Apartment policies a barrier to alignment with service?

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]


0 Responses

  1. I love this topic.

    This kind of goes in line with the whole “give them the pickle” story.

    I don’t know that we have many policies that are blatantly a turn-off… but I have a few ideas from feedback I’ve received:

    1) Not allowing an external flash drive or CD with information to be plugged into an office computer for someone to print a document if the business center is not working.

    2) Requiring renter’s insurance

    3) Limiting the number of guests at the pool / the lease holder must accompany any guests or children for use of the amenities

    Alright, well that’s all I can think of off hand. And these things being listed… it’s not to say I disagree with the policies, but I have definitely had people very upset about them.

    The only other thing would be budget restrictions or lack of RM approval for things that would improve the flow/service on the property. ie: Recycling or more dumpsters, etc.

    It’s a delicate balance (for us) between what we’re “allowed” do to and what the customers really want.

    I feel that customer feedback is largely important. I also see that the customer feedback we receive is diffused rather than valued, even when we’re asking for it. I see that the larger picture of standardization has taken away the property manager’s ability to customize what’s best for the property and their clientelle. Until we put true empowerment back into place and allow the “little people” the ability to do the right thing, we’ll never truly be in the right place when it comes to customer service being true, honest and specific.

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