Miller and Piccotti to present at 2010 NAA Education Conference

Doug Miller, founder and president of SatisFacts, and Jen Piccotti, Vice President of Consulting Services, were just selected to be presenters at the 2010 NAA Education Conference (New Orleans, June 24-26).  The session approved by NAA was “Increasing NOI and Asset Value – The Case for Attention to Retention.”  Doug will serve as moderator.  Besides Jen, the panel also will include: Mike Clow, Senior Managing Director – Real Estate, GREYSTAR Real Estate Partners; Gregory J. Lozinak, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Waterton Residential; Kevin Sheehan, President, Bainbridge Management Company.

The Right to Have it Right!

We love our maintenance teams! And why wouldn’t we? They are the ones who save the day on a daily basis, whether it’s changing a light bulb or repairing the oven before a family reunion! We hire our maintenance teams based on skill, experience, sometimes even certifications. They are jack-of-all-trades in most cases.

Then why, after SatisFacts has surveyed over a million apartment units, do 24% of all residents say their service request was not completed right the first time?

Shocking, isn’t it? Having to do re-work can more-than-double the original cost of the repair. And resident dissatisfaction can cost more than $4000 in turnover costs when they choose to move elsewhere! But before we start questioning our hiring practices or our maintenance team’s skills, we have to look at the bigger picture. And the entire team has to get involved.

1. When residents call in or drop off a service request, does the office team ask the right questions and gather the necessary information? If it’s a reported leak, do we note that it is a leak in the kitchen, the bathroom, the toilet? Under the sink, from the faucet, from the base of the bathtub?

2. Even if we are asking the right questions, does the property management system provide the ability to enter detailed notes? If not, can IT provide a solution, or is there a notes box in the system where some notes could be entered?

3. When the maintenance team gets the request, do they have the tools, training and materials to resolve the most common problems in that community? If there are an unusual number of HVAC repairs needed every year, and no one on the team is HVAC certified, this can create delays or incomplete solutions.

4. After the request is complete, is the area left as clean or cleaner than they found it? Or after a drywall repair, are there chunks of drywall and lots of dust left behind? Additional mess caused by the repair often prompts a resident to question the integrity of the repair itself.

5. Once the request is entered as complete in the PM system, does the office call or email the resident to ensure everything was completed? This is a critical step because it acts as a customer service safety net in case something did fall through the cracks or get miscommunicated – or if the repair actually failed. Better for the team to seek out potential issues rather than residents discovering problems and then getting worked up about how ‘careless’ they think the team is.

With all the team members working together, your residents will gain even more confidence in, not only the maintenance team, but the entire community team!

Doug Miller’s New Post on “Aptly Spoken”

Be sure to check out Doug Miller’s new post on NAA’s Aptly Spoken, “Hi. Good Morning.” It’s a great reminder of how sticking to the basics of customer service are the key drivers for customer loyalty!

Sneak peek: “If Lowes’ associates can give this much effort to customers who come in to buy a $10 pack of light bulbs, how should your associates treat residents who are paying $10,000 – $25,000 a year in rent?”

“Best Of” Resident Retention 2009

Yes – I’m jumping on that bandwagon! I want to thank all of you for hanging out with me here and providing great insights and ideas – and I want to highlight those posts that seemed to resonate the most with the multifamily industry this year.

5. Come On In! The Appliances Are (urm) Fine. An eye-opening truth about what residents are experiencing at move-in.

4. Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Heaven’s (???) Door. Rethinking some ‘awesomely bad’ customer service moves.

3. Why I DON’T Want to Follow My Apartment Community on Twitter. I think the title says it all.

2. The Most Interesting Man in the World. What is most interesting to you may not be what is most interesting to your prospect.

1. The Pen is Mightier Than the Price. The surprising reality that writing better work orders can reduce turnover.

Congratulations on surviving, and even thriving, in 2009. May 2010 be a year marked by health, happiness, and hope.  Happy New Year!

The Twelve Pains of Christmas

It’s a staple of my childhood. My former college roommate and I can still reduce each other to laughing, gasping tears by declaring, “She’s a witch, I hate ‘ah!” It’s “The Twelve Pains of Christmas,” for those of you who have never had the pleasure of listening. And thanks to YouTube, there are several visual versions to choose from.

The one I’m posting here brought smiles to my face, as I hope it will do for you. This can be a challenging time of year, on a personal level as well as a professional level when we may be dealing with residents who are stressed, upset, stretched to their emotional and financial limits, and who need a target at which to hurl all that “Stuff.”

Despite all the additional challenges, now is a time to shine with your good humor, professionalism and increased focus on service delivery. Return that call or email immediately. Ensure Mrs. Smith’s oven is indeed in working order before you leave for the evening. Give grumpy Mr. Evans a smile. It may be the only one he’s seen for too long.

And as the holidays hit us like a tidal wave that we may or may not be expecting, take a moment to recognize the ones in your life who make things a little nicer, a little brighter, a little easier. It could be your encouragement or “Thank You” that brings the holiday spirit to that person.

Happy Holidays and I’ll see you next year!

Find the “Yes” in a World of “No’s”

In my Insider Blog post on www.multifamilyinsiders.com I mention the concept of finding the “Yes” when dealing with a challenging resident – no matter how small that yes may be.  As customers, we hear an awful lot of “no’s” and they come in a variety of disguises.

“We don’t do that.”

“Sorry, it’s against our policy.”

“That’s not my job.”

