TENANT RETENTION AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Hello my name is Yolanda and I want to welcome you to the Time Waits For No One Tip of the week.
For those of you that don’t know me or this is the first time you have heard me speak or read my article. I have spent 15 years in the Property Management and Real Estate Industry. Most of which were spent performing operations and working on construction projects. My education from BOMI and IREM have given me valuable top rate education and experience. The acronyms stand for Building Owners and Managers Institute, and the Institute of Real Estate Management respectively. These two organizations are the tops in the industry for producing professionals in real estate management. Over the years I have spent many hours on tenant retention and customer relationship management initiatives to know how important they are. You see in any area or field it is the customers that keep the company moving forward and without them, there would be no company.
Which brings me to the TWFNO tip of the week, customer appreciation and retention programs. If you are a property owner or manager one of things you should be doing is letting your existing tenants know that they are appreciated. In a commercial property I used to manage we would have quarterly tenant appreciation parties. These would be anything from pizza parties, ice cream socials to after hours parties by the pool. The important thing to remember is once you start this program people will start to look forward to it, so it is important to be consistent.
Events should be coordinated at a time when you could ensure the highest attendance. Doing this lets your tenants, vendors, residents etc. know how much you appreciate them, which in turn keeps them happy. Happy people tell others and happy people continue to come back or in a property owner’s /managers case, keep paying rent. Resident and Customer retention is just as important as your new leasing efforts; perhaps a bit more because it is harder to change the opinion of someone than it is to make a good first impression.
Events should be coordinated at a time when you could ensure the highest attendance. Doing this lets your tenants, vendors, residents etc. know how much you appreciate them, which in turn keeps them happy. Happy people tell others and happy people continue to come back or in a property owner’s /managers case, keep paying rent. Resident and Customer retention is just as important as your new leasing efforts; perhaps a bit more because it is harder to change the opinion of someone than it is to make a good first impression.
Before your first event keep these things in mind.
- 1. What do I have budgeted for tenant retention? (This should be something that is looked at on a yearly basis to ensure a good event. The last thing you want your customers to feel is cheated or that you are being cheap. It will be difficult to retain them if they feel you don’t care enough to spend some real money.)
- 2. What would get the biggest attendance? (Don’t be afraid to get some feedback on this one from staff members, residents or those who have done this before. Remember, if no one shows ups to this event, that will defeat the purpose of having it. So be clear on the type of event to have.)
- 3. Where should the event be hosted? (Don’t make it hard or inaccessible for people to get there, depending on the property it is best to have it on site because everyone is already familiar with the location.
- 4. Invitations (Delivery of the invites are the first line of communication for your Tenant Retention Program, some thought and care should be given to the wording and its delivery.)
- 5. Managing expectations – This is important because just having one event may not retain your existing tenants but it will be the consistent effort over time that will make a huge difference.
For More information on this subject or any others you can email Realtor-Yolanda@comf5.com
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