Perhaps the most significant gain in Resident Satisfaction happens when we are able to successfully connect with our Residents When Bad Things Happen. In the Property Management Business, things break, no hot water, no water, no heat, the list goes on and on. Some we can control and we can likely always improve response time and decrease call backs and increase preventive maintenance, but even if we have mastered all of those things, and we have a great on site team in place, stuff still breaks. And having all the things listed above right is expected, that just gets you too normal, and to standard, and yes Apartment Commodity.
Break from the Pack of Apartment Commodity by implementing a Text Messaging System and Direct E Mail System set up by property, or by building at your property where you can shoot out a Text Message from your laptop about alerting your resident of the problem and what action is taking place. The whole Text Messaging thing is huge and we are not taking well enough advantage of it in our beloved industry. If you are using a 24/7 Call Center, (if you aren’t yet, please take a look, they are economical and advantageous) you could add a script for them for such circumstance as arise, and they could do the Text Message blast.
Wouldn’t your Resident Feel Better if they received a text or message alerting them of the problem, before they even discovered it, and then another update when the problem is handled?
Becky Carroll from Customers Rock, (if you don’t follow Becky, here is her link, she has great marketing and customer service ideas, check her out hereà http://customersrock.wordpress.com/ ) and I were tweeting (not tweeting yet either, start today, it is a great) yesterday about what does Five Star Service mean, and my reaction is this, Five Star Service is an Unparallel Experience that you feel good about, even entertained and you find value in the service or product rendered. So, if we can help our Resident Feel Good, by over communicating, won’t the Resident Retention rise?
As I finish this blog post, this is an actual e mail response from one of our residents where we, yep, had a hot water tank go out this morning on a holiday weekend, but each resident was notified directly with an e mail and text message before most of them woke up; quote from one resident; “No big deal. I do not get frustrated. I am grateful to have water coming out of a faucet! Even if it is cold! Thanks so much. “The point here is, this stuff works, and we just got a Thank You from someone who has no hot water this morning!
So, Try It, See if it Works for you, I think it will, and it may just help you Break from the Pack of Apartment Commodity. Enjoy the Holiday Weekend, now, off to get that hot water tank fixed!
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