One of the biggest keys to being successful in property management is tenant retention, and achieving that goal is dependent mainly on keeping those tenants happy. There are lots of ways you can improve the morale of your occupants, but today we’re going to focus on one: property maintenance. This one important duty, when done right, can vastly improve tenant retention rates by keeping residents safe, comfortable and satisfied. Here’s how.
Be proactive
What maintenance items do you and your team receive the most calls about? Is it outdoor lighting issues? Garbage disposal problems? Sit down together as a team and brainstorm to come up with at least 10 items and write them down. Then, develop a best practices plan for each of them. Whenever possible, include instructions on how tenants can rectify the problem themselves or at least get it under control until someone can come out and take care of it. Refer to this list whenever one of these common requests comes in.
Get your free copy of The Property Manager’s Guide to Proactive Management — And make the time necessary to plan for an extraordinary future.
Ask the necessary questions
There’s nothing more frustrating to a tenant than having to go back and forth with their landlord or property manager multiple times regarding a maintenance issue. The best way to make it a smooth and timely process is to ask all the pertinent questions on the very first call. This will ensure that maintenance workers understand the exact problem and can get it corrected faster.
Make an effort to make everyone comfortable
This is especially important if the work that needs to be done requires that the maintenance person enter the tenant’s premises. Sticking with the same workers and making sure to introduce those workers to your renters can go a long way. This will make maintenance calls more comfortable for everyone.
Encourage communication
To really run your maintenance request process like a well-oiled machine, you need clear, honest and regular communication among all parties involved. This means tenants should feel comfortable calling to make or follow up on a request, and maintenance personnel should remain in contact with you to provide status updates. This keeps everyone on the same page, which will help avoid delays and other problems.
Circle back for feedback
After all maintenance requests, someone from your office should always follow up with the tenant to make sure everything was completed as requested. Ask for feedback on everything from how the process worked to the quality of the work completed and the professionalism of the maintenance people. The more you know, the better you can hone the process for the future.
Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that using a quality property maintenance software product can help you pull everything together and optimize your efforts. This, combined with the tips above should help get you on the right path toward keeping your tenants happy and committed to your properties for the long haul.
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Get your free copy of The Property Manager’s Guide to Proactive Management — And make the time necessary to plan for an extraordinary future.
