Cut Through The Clutter
When handling resident issues, it is essential to change the narrative and turn a reactive situation into proactive communication.
Resident-reported problems don’t often have overnight solutions. They usually start as a maintenance request, billing question, or neighbor dispute. However, if you listen closely, after a few days you'll notice that most resident complaints end up being about communication:
“I called the office 10 times and never got an answer.”
“They said it would be fixed, but I haven’t heard anything for weeks.”
“I’ve been reporting this issue to the last manager for six months.”
Even if there is no progress to share, sending frequent updates can prevent renters from feeling like the ball has been dropped, ultimately increasing both resident satisfaction and retention. On the other hand, property management is hectic on a good day, so it can be especially difficult to follow up repeatedly on extended issues, such as when a part is on order or an account credit is pending approval.
So how do you close the gap?
I used to use sticky notes for this when I worked on-site. My manager hated it. Luckily, there are better options today to make ongoing communication easier to manage.
Both Yardi's CRM IQ suite and RentCafe CRM offer several layers you can build into standardize and automate follow-up procedures, such as:
Creating email and/or SMS templates to choose from or merge as needed
Automatically sending selected templates as time elapses
Scheduling and assigning calendar reminders to personally call the resident and provide a status update
Linked communications for a single-source record of all conversations with the resident, no matter who they spoke to or how much time has passed
Mobile-friendly features to call, email, or text when away from your computer
By optimizing features already included in your software license, you can Cut Through and become more consistent with resident follow-ups. This shift to proactive communications increases resident satisfaction and will certainly be remembered when it comes time for renewal.
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