By Operations Team
A recent survey revealed one of the top reasons tenant’s do not renew their lease is less than stellar communication from On-site Staff. Move outs are expensive when you consider vacancy loss, turnover costs, etc.
While outside circumstances can make it difficult to provide a solution for every problem immediately, Summerfield strives to provide the kind of service that shows tenants we care, in order to keep them satisfied, and reduce turnover.
In fact, we have found that most tenants are more than understanding of certain issues as long as on-site staff maintain good communication. Better communication starts with implementing the three C’s.
Courtesy. Competence. Compassion.
Here’s a example of how the 3 Cs recently played out.
A tenant had an appliance that stopped working. Due to supply chain issues, we discovered the part would be on backorder. How did On-site Staff manage the problem?
Courtesy. Timeliness is the key to courtesy. On-site staff contacted the resident by phone within 4-hours of the work request to let them know we were on it. Site staff emailed the tenant status updates and assured them they were researching options while discussing alternate solutions with their Regional Manager.
Competence. Identified alternate solutions. What were our loaner options? Could we source parts from a vacant unit? We determined the best decision and communicated the solution BEFORE the tenant felt the need to follow up. We provided daily text updates.
Compassion. We acknowledged their concern. The tenant had to put up with a delay, we gave them an inexpensive gift along with a written note from the office apologizing for the inconvenience. A $25 Starbucks gift card went a long way and reinforced that they are valued.
Ultimately we pulled a part from an appliance in a vacant unit and ended up replacing the part before that unit was rented. The good news is the Tenant renewed their lease and acknowledged, how this was handled was a deciding factor in their decision.
Better communication from on-site staff is one of the foundational elements of Summerfield’s strategy for tenant retention.
