Out to Put a Dent in the Multifamily Universe

Tomorrow is Monday….my favorite day of the week

January 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I say that with absolute seriousness. I love Monday, it is my absolute favorite day of the week. I am most alive on Monday! I strive for the most on Monday! I drink more coffee on Monday! My heart beats faster on Monday! I do all those things that I know I won’t do on Tue, Wed, Thur and surely not Friday on Monday!

Tomorrow? It is on my to-do-list to visit with one customer tomorrow. I am picking a new move in from over the weekend. What am I going to ask? The one and only question that matters in my book. "Would you refer us to your friends and family?"

The answer will reveal everything I want to know. If not, I am sure I will know why. If so, I am sure I will know why. And guess what, I won’t even have to ask the follow up questions as the answers will just fly…

Happy Monday!

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.


Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

Brilliant customer service

January 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Customer_service
Tonight I was thinking about customer service and wondered if anyone out there has a story to tell? I am looking for the knock your socks off lunatic fringe sort of story. The one you tell all your friends about (twice).

If you have a story like that please click here and tell us about it. If we get a story or two I want to feature them in a separate post and talk about how we might manufacture and authentic replica of such service in our business.

Again, have a great weekend.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

Multifamily customer service team answers the question(s)…

January 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Two ways to hear the customer/prospect;
A. You hear the customer/prospect as a troubled child who has nothing
better to do but complain or ask questions. B. You hear the customer/prospect as busy
but intelligent professions who have something valuable to say.

Many times you catch the next best idea by learning how to listen to the customer/prospect.

I have a friend, Jackie Weissmiller, who used to play a game with her
associates called “we can answer any question.” Okay, I made up the
name but it fits. What she did was challenge her leasing consultants, assistant managers, maintenance supervisors and technicians to make a list of every
question they could not or did not have an answer for. What she did from there was profound! She helped them find the answer and pretty soon there were very few questions they could not answer and along the way in
researching some of the answers to those questions they created
valuable services for their prospects and residents alike. Not only that, they grew very confident in their approach to property management.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

That’s just RUDE

January 11, 2008 By 1 Comment

The word itself just looks mean and ugly. Last week we experienced two episodes in our leasing office that resonated with me up until now. Two residents entered our leasing office and proceeded to give one of our consultants the "what for" over some very trivial items. Now I understand that resident concerns are important and personal and should not be judged on simple merit but I do think there is a line. Let me share the end result of one of the incidents.

One resident, after speaking in terse and a matter fact character bashing terms had his significant other come in to resolve the matter. Turns out the problem was that the resident mistook our resident referral flier for our resident renewal letter and thought we owed him some rent concessions. Cooler heads prevailed and we got the matter resolved but the actions of the first resident were so inappropriate that the consultant had to remove herself from the situation. An action I applauded at our weekly team meeting.

I applauded her for her wisdom and diplomacy as she never raised her voice or went on the defensive. She simply said sir I need to get another agent to assist you as it does not seem that we are getting anywhere.

Lesson: Remember that solutions are all that people are looking for and that the attacks are a displacement of anger or frustration. And, not all people handle themselves well when displacing. Don’t take it personal.

Here is a quote to remember (not to retort with) next time you are under attack.

"Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength" – Eric Hoffer

Have a famous weekend.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.


Filed Under: Cool Current Affairs, Cool Customer Service

Trust and Reputation in the property management business

January 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment

You can’t have one without the other just as we earn trust we must earn our reputation. We got a great testimonial from a current resident today which added value to our organization and we still have a long way to go.

Why?

Because the testimonial spoke to the location of the apartment community vs. the amazing customer service. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the good words and at the same time I want people to shout from the rooftops because we treated them with amazing service. In essence we handled their need whatever that need may have been.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

What should we do?

December 21, 2007 By Leave a Comment

In lieu of asking, “What can we do?,” the next time you drop the ball with a resident instead ask, “What should we do?”

Technorati Tags: , , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

Apartment Managers could save untold thousands every year going forward

December 21, 2007 By 1 Comment


I picked the following up from [Spine-Health]:

In March of 2006, Harvard’s 16 teaching hospitals unanimously agreed
to communicate with patients and their families about adverse events
using this format:

Immediately after the event:

  • Acknowledge the event
  • Express regret
  • Take steps to minimize further harm to the patient
  • Explain what happens next
  • Commit to investigate and find out why the adverse event occurred
  • Later follow-up
  • Disclose the results of the internal investigation
  • Apologize if there was an error or systems failure
  • Make changes to prevent the failure from recurring
  • Provide continuing emotional support to the patients and the health professionals involved


Though routinely disclosing and apologizing after adverse events is
still rare, Harvard’s initiative is not the first of its kind. The
Lexington Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center has had such a policy in
place since 1987. Denver-based physician-run medical liability insurer
COPIC Insurance Co. has a similar program, and the University of
Michigan Health System says it is saving $2 million a year in
litigation costs thanks to its initiative.

Now think, what if we had our own apartment industry standard. Maybe that is a little ambitious, what if we had a company standard created in a collaborative environment that followed the above framework. I wonder how it would effect both our leasing efforts and our ability to retain residents.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Powered by ScribeFire.

Filed Under: Cool Customer Service

Apartment policies a barrier to alignment with service?

December 8, 2007 By 1 Comment

Barrier
Every Tuesday night I eat at a popular St. Louis establishment. I eat there because they sell $1 burgers that you can customize to your own liking. They also sell a basket of fries or tater tots for $2.

Last Tuesday, I made my usual order and asked that they give me half the tots and I would still pay full price. I said "I never finish them all and I hate to waste." The response? "We don’t do half orders." I said, "not even for full price?" "No."

I went ahead with the order and sure enough only ate about one half of the tots. The whole experience put a wasteful taste in my mouth. So much so that this past Tuesday I only ordered the burger.

All this made me wonder if there are policies or rules that turn our apartment residents, prospects and vendors off.

[Click here and share your ideas]


Filed Under: Cool Customer Service Tagged With: , , ,

5 ways to improve customer engagement in the apartment business

October 20, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Customer_service_2
1. Smile at your prospects, current residents and vendors
2. Make Eye Contact with them
3. Share Your Name First and then ask for theirs.
4. Explain What you are Doing and Why
5. At the end of every interaction ask, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Want to rent more apartments, secure more renewals and or maintain the best relations with your vendors? Modify your behavior and the behavior of your team and WATCH out!!! The world will come alive for you and yours.


Filed Under: Cool Customer Service Tagged With: , ,