Let’s be honest – Your service team routinely goes above and beyond their regular duties. They take care of anything and everything that is put in front of them. Grounds, service requests, make readies, resident relations and a number of other tasks. Even though you know how important they are, you may not always show it. The office is busy, maintenance is busy and there is just not enough time to show your appreciation. To truly appreciate your service team, just imagine where your property would be without them. I would like to share with you 5 ways that you can show maintenance some love!  Consider taking advantage of these ideas, or brainstorming some more of your own, to use during National Maintenance Appreciation Month in October.

1. SURPRISE FOOD AND TREATS
Maybe it is a random “just because” breakfast. It doesn’t need to be fancy; doughnuts or muffins are always appreciated. Maybe it is buying popsicles or ice cream treats on a really hot day. It could be crock pot chili or soup on a day when your team had to come in early for snow removal. One way to your service team’s heart is through their stomachs!

2. GROUNDS RUN BY THE OFFICE TEAM
Nothing says love quite like picking up trash early in the morning.  While it is not always the most enjoyable job, when the office staff coming in early and covers this minor ground keeping duty, it shows the service teams that the office appreciates what it takes to keep the property looking its best!  This action most impactful when your service teams have a heavy number of make readies to get turned.

3. NOTICES DELIVERED BY THE OFFICE TEAM GETS NOTICED
Something as simple as the office team delivering notices is awesome.  Especially when it comes to working with property wide notices.  In times that you know your service teams are really slammed with service requests and make readies, help getting notices delivered can turn an overwhelming day into a good work memory!  Splitting the notices between the office and maintenance will definitely get the attention of your service teams.

4. MAINTENANCE TEAM BUILDING TRIP
Setup some time for your service team to do an extracurricular event together. Think outside of the box. Consider activities like an escape room trip where they will work together to solve puzzles, a round of mini golf or a trip to a driving range, go carts are always fun, or a trip to an arcade to play some games.  This doesn’t have to be a whole day or half day event.  It could be a long lunch.  I bet that you can find a few supplier partners that would be more than happy to sponsor a service team building event!

5. DON’T JUST THINK IT – SAY IT
Sometimes the best way to show appreciation is to just simply say that you appreciate your service team out loud. Being sure to thank your team for the things that they do every day. It is usually the routine things that we take for granted. Appreciative words can be just the thing to help maintain and even elevate the level of customer service from your service teams.

So, there you have it – 5 ways to show your maintenance team some love. You should take these ideas and make them even more personal for your specific team. Remember, it doesn’t need to be a specific day or week or month of the year to show your service teams that you appreciate them, though October is a good time.  I’m willing to bet that your service team will appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to show them some love.