Alison Voyvodich's Blog

Do you trust your residents?

Do they trust you? 

I just returned from a trip to my family’s farm in S. Dakota last spring time and I was struck by how much comes from such a small seed. I was helping my father plant some potatoes and onions and it occurred to me that in a few weeks with lots of water and fertilizer, these small seeds will bring forth plants that will provide so much more, it is amazing to me.

Planting seeds is a very noble act.  You dig dirt, lay in the seeds, water and fertilize regularly and expect these seeds to bring forth a bounty of harvest. Just ask any farmer, it isn't that easy. Like anything in life we lay seeds, hoping for them to flourish and grow but without a little bit of encouragement, they can, and often do, wither and die. Isn’t it much the same with our teams?

In business, much like life and farming, we lay seeds of motivation, and encouragement for our teams, hoping they will become the water and nurturing agent to make our ideas perpetuate and grow into fruitful opportunities. In the multifamily industry, we have so many opportunities to motivate, and understanding the value that it offers is vital to success.

     Have you made a mistake lately?  What did you do with that?  Did you hide it, or were you forthcoming and go to your boss and say, hey, I made a mistake, and it cost us X amount of dollars.  If you hide it, how much do you think that cost is?  The cost is horrendous, not only in time, but possibly in your integrity. How about your personal character?  Lots of cost there.  Last I checked we are all human, with the propensity to make mistakes and fall very short of doing everything right. But, I haven’t met a mistake yet, that I haven’t learned a great deal from.

     Mistakes are learning opportunities for all of us.  Yes, we make mistakes, and yes, we correct mistakes all the time.  When you make a mistake, as a leader it is important to own up to it and learn from it. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring the possibility of creating an even larger error. 

     Who has needed a property manager and there wasn’t anyone really qualified to hire? Or their personality wasn’t quite right for the existing team onsite. If you hire someone that doesn’t fit or isn’t qualified, you run the risk of setting them up for failure and worse, having to let them go and find another to take their place.  Again, it’s the cost of making the mistake of hiring the wrong person.

It’s Valentine’s Day, the day of love and courtship with the bonding of relationships through the gifts of flowers and candy. Husbands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, sons and daughters, neighbors and property management are celebrating this Hallmark holiday all across our great land. Did I just say neighbors and property management?  Yes, I did, is there a more important relationship with those of us in multifamily communities? Not if we want to keep working there isn’t. Below are 10 of my thoughts on how to love your residents in your community and maintain the relationships because without those wonderful relationships, well, who knows where we would all be.

1. Giving treats, coffee and donuts, at least a couple times a year, stand outside where they are leaving for the day, usually at the entrance and provide a donut and a cup of coffee as they are leaving for work. Chocolate in any size shape or form given at the mail kiosk declaring your love and gratitude that they call your property home.
2. Excellent communication, question, your staff, the residents, everyone, find out what is going on in the community, stay current, talk with your residents, walk the property and make yourself available. You will hear all the gossip and probably more than you want to know, but at least you will be current and know who loves who.
3. Keeping the pool clean and the property litter free is a no brainer. Nothing says I love you more than a properly maintained community.
4. Doggie Park, yes, including pets is a wonderful addition to all communities. I don’t think there is another animal out there that loves us unconditionally. Dogs are men’s and women’s best friends. Don’t forget the doggie bags.
5. Crime watch on the premises. Keeping crime low and inviting patrolman to live onsite gives residents a feeling of security. Everyone loves the idea of being safe.
6. Recognize birthdays for each of the residents, create a Microsoft Outlook birthday card reminder, it works, everyone loves their birthday and if they tell you they don’t, don’t believe them. 
7. Understand the courtship never ends.  Just because your resident now resides with you, that can change.  It’s important to be nice, always be polite and professional, and always be friendly. Like dating, relationships need to be maintained, everyone wants to feel loved.
8. Planned community events all year long.  Make a plan, stick to it, and like I said before, question your residents, what would they love to do throughout the year. If you engage them, you will find lots of volunteers to help implement your plan. Make sure the events are relevant to the month and the season.
9. When their lease is coming up, they know it and they want you to keep them here at home, sending a notice is one thing, and following up with a phone call is one more connection. FOLLOW UP, again, the love/courtship never ends.
10. Be you, be authentic, more productive relationships grow and prosper when they are naturally occurring. Property Managers, Leasing Specialists, Maintenance Technicians and Supervisors are people oriented. If they struggle with this, they are in the wrong industry.  Bring a fresh perspective, a new idea, but be yourself always and your residents are sure to love you.

