I recently heard a story from a friend who is also in the property management business about an apartment community that was promoting an early renewal contest. The community sent out flyers telling residents that if they signed renewal papers early, they would be entered into a raffle. So a resident excitedly entered the leasing office early with his paperwork and, as my friend stated, “that’s 12 more months of rent right there” and their office associate begrudgingly took the paperwork, almost as if not interested in dealing with this obviously-satisfied-enough-to-renew-for-another-12-months resident, that there was not even a smile on his face and didn’t even mention the contest until the resident asked about his raffle ticket.
I understand that sometimes we as property management communities forget that our every day job is the same place that our residents want to look forward to coming home to after a hard day of school or work. I can even think back to times when I was really tired and busy and would lose sight of the fact that where I work is where people live, their home, the place they chose to live (and renew) among the hundreds of others, but even then I can’t remember being annoyed and ungrateful when they brought their renewal paperwork back or got excited about a contest or event (especially because sometimes it took a lot of work on my part to get that renewal paperwork back!). The fact that they got excited about contests and events was often the motivation I would need to get back on the spirit train.
I visit on-site teams now to help them think of new ways to involve residents in the community, and more and more I hear them tell me that their residents don’t want to be involved or aren’t interested in the community experience. And I honestly started to believe it. Then I hear a story like this, and it makes me think: If when they are excited and motivated enough to participate, they are then let down by feeling like they are being bothersome, it’s no wonder they “don’t want to participate”. Just as we would not want to go home to someone who’s miserable to have us there, neither do our residents and it just might mean they go elsewhere where they are appreciated.
While I will not naively believe that every resident will get excited about or become involved in every community activity that is presented to them, that story helped me to regain that spirit and confidence in the importance of resident appreciation and community activities and I hope to motivate our teams to get back that spirit instead of giving up.
I would love some advice and even some great stories that I can share to help others regain their spirit and motivate them to continue to think outside the box and create a living experience that is truly memorable for their residents.
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Way back in 1996 I worked with a guy named Joe. He was Maintenance Supervisor on our property. He came to me one day – just burned out with his job. Same stuff every day and some of that stuff he hated more than other stuff.
I remember sitting down with him and suggesting a strategy to get him rolling again. I told him to focus on the things he hated most and to get absolutely convinced in making them works of art. Caulking was his thing. He hated it so we made it into a game for him. He made it into an artwork from striping it to re-applying it – it became an amazing piece of his turn process. And, I made it a point to inspect every single tub, commode and counter top caulk job that he completed. And, I cheered him. And, guess what – other pieces of his work started to roll.
The bigger point is that people give up – get burned out or become disinterested because they think others are disinterested. That is to include residents, company managers, leaders and support teams. They forget that happiness and interests are an inside job. For Joe – he hated caulking and he needed someone to remind him that he was in control of his art. My part – be the reminder and Care –
I experience this all the time! Our on-site team sees so many people on a daily basis and the majority of them have attitude. So when I walk in on a conversation between a team member and a very happy, satisfied resident, if my team member is not over the top enthused, I get frustrated. I then have to take a deep breath and remember that part of my job is to cheerlead and remind them that not everyone has “attitude”. I understand the burnout mode and you get tired of being yelled at by people with bad attitudes. I get that. But…it’s so important to keep reminding your team that they have to be enthusiastic and happy when the “good ones” stop by! Otherwise, you’ll eventually lose the good ones.
So…keep cheerleading, stay positive and the rest should fall in place. 🙂