5 Tips to Improve a Property Manager’s Customer Service Skills

Although great customer service skills are essential to any successful business, it’s especially important for property manager’s to provide their tenants with a positive and communicative experience. As a property manager, you are truly providing the environment for people to live out their dreams; it’s a unique opportunity! Use these 5 tips to assure you are providing the happiest environment for your tenants.

Check the Online Reviews

Customers tend to be a little harsh on review websites; they may give your company or business a bad name even though you provided optimal service. Although it may be tough to read the negativity online – regardless of the truth – paying attention to what people are saying about your company online is a key way to improve customer experience. Use the reviews to address complaints, and prevent future protests with preemptive corrections.

Many review websites also provide the owner with an opportunity to address praises and complaints. For reasonable complaints, apologize for the inconvenience and thank the reviewer for both being your client, and communicating the complaint. If you encounter an irrational and unfair complaint, thank them for writing a review, and then, in a professional tone, explain your side of story. This is the best way to present a positive image for future tenants.

Communicate Consistently

When was the last time you communicated with your tenants? Establishing regular communication is a great way to provide a safe environment. Some property managers are creating a monthly newsletter just to let tenants know about any changes or repairs completed over the course of the month. Free automated services with easy to use templates are available if you want to consider this option.

Always be Available

Property managers usually tell tenants the same old mantra, “if you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.” A phone call is really a missed phone call, a couple messages, and then, eventually a note back. We know you’re busy and it takes time to field all the calls and requests that happen every day; that’s why we recommend a voice answering service. If you’re too busy to take the call or you’d like to have a real person answer the phone after hours and on weekends, a telephone answering service or virtual assistant will be there to take the tenant’s message. Then, even if it takes a day or two to respond, at least they heard more than an answering machine voice. It’s definitely a step up in customer service and will increase tenant satisfaction.

Respond Quickly to all Complaints & Concerns

The most satisfying part of managing a property is providing a safe place for people to call home. As a property manager, part of this involves is responding to complaints and concerns in a timely manner… regardless of whether or not it’s your responsibility. By failing to communicate with tenants, you may cause them unease, which can lead to more time-consuming problems in the future. It’s best to simply address the issue, explain your policy, and fix the issue if necessary.

Develop a Frequently Asked Question list (FAQ)

The easiest way to avoid the constant flow of questions and complaints is to preempt many of your clients’ most common questions. Write down a list of the questions every single client seems to ask. Take time to answer these questions in complete detail (be sure to share it with someone to verify your answers make sense). Provide each tenant with a printed copy or make it available on your website. We guarantee this will save you valuable time and avoid those annoying phone calls.

Great customer service is essential for property managers because you are not only taking care of the building, you are also providing a place for people to nurture their own happiness. If you follow these few tips, we can assure you will keep your tenants satisfied and renting for years to come.

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