In the end, it really is about creating community, showing your love-ness. Don’t forget, the more you give, the more you will receive.  So, love your resident today and every day, and if you don’t have chocolate in the office, then shame on you, it’s Valentine’s Day for heaven’s sake, go to Wal-Mart at get some love in a box to share,  your residents will love you for it...

 Alison Voyvodich

The influence of you is astounding.  Ever think of it? The ever evolving power of your suggestions is amazing and diverse in the course of a whole day.  You get out of bed, turn on the lights and make coffee, and fry bacon, you are influencing anyone in your home to get up drink coffee and eat. 

Okay, hear me out, you get in your car and cut someone off in traffic and he gestures rather rudely to you, some kind of hand gesture we have either used many times, or seen, whatever, you know what I mean, but you influenced the creation of that by cutting him/her off.

You are at your office now, looking over your daily schedule, planning your day, answering the phone “Good morning, this is …… and we are here to welcome you home.” Now, you have influenced the caller, you have let them know they matter to you, you feel they are important to your day, especially if they schedule an appointment with you to view an apartment that is available.

It’s a New Year, saying goodbye to 2010 was easy; say hello to 2011.  Gone are the doldrums about the economy, good riddance to low occupancy, and never want to see you again lackluster marketing events. We have a clean slate, a new beginning and a positive outlook for the New Year. It is time to refresh, and take a ride with new motivation, new ideas, and a new purpose. 

Wall Street crushed us in 2008 and the banks just about depleted all our futures in 2009. 2010 was the year of transition, of taking stock of what was left and by the holidays; I think we all about had enough of the dismal days of “woe is me”.  People were out shopping, and doing things with their lives, making plans and moving forward.  We got a dose of reality, spending too much and saving too little, now with a couple of years under our belt, we are ready to shine.

Keeping our current residents is the name of the game plan, focus on our “bird in the hand”.  Keeping our residents happy and engaged is a full time job but one that can be easily planned.

We all love to have fun for New Years Eve, and why not create a fun event for your community? Nothing says I want you to be here throughout the year than throwing a party. What does it take? Not much other than some creativity, a little time, and the initiative to organize it. Invite the family and have something for everyone, policy states no alcohol, that’s okay too, again, just be creative, here are my suggestions for an easy peezy New Year’s event that will have the whole community wishing everyone “Happy New Years”.

1. Got to have some bubbly, purchase some of the non-alcoholic stuff, or mix apple juice and ginger ale in a punch bowl, very sweet but gives the illusion of champagne.
2. Send out some fun flyers to every door, ask the neighborhood kids to do the deed, they love helping.
3. Make it pot luck, who doesn’t like to cook and eat and share their favorite appetizer recipe.
4. Napkins, plates, cups, and a few festive streamers for the fun of it all.
5. Play music for the kids and set up the TV with “Rock’in New Years Eve” to watch the ball drop in New York City.
6. Games, Trivia, Uno, Rummy, Charades, Poker, just play them, they all work.
7. Dress up, wear your glitter, your sequins, this is the time to put on the Ritz!
8. Fireworks always work if an adult is present and a bucket of water is in view.
9. Keep clean up easy; always designate who will do it before the party, again, kids usually don’t mind too much, especially if they are getting a special goody bag or other kind of simple gift.
10. Remember to say “Thanks” for coming, and helping to make the beginning of the New Year a wonderful memory for all of us.

Holding community parties and events is a way to say “Thank you” to residents, it is also a way to enjoy some face time with those you serve. Will you get some complaints, maybe, but what better way to hear about a maintenance request that got missed than over a plate of cookies or chocolate? Perhaps this is just the time to send a gentle reminder the way of the Maintenance Supervisor, that so and so needs some attention on that leaky faucet. Midnight never needs to be the reason for not having a party, use whatever time works best for you and your property, two hours during 6-11 in the evening usually works well for most people, and most people are usually in bed before the stroke of midnight. Don’t let any small detail deter you from enjoying your property, your residents and giving you an opportunity to meet and mingle with those folks that call your place home, it creates community. And after all, that is what we are all about, creating community.

