The Art Of Renewals

 

 

There are really only two things you need to know about renewals if you want to be successful in our business, and those are the two main reasons for people NOT renewing.

Reason #1 - Rude and Uncooperative Office Staff

Since the first day that I started training within our industry, I have taught the rule of "Jump, Shake and Percolate".  Every time a non-employee walks in the door, someone should; jump up, shake their hand and exude a perky personality.  This should happen with prospective residents, existing residents, vendors, city inspectors, postal workers, delivery people, etc.  This action sets the tone, a welcoming tone ... and creates a referral based atmosphere.  The rule can be modified to "Jump, Pick  Up and Percolate" when referring to phone calls.

So often I visit communities and observe exactly the opposite.  I hear the door open and not a single employee moves.  Finally the visitor finds their way to a manned desk, but the community employee remains seated (with their bottom growing wider in the chair) only to say, "May I help you", with the "Great Wall of Desk" coldly blocking them from delivering kind and cooperative customer service.  The opportunity to set the positive tone and impress the resident, prospect or potential referring vendor is lost.

One of the first things I was taught regarding customer service, was to remove the negatives from my vocabulary.  Do not use such words as; no, unfortunately, not, can't, etc.  For example, a resident comes in, says her dishwasher is broken and she needs the maintenance person to look at it immediately.  It would be natural to say, "I can't do that, service requests have to be completed in the order they were received unless they are a life/health/safety issue".  This response is cold, by the book, inflexible - therefore, causing you to be judged as rude and uncooperative.  A better answer would be; "I totally understand your challenge, what I can do is inform the maintenance tech of the urgency and I am sure he will make it a priority to complete your service request as soon as possible."  The beautiful trick is, prepare your team for these "In Front of Customer" radio requests, so they respond with a service minded answer.  If you are saying to yourself, my guys/gals could never do this, then you have the wrong people on your team.

As a corporate officer, I have personally handled hundreds of customer service complaint calls and I can honestly say that 90+% of them refer to a staff member as being rude, typically the Community Manager.  And, upon calling the community and speaking with the staff person or Community Manager, it becomes evident that emotion has gotten in the way and they personally dislike the resident ... their emotion just cost their community a $12,000 renewal, plus make-ready expenses.  YOU'RE FIRED!  This is business, there is no room for emotion, only black and white service - can you do it or can't you, are you wrong or aren't you, is the customer right or not?  Forget if they are yelling, calling you names, saying awful things ... they are not paid to be professional - YOU ARE!

Reason #2 - Slow or Poor Maintenance Service

One of the first things I noticed upon entering the industry regarding maintenance services, was how the community service reputation totally mirrored the professionalism, organization, work ethic and customer service focus of the Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager. If they were well groomed - the grounds were well groomed.  If they kept the shop clean - the make readies were clean.  If they were well organized - inventory was organized.  If they were smiling and greeting - their teams were smiling and greeting.

The position of Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager is absolutely PIVOTAL in the success of the community.  This person needs to be an active "Hands On Manager", walking the property, inspecting the completed work of their employees, calling residents who are dissatisfied with service request completions, closing out work orders to observe length of time for completion and inventory used, meeting weekly with the operations/leasing teams regarding make readies, move-outs, move-ins, etc.

More so than ever, the Maintenance Supervisor/Service Manager and his/her maintenance team members need to be hired for people skills; they need to be "People, People".  The consistent smile, the consistent wave, the consistent greeting; "How You Doing Today" is imperative for the renewal process.  The day of the "Shut Up and Let Me Do My Job" grumpy Maintenance Technician is gone, and so too should they be, if they are still a member of your staff.

Do not think, I am suggesting your maintenance team members need to be educated white collar employees, in fact, I am suggesting polar opposite ... I do not want a brain surgeon handling the Freon in my AC.  I want an experienced, blue collar dude/gal ... but one that is presentable, smiles and simply greets me with a positive attitude.

So, as a Community Manager and Maintenance Supervisor, ask yourself this question regarding each other's (not yours) employees;  "Would I want to be stuck in a car one on one for an eight hour drive with this individual?"  If the answer is "No", you now know why your residents are not renewing!

Renewals are quite simple, simply ask yourself, are you and each of your team members, "The Devil Who Wears Prada" (an emotional bitch) or "Larry the Cable Guy" (get-er-done)?