisfaction, customer service, investment, Landlord, lease, multi-family, Property, Property Management, real estate management, reduced vacancy, rental, tenant relationships, tenant turnover, wealth creation
