Let's Communicate

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.

  2. Stop emailing everything; pick up the phone and call. Emailing is best for documenting, but if you just need an answer, reach out and call.

Emailing is getting so labor intensive, some days I come into the office and there could be as many as 100 emails that were received from the end of the day when I leave until the next morning. Not all of them need to be answered, but they all have to be read and this takes time.  Picking up the phone gets an answer, provides a way to personally connect with someone and can be refreshing to just get away from the computer, Blackberry, or IPhone. Phone calling can rejuvenate in ways that emailing never will.  Calling is personal, reach out and touch someone whenever you can, leave the email for real documentation needs, sending announcements, and sending spreadsheets.

  3. Talk to your residents if you are passing them in the street, if you are collecting their rent, say “Hello”, say “Thank You”.

Have you ever passed someone you knew and they didn’t speak to you?  How did that make you feel?  It gets me concerned, thinking I have done something wrong, or offended that person. Instead it could be that person was thinking about a problem, or planning their day, or on a cell phone that was hidden in their ear. How about those people who walk around with their eyes glued to their phones, looking down not watching where they are going?  Okay, that is rude, let me just say that again. Yes, walking around looking into your phone catching email and text messages while you are walking is just plain rude, so stop it. Not to mention, it really looks funny. Most everyone has seen the Windows Phone 7 ‘Really’ ad which shows some phone-carrying people sitting on and bumping into each other, and others so distracted by their phones that they're missing either beautiful moments or potential danger, not to mention picking up a phone in a recently used urinal. Really?  Really.  It’s nice to say hello and greet those you are passing on the sidewalk and when someone gives you their rent, let’s be generous and thank them, they worked hard for that money, let them know that their efforts to pay ‘matter’.

4. Have team meetings with your staff daily, every morning; get everyone on the same page right from the start.

Let’s not miss the message. Make sure your team knows what is going on that day.  The owner’s are coming, the construction team is here, we are power washing the buildings today, we have a community event, and the list goes on and on.  Everyone is busy, everyone has responsibilities, but the most important events of the day can be discussed and arranged and prioritized every day, first thing in the morning, just so everyone is on the same page. Meeting with your staff also sends a message that what they do is important and it brings clarity to what the day will bring. If you don’t’ meet daily, at least meet weekly, recognize special days, birthdays, anniversaries, recent weddings and births, it puts a personal connection to your meetings and makes your staff feel important.

5. Video Conferencing is available and is very effective communication.

Have you used Skype? Video conferencing is fun and a great way to connect with your staff or owners and is free. No more conference calls in your bathrobe from home. With the new technology, we now have the opportunity to speak and listen while seeing the person we are talking to. If you are not Skyping now with your teams, try it, many laptops have webcams built right in, and webcams run from $19 to about $99. Try it and see if your communications improve with this new technology.

 Successful companies communicate effectively and get their message across to their customers. My boss once said to me that his job was about 85% communications and without effective communication, customer service breaks down, messages get skewed, information fails to get to the important parties involved, perceptions become reality and customers and residents can be lost. With a little effort to reach out and call, check in daily and often, building teams and connecting in a more personal way whether it be a phone call, a Skype video conference call or just saying hello in the parking lot, great communication exhibits exemplary customer service and that is always a winning combination to our customers and residents. How are you making sure you are reaching your residents and team?  I would love to hear from you about your tried and true practices for communicating with your teams.

 Alison Voyvodich

WRH Realty Services, Inc.