How’s Your Property Manager’s Customer Service?






For those real estate investors who hire a professional property manager, do you know how well their customer service is? Just like any business, customer service is a critical component for a successful business. Even though you farm out the property management of your real estate investments, you are still the owner and the tenants are still your customer.

Customer Service Fundamentals

There are fundamentals about customer service for landlords, real estate owners and property management companies. First, remember words are very important when it comes to customer service. Many times, interactions with tenants are not done face to face rather it is done via email, chat or even text. So words are even more important through these means. A poor choice of words may be forgiven if spoken face to face because your expressions can correct any mis-understanding. But words are seldom forgiven or taken the way they were intended through a non face to face method.

So choosing the right words will set the tone for the remaining conversation and ultimately the customer service experience.

Listen to your Tenants

First, Listen! Listen! Listen! Not just with your ears, but with your mind. This will help you to actually understand where the tenant is coming from. With that complete understanding, you will be in a better position to resolve the problem to their satisfaction. Misunderstanding the true problem will only lead to frustration with the tenant because your solutions will not make their situation any better. Some solutions are not easy. So don’t come up with a ‘easy’ solution and try to make it fit their problem. By understanding their problem, you can find the solution the directly addresses their problem and lead to a satisfied tenant.

Communicating with your Tenants

Next, when communicating with a tenant, make sure you acknowledge the problem they are having. Empathize with them with sincerity. This will set the tone for the remaining conversation.
If your property management company made a mistake, Own it! Admit it! Take full responsibility! And offer a sincere apology. Then move to finding a solution.           

Now that you understand the tenants problem, be sure to use positive words while communicating. You don’t want to undo your efforts in listening and understanding their problem only to anger the tenant with poor choice of words. Samples of positive words would be:
1.       Awesome
2.       Fantastic
3.       Absolutely
4.       Great
5.       Gladly
6.       Terrific

Example phrases,
1.       I will gladly help you with that…..
2.       Absolutely I understand your point…..
3.       Fantastic, let see what we can do for you….

What you Do Not want to do…..
·         Don’t ignore their question
·         Don’t give a fake answer
·         Don’t make the situation about you by saying, “I’m new” or “I’ve not been asked that before”. That makes the tenant feel “strange” or “odd” because they are the only one with this problem.

Say No with firmness and politeness

Sometimes you can’t solve a tenant’s problem. Sometimes you have to be firm and just say No. In those situations, be polite but firm. Don’t just give a negative response and end the conversation. Always try to provide an alternative solution. When you do this, you are basically telling the tenant that even though you can’t directly help them they way they want, you care enough to offer alternatives. While they may feel some level of disappointment, they will also see that you care. That will speak volumes after this encounter.

It’s always good to keep the golden rule in mind and treat others the way you want to be treated.

If your property management company can master customer service, you will be well ahead of your competition.

About PropertyZar

PropertyZar is a real estate technology company specifically in the web-based property management software for owners and professional property managers. Learn more www.PropertyZar.com

Content is originally published at http://www.propertyzar.com/hows-your-property-managers-customer-service/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

These Advancements Are Bringing Real Estate Into The Modern Era

Image
  Many industries throughout the marketplace have changed their practices in response to developments in technology, but real estate, including property management is still largely stuck in the past. On-demand app development is making access to services easier than. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are connecting us in new ways every day. It’s clear that taking advantage of these developments is key to progressing. As an industry with roughly $280 trillion in value , taking advantage of these new opportunities could produce billions or trillions in profits. A number of large real estate companies are attempting to build their own in-house technology, but in many cases, it would be more efficient for them as well as and property management companies to use existing solutions. These are some of the most exciting possibilities that new developments in technology can offer the real estate industry. Outsourcing the Cloud Cloud services is a rapidl...
Read more

How Propertyzar Compares To Appfolio, Buildium And Others

Image
Evaluating the right property management software can sometimes seem overwhelming. With so many options, how do you decide? The BIG Picture – It is important that you consider your business strategy when searching for a property management software. Whether you inherited a few rental properties, a real estate investor with multiple properties or a professional property manager looking to increase your portfolio of rental property owners. When you choose a software solution, there is time and effort involved for you to get “up and running” . You don’t want to change products because your business has out grown your current software solution. PropertyZar is not a “lite” application but instead is a feature rich solution for property managers and landlords. We are compared to products such as Appfolio, Yardi and Buildium. We do not compare to the smaller or freemium products. What does that mean? A common example is Accounting. While some vendors say they have a...
Read more

Online Property Management Software by PropertyZar

Image
PropertyZar’s cloud-based property management software enables property managers and owners to scale their real estate business. With PropertyZar’s robust application, property managers can market vacancies, run background screening, accept online applications, and maintain all their accounting records by owner and/or property. PropertyZar’s web-based property management software also reduces the amount of work that is required of property managers. Managers or Owners can configure PropertyZar to: Automatically enter late fees Automatically send out owner statements Auto syndicate properties Automated recurring invoices Appointment reminders Automated asset reminders (change filters, maintenance etc.) Automated work order requests Automatically email management fee reports Rent reminders are automatically sent to tenants PropertyZar also comes with PZ Tenant , our mobile app for tenants. Using PZ Tenant, tenants can pay their invoices on...
Read more