One of the things I learned early on is that, for most individuals/families, housing and housing related costs are the single biggest line item on their monthly budget. This is where the resident spends the greatest amount of time considering options. Once I realized that, everything else fell into place with regard to closing and retention rates.
That said, I looked further into the reasons a resident may need to move; and classified them into what the management team could control and what they couldn't.
Things that the management has the ability to control include:
-Timely response to concerns.
-Accuracy of that response (i.e. was the repair done right the first time?).
-relationships with staff and residents (even if you are a porter, you have a stake at resident retention).
-efforts made to keep common areas usable.
Things that are NOT within management's control include:
-Household composition (say they gain a family member and need a larger floorplan than you can support). In this case, I would look into sister properties and find out about reciprocating referrals. If no referrals within the company/area are available, look at your comps if they are willing to reciprocate.
-Income change (say a household member loses their income and they can no longer afford the rent).
- Employment change (say they have a change in employment location that makes relocation necessary). I would delve further into the situation and find out if I had another property where the resident needs to relocate to. If you have no properties in the area they need, I would look here (or other network groups you may be connected to) for referrals.
With regards to customer service, I am MUCH MORE critical of the service I give than what I receive. I know what it is like to receive poor service; and do not want to be accused of giving it. This has served me well, because; the decision to stay beyond the original commitment is often made early on; if the initial opinion is good, and you keep the standards of service levels high; the only reasons you will have for turnover are those you cannot control. When I was in retail, I was very successful (moreso than most of my peers) in generating brand loyalty. I have had customers follow me from location to location, even from company to company; many of these relationships were worth several thousands of dollars in weekly sales each. I even had a customer that would call the store first JUST to make sure I would be there when they were planning to come by, because they were not willing to talk with anyone else (even if they knew I trained or trusted them).