Customer Service:
Streamlining the Service Request Process
By Mindy Williams
Most apartment residents know exactly what to do when the fuse blows and
shuts down the laundry. Or the lawn grass starts to reach their knees. They
call the property owner or the rental management firm to take care of the
maintenance situation.
Maintenance service is a major reason residents choose to live in apartment
homes. And that's why rental housing managers need to stay on top of trends
that speed service requests. They also need to encourage residents to report
problems early -- before they turn into costly repairs.
There are a number of ways managers can provide better service, reduce the
time to complete repairs to the renter's satisfaction, and catch possibly
expensive situation in the early stages. These are actual cases used by
property managers from around the country.
Twenty-four hour service requests
Many management companies are installing systems that enable residents to
report problems and make service requests by phone or via the Web around the
clock.
The main reason to do this? Because property owners and managers usually can
reduce the number of renters who move out if they can increase customer
satisfaction by delivering better service. Make sure your residents have a
variety of ways to report their service requests. These include phone, fax,
mail, in person and the Internet.
One property manager in Salt Lake City has instigated a "Service Six Days A
Week" program. On a rotating schedule, service techs are on call six days a
week, Monday through Saturday. The technicians work six days in a row and then
have a four-day weekend.
There are a couple of things the service techs like about the arrangement.
One, they get a four-day weekend. And Mondays are no longer crazy with piled
up work since they have an extra day -- Saturdays -- to handle requests.
This manager uses part-time service techs to help fill any holes in the
schedule. Using part-timers, instead of hiring a new full-time employee,
saves the company money.
Free rent motivation
A manager in Chicago offers residents a day of free rent if their service
requests have not been completed within 48 hours. She says this guarantee
encourages residents to report problems early, and it motivates service techs
to fill requests promptly. Service techs know the company will lose money if
they don't get their jobs done, so free rent is rarely given to residents.
Most problems now are caught in the early stages before major damage is done
- and that offsets the cost of the infrequent free rent given to residents.
Prompt attention to service requests also:
- Means less work when apartments become available
- Helps with preventive maintenance as other problems are caught earlier
- Reduces overtime for techs as their workloads are steadier -- not crammed
into the first and last weeks of the month.
Weekly door hangers
How about this idea from another manager in Chicago? She hangs service
request forms on residents' doors each week. Every member of her rental
office is assigned an area to distribute the door hangers. This gives staff
members a good chance to walk the property and report burned out light bulbs,
etc. as well as be visible to residents.
When asked if the weekly door hangers bother residents, the manager replied
with an emphatic, "No." She added, "We tell residents we do it to take care
of them. This shows, on a weekly basis, that we want their homes to be
perfect."
In Dallas, a property manager has her employees phone residents monthly to
make sure everything is okay. They also solicit for service requests.
Reevaluate your service system before spring
"It can be a pain," she said, "But our turnover has decreased since we are
talking to every resident each month. We also have saved money as we catch
service problems early. It has definitely been worth it."
Since most residents move between Memorial Day and Labor Day, start now to
streamline the way you handle service requests. Any preventive steps you take
today will save you time getting your rental ready for a new resident. This
could mean the difference of a few days rent.
So if you prepare the apartment faster, you can move the new resident in
earlier - which means less rent lost and more money collected. It's worth
speedy service responses.
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