Finding a long-term resident to stay in your rental property can be a perpetual task. Utilize effective Morrisville resident retention strategies to bring in sustainable residents that you can trust to remain for a longer time. Some residents stay for the sense of community, others might stay for lower rates come lease renewal time. Others might be enamored by the beautiful landscape or maintenance requests procedures being completed efficiently and timely by a property management company.
Despite the reasons residents might stay or go, landlords and property managers should include the move out costs that comes with permitting your property to become vacant. This cost can be hefty and cost you the income you would have earned if you had retained the resident or had a program in place to replace the resident quickly. Having firm Morrisville resident retention strategies can help you have a close relationship with your residents. For example, if one of your residents was considering a move, they would trust you and make you aware of their plans. Securing this information beforehand can give you so much more time to find a replacement.
Customer Service
Among the first Morrisville resident retention strategies to implement is to properly understand what your residents desire. Some property managers are surprised to find out that some residents have critical or opposing things to say about them. This can arise for a bunch of reasons. One of these reasons is your lack of communication with the resident. Residents need to be heard. While customer service is an essential component of meeting the resident’s needs, property managers tend to not focus on what really matters when speaking with the residents. Some property managers might have resentment towards such phone calls or interactions as it adds more work to an already full day. However, what property managers should comprehend is customer service is the most important part of the day.
Open Communication
Customer service can be a broad topic. Morrisville resident retention strategies include diving deep into what your customer service experience indicates for your residents. Generally, customer service shouldn’t be seen as a task. It is an interaction and relationship building step. An effective open communication relationship will not happen instantaneously. The instant your resident signs your rental property lease, you begin a constant testing phase with them. Residents will test you to see how quickly you respond to requests, what your communication style is, your updating process, and how available you are: where you can either be strict with your job procedures, or lenient and open to conversation. Many residents may be busy and unable to take phone calls. Consider sending texts or simple reminders about things as a substitute for accumulating everything into one random time-consuming phone call.
Listen and Take Action
Morrisville residents want to be heard. Whether their position is valid or not, there is a reason why they are trying to meet with you. Listen to everything they point out. A resident will feel validated when you give them time for their opinions to be heard. Listening, as in any relationship, shows that you care more about just checking off your to-do list. It shows them that you care about them as a person. Avoid saying, “no, we can’t do that” or opening your sentences or responses with “no”. Always provide a solution or alternative that supports their ideas even if your solution will cost the resident money or not be exactly what the resident considers as right or has in mind as the solution.
Complete in a Timely Fashion
Residents tend to have a greater appreciation when service requests are resolved effectively and without delay. You may have done the job properly and matched everything they asked for, but if it takes you many months before you finish it, they still won’t be happy about it. When you get the job done quickly and complete it early, your Morrisville residents will trust you more as a property manager. No matter how busy you are, take some time out of your schedule to focus on the task and do it. When you get a new service request, give it the proper attention it deserves. You will find that if you give even just ten minutes, it’s going to go a long way to keeping your residents around lease after lease.
An effective resident retention strategy really just boils down to listening carefully and performing the service requests promptly. Look at all the things you can do when your focus remains on the relationship element of your residents. Interested in learning more about Real Property Management Raleigh? Contact us online or call us at 919-481-0008 today and request a free assessment for your Morrisville property.
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