There’s Value in this Approach: Celebrate the Tenant

Celebrate the Tenant

Research shows that building great relationships with your tenants pays off. Large apartment communities do a great job of celebrating their tenants, while management companies in the single-family and condo space often struggle. Large apartment communities do things like community events, appreciation nights, holiday cards, raffles, and move-in gifts, to build better relationships with their residents. Some of these tools may not work for a single-family home Property Manager, but what we can mimic is how they approach the tenant relationship.

There is a pervasive business philosophy among many Property Managers, that I call, “Tenant Apathy Syndrome” or TAS. You will hear people with TAS say things like, “It’s just a tenant.” They look at the tenant as a necessary evil – a means to an end. They wonder, “How can I get away with doing as little as possible for my tenant?” They hope the tenant never calls or needs anything. However, they expect them to take great care of the place, pay more in rent each year, and stay forever. What other business has such a lack of empathy toward their customer?

If you are a Property Manager, the owner of the property is your client and the tenant is your customer. Without the tenant, nothing happens. If you want to be successful in business, learn what other successful people are doing and mimic them. The large apartment industry is often backed by Wall Street money. These investors have done tons of research, tenant surveys, and poured over the data to find the secret sauce to maximize profit. They have found providing an amazing experience for the tenant pays off.

Some in our industry do not view the tenant relationship as important. They don’t want to talk to the tenant ever. I argue that talking to the tenant is just as important as talking to the owner. Those who recognize the opportunity in front of them will set themselves apart from the competition by offering the tenant the great service they are looking for. It’s an easy way to stick out from the crowd, by being a company that focuses on a great tenant experience.

Here are some things the large apartment communities do to attract and keep the best tenants. You can do these things as well:

• When you are marketing a property, have someone who answers your rental calls 7 days a week. Answer all the calls that come in and provide the best customer service you can. Very few do this, so this sets you apart. There are companies that specialize in prospective tenant calls who can always be available.

• Only show vacant homes that are rent ready. The best tenants only rent clean and attractive homes. You tend to attract bad tenants when you show a lived-in, cluttered home. Since the property shows better, you will get a better price when you show a cleaned and move-in ready home. This approach also eliminates issues at move in where the tenant thought they were going to receive the home in better condition than they got it. The multifamily industry has done tons of studies on this. That’s why they never show occupied properties.

• Have everything online. Applications, lease signing, maintenance requests, and rent collection can all be done online these days. The millennial generation, is the “right now” generation. They expect things to be online, fast, and easy.

• Provide move-in gifts or other special touches to your leasing and move-in process.

• Survey your tenants after move in and after maintenance is completed to make sure they are satisfied.

• Handle maintenance quickly, using professional vendors.

• Celebrate your tenants’ birthdays and the anniversary of leasing.

• Be fair with a tenant’s deposit. Don’t nickle and dime them when they leave the place in great shape. This leads to fewer deposit issues, court appearances, and pleases the real estate gods.

• Welcome interaction with your tenants. Go out of your way to communicate. Does this new way of approaching the tenant relationship mean every time a tenant asks for something, you need to do it? Of course not! Sometimes customers are unreasonable and demanding. It is our job to explain, in a professional manner, why we can’t do something. We often explain to tenants that the owner has a fixed budget for this property, so certain discretionary repairs cannot be done at this time. Maybe you can revisit it later in the year? Maybe you can offer them a property upgrade at lease renewal?

When communicated clearly and with professionalism, most tenants understand. Most of your competitors are still suffering from TAS, so a little goodwill from you will make you stand out from the crowd.

You may see the value in this approach and decide to make big changes to how you approach the tenant relationship. Even if you just change your mindset, you can operate your business more profitably with fewer headaches.

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Residential Resources: December 2017 Issue | Volume 28 | Number 11