Some of the “no’s” are legitimate. In the case of property management, it can be a matter of capital costs, staffing shortages, lack of corporate support, or the scariest monster of them all – Fair Housing.  These are things we can’t control, but we have to manage the best we can with the resources we have. Some “no’s,” however, are based on a many things we can and do control: a lack of motivation, not knowing how to find the answer, being tired of dealing with THAT resident AGAIN, pride, or the catch-all, “it’s a matter of principle.”  We can’t always say yes, but we don’t have to always say no. Most often there is a little “yes” to be found. “We can’t do this, but we can do that.” “That’s not a service we provide, but have you tried calling this vendor?” If nothing else, that yes can be, “Yes, I understand this is frustrating for you and that you are upset about it.” Yes has as many disguises as No.

Recently, on a drive home, I noticed water gushing from a manhole cover near the sidewalk of the local elementary school. The water was pouring into the street and no one was around. With an ongoing drought and mandatory water conservation, I figured I should let someone know. But who? Our town has a homeowners’ association that manages all of the city’s parks and neighborhoods, so I started with them. If they were not the right people to call, they would most likely know who to contact. It was a weekend, so I had to call the On-Call number (very similar to the after hours maintenance on-call program many of you have in place.) The woman who answered her phone had a lot of home background noise. It sounded like she was doing the dishes – no big deal. She’s on call, after all. I told her the situation and let her know I was starting with this phone number because I honestly didn’t know who to call.

“So why do you think the association would handle this?” she asked.

“I know you all manage the city common areas and parks and things, so I thought you would either want to be notified or would know who I should talk to.”

“But I thought you said it was a school.”

“Yes,” I said, “It’s in front of the elementary school, connected to the sidewalk.”

“We don’t manage the  schools. I don’t know why you are calling me.”

“As I explained, I thought someone should know about the gushing water, but I don’t know who to call so I called this number because I know you manage the city’s common areas and figured your crew would want to handle it or you might know who the right person to call would be.”

“But we don’t manage the schools.”

“I understand that, now, but I’m hoping you might have a suggestion on who to call.”

She was so intent on making me feel foolish for calling her after hours, that she couldn’t or wouldn’t find the small yes. In this case, the small yes would have been to suggest I call the Water District, recognizing the fact that I was at least attempting to be helpful and not purposely trying to bug her at home on her day off. In my opinion, she got caught up in a “matter of principle:” People should not bother people on evenings or weekends for stupid things that have nothing to do with their job.

When I finally did realize I should call the Water District, the woman who answered the phone there patiently thanked me for calling and assured me they were aware of the situation and that a truck was already on its way, if not already there.

Sometimes the people who come in with complaints honestly think they are providing important and useful information. Sometimes people with requests are just tired of having to deal with the same problem over and over again and just want it to be fixed or at least have it acknowledged that there’s a problem. Sometimes people have a bad day and they take it out on you, not realizing they have just now caused you to have a bad day, too. And sometimes, people are just plain crazy and there’s no rationalization for the things they say or ask or demand.

In any one of those cases, though, the golden rule still applies, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, if you were in their shoes, what response would you want?  I’m guessing you’d like a ‘yes’ in any format you could get.

Remember What Your Mother Taught You

I’m going to have to do it. The total cliche message for this time of year. But I can’t escape it! It’s still just as important as it ever was. What did your Mom always make you say when someone gave you something (whether you wanted it or not): a compliment, a gift, your misplaced homework, dinner, whatever.

“Thank you!”  It was either in verbal or written form, but it was one of those things mothers and grandmothers drill into their young. Or at least try to.

Resist though we may, as we grew older we began to realize the importance of this simple gesture. We noticed those who “forgot their manners,” which typically made a negative impression, and those who “remembered their manners” making positive impacts on us. I’m still delighted when I get a handwritten thank you from anyone – friend, relative, client, or vendor. Are our residents any different?

One of the most common complaints we hear is a resident feeling like the leasing and management team stops caring about them the moment the lease is signed. So, surprise your residents. Remember what your mother taught you, and tell them “Thank you” for choosing your community as your home.

Social Media Poll

social media This month’s SatisFactoid Quick Poll:  How many hours do you (if a leasing consultant) or your leasing team members individually spend per week at work communicating on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites?  Submit your response at: http://tinyurl.com/ykmkjzg

Why I DON’T Want to Follow My Apt Community on Twitter

sadJust got back from a lovely vacation with my husband, celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary, and I dove into the social media metropolis to see what I’d been missing while away. I follow numerous property management companies and apartment communities, and was utterly floored when I saw the following tweet:

AptCommunity Today is the 6th. If you haven’t paid rent yet, don’t forget to add in your late fees. :-(

Seriously?

As a resident, if I had finally given in and started following my apartment community to stay in the loop with what was happening, etc., and this was the type of info they wanted to give me, that would be the end of my follow. The sad face emoticon does nothing to sweeten the tweet, I’m sorry to say. And what about those prospects who you’re hoping to attract with your clever posts and updates on what a great place you are to live? Do you really think they will see that post and think, “How handy! They even remind me when my rent payment is due. AND the late fee. I want to live there.”

I’m no social media expert. Just a regular gal. But I see posts like that and am left just thinking, “Yikes.”

A Scary Halloween Retention Idea on Aptly Spoken

Check out Doug Miller’s “Scary Halloween Retention Idea” now posted on NAA’s Aptly Spoken blog:

http://tinyurl.com/yl64n8p