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Nov 04
2010
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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.
Alison Voyvodich
WRH Realty Services, Inc.
