Property Managers: Maximize Your Time to Provide a Greater Tenant Experience

Tenants desire to live in a building with a sense of community and a property management team that adds a personal touch. On the backend, management teams are trying to keep up with hundreds of tenants while juggling their leasing, maintenance, and front desk teams. With so much on the go, tasks of the day overwhelm and genuine tenant interactions can be lost.

My name is Larissa Laiti, and for seven years I was a Multi-Site Senior Property Manager in the Washington DC area. What was my secret to reaching my property management goals while fostering relationships with tenants? Maximizing my on-site team members’ time. When this became my area of focus, it opened space for my team to create a better community experience for tenants. Further, it made leasing season smoother – I had a better gauge of who was staying and leaving, and tenants felt comfortable coming to my team to discuss issues.

Below, I share my property management tips for maximizing your on-site team’s time and creating a better tenant experience.

1.  Make Lists

With frequent tenant queries and vendor interruptions, it can be easy to lose focus of what must be accomplished that day. Make lists. Identify the toughest and most time-sensitive tasks and knock them off the list first to ensure they don’t get pushed to the next day.

2.  Meet Each Morning

Each day meet with your team first thing, even if just for 5 minutes. All departments should be included: leasing, maintenance and the front desk team. Make sure to note which items need to be communicated to tenants, and discuss an effective communication strategy using methods like newsletters, social media, or digital display screens.

3.  Document

Keep detailed notes of all interactions to stay organized and to quickly refer back to prior conversations with tenants, vendors, etc. Utilize your CRM platform to effectively manage your building, and stay on top of updating notes in tenant files.

4.  Delegate

Play to your employees’ strengths: If someone on your team excels at tenant interactions, make sure they are attending every event rather than spending that same time doing administration.

If you can outsource, do so. During peak leasing season, for example, you may consider using a call center to book appointments. You can even set up a chatbot on your websites to answer the most frequently asked questions.

5.  Take Advantage of Tools That Help

Utilize property management software, such as online leasing and time management tools, for multifamily buildings. Take time to ask yourself, “Which administration processes are taking up my team member’s time?” There are likely digital tools that can provide invaluable assistance. These five tips can work wonders for property management teams but can take organizational effort to implement. No need to implement all at once, knock them off your list one by one!