Communication is key for any business to be successful, but never more so than in multifamily. There are so many variables within daily communications.  Property Managers must be in contact with residents daily, keeping face to face communications with our customers creates that bond with people that say “You Matter”. Properties must communicate with vendors and owners and regional management all during the day and this can become a real “tax” or burden just with phone calling and email, not to mention texting and IM’ing. “Many businesses spend money on promotional items and activities, but fail to get customer service right”, says The Franchise Development Team in a blog posting recently. They also mention that it takes between 3 and 10 times the money to replace the customer or in our case, resident. Here are some of my favorite ways to communicate effectively every day.

1. Reach out to your regional managers every morning, just check in, say hello and find out if there are any issues to go over before you get into the meat of your day.

Contacting your direct report at the onset of the day puts real clarity into what the priorities are. What your priorities and the priorities of your boss are, can be two different things and you don’t want to work all day on something when your boss was expecting you to be doing something else. When you are focused on your boss’s priorities, you are communicating to them what is important in your day, that working as a team player and accomplishing tasks are valuable to both of you.

Building community is always high on my list and one of the ways to do that is to  reach out into the community that you live and support, donate, volunteer, or create an event where your residents are giving of their time, talents and gifts to those less fortunate.  There are numerous organizations out there, Habitat for Humanity, area Food Banks, local Salvation Army or Goodwill,  just to name a few. There are no shortage of worthy and important not-for-profit organizations that will be grateful for your presence in reaching their goals. 

 We have all heard it said that these organizations do quite well during the holiday season but could use more help with contributions during the entire year. Many communities have been hit hard by the economy, and your efforts could have a huge impact.  If contributing dollars or food items is a problem, these same organizations could use your physical help.  Many hands make light work. In economic down times, people come together and share, sharing relieves stress levels by creating feelings that you are not alone.

 Showing up and contributing time has many benefits.  United Health Group reported that volunteers are shown to improve their physical and emotional health just by helping out. Here are some of my ideas.

There is a commercial right now that I really like, Charlie Ergen, co-founder of Dish Network comes out and says, “Customer service is one of those things you notice when you are not getting it.” I agree.  We should consistently recognize great customer service and yet, most of the time, we don’t. Multifamily is similar in that normally residents don’t let us know how we are doing unless something is wrong. We can be the best at fulfilling maintenance requests, and creating community events, with solid communications and never hear a thing until the resident’s toilet gets stopped up during a weekend with skeleton crew at best onsite. Their day is ruined because a maintenance person showed up late or not at all. Then, you never hear the end of it and everything the resident never complained about in the entire time they have lived there comes spewing out all at once. It happens, try as you might, it just happens.

Residents are people just like you and me and they like things to go smoothly. Residents like to feel appreciated and important and like most, residents really respond well to kindness, professionalism, and feeling like they matter.  You’ve got to lov’em or lose‘em. Like bees drawn to honey, people are drawn to all things positive. Excellent customer service is a commodity that can be learned but the intent comes from the heart. If you are intending to make your resident feel at home and feel important, they will because you make them feel important. If your intentions are to create community for your residents, they will feel like they are home and will never consider moving, but just the opposite is true. For multifamily staff to not care or not perform will also send a clear message to residents. In a recent article in Bayline, Andrew writes that according to Satisfacts.net 48% of residents leave an apartment community because of what the resident terms “controllable property issues.” That is a lot of move outs that have to be recovered and for a little effort could be averted altogether with some excellent customer service.

We are in a service industry. Smiles go a long way and a simple “Hello” does too. Make it your goal to speak to residents every day. Make sure you know their names if at all possible. Ask about their family, show concern for them and their lives. Walk your property several times a week, pick up litter as you go, you would be surprised at how many residents will follow your actions and help. Make every interaction with your resident a positive one, listen to them when they are telling you their concerns. Follow up on every maintenance call, every problem, showing concern, and create a culture at your property that every team member shows concern. Loving them is a lot easier than losing them. Make this a day that you will create a culture of caring and concern at your property and watch your occupancy grow and your current residents decide to stay at “home” and remember, they really do matter.