Communication is a key building block of any relationship.
It’s no secret that communication is the key to any successful relationship, whether it’s with family members, coworkers, or in tenant management. Tenants and property managers should engage in open and direct communication to foster strong relationships and ensure a positive rental experience.
Establishing a strong communication grounding is important from the beginning, even when someone is still a prospective Tenant because it helps rental issues be resolved quickly and reduces future issues.
How do Tenants' Wellbeing Expectations Impact Property Management?
When you’re a Property Manager or landlord, your Tenants’ needs, wants, and expectations matter the most. You must understand what Tenants require from your property, what they want from their experience with you, and whether they have any other expectations that may adversely impact their well-being.
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Catering to these three aspects of Tenant Experience will have an impact on your overall property management. Let’s take a look at four key Tenant wellbeing expectations and factors to consider when considering strategic property management.
#1: Clear & Constant Communication
The Tenant-Property Manager relationship is built on communication. You must establish clear, easily accessible communication channels and provide relevant information on time.
These channels should also serve as a place for Tenants to communicate with you about any issues or concerns they may have.
Communication about critical safety measures and changes is also critical. For example, as a landlord, it is your responsibility to inform Tenants about COVID-19 safety measures in your building. They expect you to keep them up to date on anything that may affect them or their well-being.
With all of this in mind, a mobile-friendly Tenant communication platform is an excellent choice.
#2: Regular Maintenance
Tenant happiness is strongly connected to the state of their building and the functionality of its systems. Tenants become frustrated, anxious, and even panicked when things break down in the building
#3: Modern and Tech Savvy Experience
Tenants today expect modern, tech-savvy management to look after their interests
Cloud computing, when combined with PropTech Advancements such as IoT, will make your management and Tenant Connectivity even more efficient
#4: Sustainable and Green Facilities
Many Tenants associate environmental awareness with Tenant Well-being. Creating green features in facilities and having a sustainable and clean property policy meet Tenant Wellbeing’s expectations around the sustainable business.
These expectations have a direct impact on the image and reputation of your company. As a result, this can have an impact on Tenant Attraction and Retention.
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Ways to Build Strong Tenant Relationships through Communication
Use Technology to Improve Communication
Mobile usage has become a part of our daily lives that have altered Tenant expectations, including how they expect their Property Managers to contact them
Text messaging is widely used and allows Property Managers to send important, personalized updates to Tenants, such as package delivery notifications, late rent reminders, or community announcements, on time.
Property Managers are also using software portals to set up and send emails and text messages, which helps to streamline the maintenance process and fosters more proactive communication with Tenants.
People nowadays screen or ignore phone calls, but a text from their Property Manager requesting more information on a maintenance request will likely get their attention and prompt response.
Furthermore, many Property Managers use social media to communicate with residents. Creating custom Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and websites have supplemented, and in some cases replaced, the mailroom bulletin board to share resident-related information. With the click of a button, Property Managers can eventually communicate with a larger number of their residents.
Quick Follow-Up
Some maintenance issues can be time-consuming to resolve. As a Property Manager, you must clarify details and gather data, which may require multiple phone calls, emails, and follow-up messages, especially if you are working with an outside vendor to resolve the issue. And, any missed calls or unanswered emails during this time will only lengthen the Tenant’s wait for the problem to be resolved.
Although a maintenance issue may take some time to resolve, Tenants will become even more frustrated if they believe they are not being kept up to date. It is the Property Manager’s responsibility to keep the Tenant consistently updated on all efforts to resolve the issue.
A Property Manager, for example, can reduce the need for Tenant follow-up by using text messaging because they can receive consistent maintenance updates.
Personalise Your Message
Property Managers can now use technology to automate many of the messages they send to Tenants, but they must be wary of form notes appearing generic or inauthentic. A little bit of personalisation goes a long way.
For example, instead of just “Hello,” it’s important to include Tenants’ first names in email blasts. Take note of how your Tenants prefer to be contacted, whether by phone, text, or email, and adhere to these preferences whenever possible.
Strengthen Your Listening Skills
When we are children, we learn one of the first (and most important!) rules of communication: To be an effective communicator, you must first be an effective listener.
For example, listening to Tenants can also save Property Managers time if a Tenant calls with a maintenance request or lease update.
Listening saves Property Managers from having to contact Tenants again and, in some cases, can prevent costly legal action if details were discussed but not followed through on.
