In traveling the country these past few months during this challenging environment, I've seen quite a trend that is affecting every industry, not just ours. Consumers are showing an ever growing lack of patience with anything less than perfect product and service. Think about it for a moment: A year ago or more, you might have found average service and average product acceptable. I'll bet you don't anymore.

The example I consistently use is food and beverage at the drive thru. I ask my audiences of property management professionals (vendors included) if one year ago they would have accepted food and drink that was less than perfect. After all, to return to the restaurant would probably require that you park your car, enter the restaurant, wait in line, discuss the transaction with someone and hopefully either receive a refund or a replacement product. Wow, that's A LOT of work for what had been a convenience purchase to begin with, isn't it?

Regardless of the amount of work involved, everyone agrees. What was acceptable a year ago is no longer acceptable, regardless of the inconvenience to the purchaser. Translation: Perfect product, perfect customer service, and perfect presentation are more important than ever before.

This begs the question: Was less than perfect ever acceptable? Sadly, yes. In an industy where we have problems answering the phone (multifamily call center stats show that at least 37% of our calls are going unanswered); where we can't seem to follow up effectively (J Turner Research stats show that over 50% of properties don't bother to follow up with a rental prospect); and where we know that 72% of property managers are not using mobile marketing as part of their strategy (even though we know that 86% of the US population owns a mobile device), clearly we have issues. (And that's only three instances; obviously, we have others that need work).

The good news is obvious: improve on service quality and delivery. Examine every customer touchpoint and see how you and your company can make the delivery of the highest quality. I'm not expecting you to reinvent your service. I'm simply asking that you raise it to the highest level you can and maintain it.

As for product, there is no excuse for broken, dirty or unpainted. If you simply use this as your mantra, your product should always be in top condition. This doesn't mean you need black and stainless appliances, bamboo floors and plantation style window coverings. It means that you must provide a clean apartment where everything works and the walls (including the closets, please) are freshly painted. Every apartment that you show should be ready for an immediate move in. If not, take it off your availability list until it IS ready for move in.

We're not reinventing the wheel here, gang. We're making sure the wheel is clean, well maintained, freshly painted and that you show the highest level of service when touring your prospect through it.

You can do it. I know you can. And please share your thoughts here, so we can all benefit from the discussion.