One of the most common and encumbering issues that property managers are facing is dealing with turnover, as it affects all aspects of the business and can end up generating an extensive array of additional costs. With more and more properties being available each day, keeping tenants happy is mandatory for the overall success of a property management business, but nowadays, that requires more than just having a good property to offer. An outlook at commercial real estate reveals how new business models, the extended use of new technology, and competition are influencing the dynamics of the industry—and also the importance of realigning your business with current trends.
In the United States, the value of commercial construction amounted to $8.12 billion in the first half of 2019, making it an important segment of the economy. This makes it mandatory for property managers to draft better, more inclusive strategies for tenant communications and tenant satisfaction. Increasing profit is an objective for all companies, yet when neglecting these aspects, the emphasis can rapidly fall from making profit on being able to avoid significant loss, thus having a comprehensive strategy—amended with regularity—is of the essence. Further, we are going to look into 6 tips to enhance tenant satisfaction, but first, let’s find out more about why this parameter plays such a crucial role in the industry.
The Importance of Tenant Satisfaction for Property Managers
The competitiveness encountered in the commercial real estate industry has always been a deciding factor when it came to drafting plans and strategies for the overall success of property management. And although tenant satisfaction is often regarded simply as a general appraisal parameter—under the assumption that there will always be businesses looking to rent—it is becoming more and more clear that this factors needs to be regarded with higher consideration. If you are a property manager, drafting and regularly updating tenant satisfaction reports will allow you to better implement further strategies, thus getting closer to your goals and objectives.
Understanding the importance of tenant satisfaction means understanding the needs of your tenant, and what you can do to keep them in the property on the long run, rather than having to find new tenants.
6 Tips to Enhance Tenant Satisfaction
As previously mentioned, it is not enough to have a property on the market—as the supply is not scare. For tenant replacement, you will need time to show the property, financial resources for marketing costs, brokerage commissions, and more. Implementing tenant satisfaction strategies that will keep your current tenants will help your business stay one step ahead of its competitors, save money, and approach its goals and objectives with swiftness.
1. Implement a Tenant Communications Solution
The main step towards tenant satisfaction is being aware of their needs, and to communicate at all times—whether in the event of an emergency or for the day-to-day issues. Thus, all good tenant satisfaction plans need to include tenant communications strategies based on modern solutions, such as a the Redflag mobile app. Make sure that you are using multi-channel solution, and that you are updating and monitoring regularly, especially through feedback from your tenants. Also, tenant communications should include both regular communications templates and crisis communication templates, thus helping you save time when you need it.
2. Offer 24/7 Tenant Service
Whether you like it or not, tenants might require your help regardless of the time of day. Even in the case of commercial real estate, where most tenants usually operate under fixed schedule, unpredicted situations can happen—situations that might require the support of the property manager. Therefore, making sure that your tenants can contact you, or other members of your property management team at all times is a great factor that contributes to tenant satisfaction. If you have a comprehensive communication system in place, this step will be easier to implement and manage.
3. Update Your Property with Modern-Day Technologies
Sometimes, in the case of long-term tenants, property managers neglect to update their properties with newer technologies that might benefit tenants, unless they make a specific requirement. Showing your tenants that you care about their business and the relationship they have with you is an excellent method to improve tenant satisfaction, thus, make sure that you check and update your properties with whatever is needed on a regular basis.
4. Conduct Regular Meetings with Your Tenants
Maintain a fruitful professional relationship with tenants relies a lot on good communication solutions and the ability to communicate at any time, and through any method, yet this does not mean you should neglect meeting with your tenants face-to-face. Conducting regular meetings with your current tenants will help you better understand their property needs, their plans for the future—and it will also send the message that you are interested in their business.
5. Partner with Local Businesses to Offer More than Just a Rental
Nowadays, people spend more time at the office then they do at home. One of the most forward-thinking ways of assuring tenant satisfaction is offering them something more than just a property. For this, you can draft partnerships with local businesses, such as a food delivery service, a local café, a nearby fitness center, or any other business that offers services your tenants might be interested in. Also, consider offering your tenants solutions for a better commute, as helping them improve the life-work balance will make them see you are interested in keeping them and offering them prosperous renting conditions.
6. Use Feedback to Keep Track of Unhappy Tenants
Enhancing tenant satisfaction is not only about finding out what makes your tenants happy and doing your best to offers those services, but also about keeping track of your unhappy tenants, and always being aware of any issues, regardless of their nature. The best way for doing so is to implement an exhaustive feedback system through which to gather and analyze the level of satisfaction of your clients, and be able to focus on what makes them unhappy.
Whether you are interested in offering more services or improving the ones you are already providing to your tenants, keeping an updated report on tenant satisfaction and implementing strategies for improving this measurement will help your business achieve financial stability, improve its profits, and avoid miscommunication in the event of a disastrous situation. Make sure that all your communication channels are opened at all times, and that you are conducting all your communication—day-to-day or crisis—through a good mass notification system that provides you with a wide array of features.