Open Lines Of Communication = Tenant Retention
In a Competitive Market, Positive Word of Mouth can be the Most Effective Marketing Tool for a Property Manager.
How to Enhance Communication with Tenants using Software
As we mentioned above, one of the keys to a well-managed property is effective Tenant communication. Even though good communication is critical to Tenant satisfaction, many property teams are slow to respond to Tenants. They also frequently fail to convey critical information to building occupants.
Great communication takes time to develop. However, if you are constantly unresponsive and communicate poorly, you will increase Tenant turnover. So, how do you balance good communication with everything else you have to do each day?
Enhance the effectiveness of your Tenant’s communication. You can save time while still providing excellent Tenant management if you communicate effectively.
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Here are some ways you can spend less time communicating with Tenants and more time making them happy.
1. Make your Tenant Communication Multichannel
The first step toward more efficient communication is to speak with Tenants on their terms. While you may prefer email or phone calls, many Tenants do not.
According to market research by the National Association of Realtors (NAAR), nearly 80% of Tenants prefer texting over emailing. If email is your primary or sole mode of communication, a large portion of your Tenants may be missing your messages. Other options, such as Slack or other instant messaging services, are also preferred by some Tenants.
Keeping track of everyone’s preferences and communicating accordingly, on the other hand, takes time if your communications process isn’t automated. Building communication software makes it simple to communicate across multiple channels.
To start, AI Chatbots can communicate with Tenants to log issues and distribute important information. As a result, you won’t have to spend time manually texting each Tenant. Your Tenants can also update their contact information and communication preferences using building communication software.
So, whether you send your message via text, email, chat, or a combination of channels, your Tenants will receive it. Instead of having to track down Tenants every time their information changes, your software automatically updates your contact list.
2. Create Custom Contact Groups
Increase communication efficiency by creating contact groups and ensuring that the right people receive the right information. You may need to send different information to different Tenants at times. There could be maintenance that only affects one floor. You may also need to contact difficult Tenants. Regardless, you must be able to easily distinguish who you communicate with.
It is inefficient to manually add Tenants every time you need to communicate with a group. Building communication software, on the other hand, makes it simple to create groups for managing Tenants.
You can organize Tenants by floor, occupation, or any other factor. It’s simple to contact those Tenants once you’ve formed a group. You are not required to add everyone every time you send out important updates. Instead, write your message and send it to your pre-dined group.
3. Manage your communication from one place
It’s easy to miss messages when communicating with Tenants via email, text, and other channels. Or to fail to send critical updates to all channels.
Worse, it becomes even more chaotic if you have to sort through multiple channels in multiple locations. The use of a single platform greatly simplifies Tenant management.
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All communications are sent and received from the same platform when using Property Maintenance Software. You can view and send all messages on all channels from one location, whether they are normal maintenance reminders or urgent information such as COVID-19 updates.
You won’t have to look for messages in multiple places this way. Instead, simply search your communication history for what you require.
You can use your communication overview to ensure that important updates are distributed to everyone. Quickly determine whether you sent a message to everyone or only specific groups. If you missed anyone, you can easily copy and send a message from your dashboard.
Some Property Maintenance software includes AI Chatbots that can be managed from the same platform. Many routine Tenant communications can be automated using AI chatbots.
A single platform for your messages is critical for an effective building communication strategy.
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Good Tenant Communication = More Satisfied Tenants
It is critical to communicate effectively with Tenants if you want them to stay on your property. However, manually sending each message or update can consume a significant amount of time.
i4T Maintenance Software allows you to communicate with Tenants quickly and efficiently. It allows you to reach Tenants through their preferred channel, creates frequently used contact groups, and tracks your messages. As a result, you spend less time communicating with Tenants and communicating with them more effectively.
The Cost of Poor Internal Communication Tools
Let’s get down to business. A slow communication system requires more administrative time to create and send messages, increasing operating costs. It can also have a negative impact on revenue. Tenants who do not believe your property management team is listening to them are less likely to renew their lease.
A platform, like i4T Maintenance, makes Tenant communications more efficient. It will also help your team gather Tenant feedback and communicate with Tenants on their terms, which will improve the Tenant Experience.
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With our cutting-edge technology and in-depth knowledge of how the Field Service Management sector operates, the i4TGlobal Team loves to share industry insights to help streamline your business processes and generate new leads. We are driven by innovation and are passionate about delivering solutions that are transparent, compliant, efficient and safe for all stakeholders and across all touch points.
