Care
We Don’t Care
The following is a list of things that scream – We Don’t Care – to our future or current residents and any other person we do business with:
Broken curbs
Peeling paint on curbs
Old asphalt
The parking lot that needs restriping
Uneven curb stops
Weeds in the cracks of the sidewalks
Dead or wilting flowers
Washed out bark mulch
Bushes that are not manicured
Trees with an inordinate number of suckers protruding from the trunk
Edging that’s done with the weed-eater instead of a steel blade
Signage that’s fading
Banners that are anchored on three corners while the fourth flaps in the wind
Scratched up paint on the front door
Door knob that is in need of a good polish
Fingerprints on the front door glass
Scotch tape remnants from prior weeks, months or even years of temporary signage
And that’s all before they make it inside.
Your little things matter in a big way Multifamily Maniac,
M
The Blasted Apartment Doormat
Our guest post today comes to us from Lisa Zagoren, property manager at Oak Park Apartments – managed by Mills Properties in St. Louis Missouri. Lisa also serves as a blogger at Real Life STL, a blog focused around über cool neighborhood-centric conversation.
In my travels as a property manager, I’ve come across some really crazy, bizarre, funny, sad (you get the picture) things. I read a blog post the other day that reminded me of how $5 could cost you a resident, which in turn costs you thousands in vacancy, make ready expense, advertising, etc., which brings me to this post….The Apartments Doormat.
I have a crazy, over-the-top, insane property consisting of 756 units. My resident services side team deals with a lot of negativity on a daily basis. As you can imagine, it’s hard to keep them positive at times, when everyone around them is so negative. They get called names (really bad names that I can’t put in this post). They get threatened. They get spat at.
Do You Care
I had a resident give the resident services team her notice to vacate last week. During the resident’s tenancy, her doormat was stolen not once, but three times. When she came to the office to inform us, we were apparently not that empathetic to her situation. We basically stated, sorry, there is nothing we can do.
According to my resident, there were things we could have done. We could have been empathetic; “I am so sorry that this happened to you Ms. Jones. Is there anything you can think of that we can do to try to prevent this from happening again”? My resident also stated in her letter, why did we not put a notice in the hallway stating someone is stealing doormats and to call management if they know who is doing this or just keep an eye out for each other in the building, because we put notices in the hallway for everything else. Everything that’s important to management, but not necessarily important to the residents.
Lesson learned. Had I known of my residents situation, I probably would have bought her a new door mat ($10), apologized empathetically, and would have saved a notice to vacate that I had no idea I would get over stolen doormats.
I know my resident services team deals with a lot of negativity and stress on a daily basis. I get that. I just need to constantly remind them of the “one” resident that is not like that and they need to be treated with respect and be empathetic when they have an issue that is serious to them.
We all need to be cognitive of how the day-to-day stressors can affect us. This one notice will cost me thousands in vacancy, turn over expense, advertising, etc.
Your property manager point of view for the day….
We Care
How can we show that – We Care:
1. Sweep your crib lines – every curb line
2. Paint your curbs – all cribs that have or need paint
3. Blow off your sidewalks and entry ways daily – all sidewalks
4. Power wash sidewalks and entry ways weekly – except in the winter months where there is a chance for freezing (don’t want to create a slip and fall situation)
5. Vacuum all common area carpets daily
6. Use smell good stuff in the common areas – daily
7. Conduct a ‘road map’ meeting every morning
8. Answer on the third ring – every time
9. Stand and greet everyone – vendors included
10. Smile
Your remembering that the smallest details have the biggest impacts multifamily maniac,
M
We Care
Have you checked your commode room (restroom) (bathroom) lately? I have this saying about the subject of curb appeal – curb appeal runs curb to commode. And, that commode includes the one in your apartment business office as well as the one in your display and or vacant ready to rent apartments.
The little things are the big things all the time.
Want to know how to bag more leases? Want to know how to renew more leases?
Send a
WE CARE
message.
How do I do that? What is a WE CARE message?
Simply put – pay attention to the details. Invest in the minors so that the majors take care of themselves. Get relentless about your curb lines, curb paint, grass, weeds, landscape, beds, mulch, tree suckers, faded paint, rusted BBQ grills, piled up rocks (no matter how small they are) in your parking lots, cig butts, trash (no matter the size or level of gross), door knobs, clean windows, crooked door numbers, broken door casings scratched up striker plates, marred tile floors, stair kickers, thresholds and so on and so forth…
Get the team around today and stress the details. And, don’t tell me it’s summer and there is/are to many other things to attend to. It’s precisely the right time to run a drill and stick a friendly reminder in the minds of those that serve the ones that pay for a tip-top experience.
Your trying to stay cool in #STL multifamily manic,
M
Multifamily Monday: Empathy – Care
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Origin not 100% known.
Empathy – Care
Empathy can be defined as having the ability to relate. For example, if you are speaking to someone who lives in your apartment community about their son’s soccer game over the weekend and you have a son that plays soccer – you can empathize. And, empathy is the perfect foundation for caring.
If you can empathize – you can care. And, when you care people will respond.
Take the time today to reach out and initiate some conversation. Be it with people you work with and for or with the people who you serve and that serve you in return.
Don’t accept the canned answers and don’t ask canned questions. Let the weather take care of itself. That is the easy stuff.
Ask deeper questions and if your weekend sucked – say so. Don’t be surprised if your audience can relate.
Your – caring to empathize – multifamily maniac,
M
