Surveys continually show us that maintenance is one of the largest drivers of resident satisfaction or dissatisfaction in their experience. After all one of the benefits of renting an apartment is that “someone else” is responsible for fixing the things that go wrong. So residents have simply come to expect that things will typically get fixed on time, with minimal interruption or hassle.
When the reality doesn’t meet the residents’ expectations they get really upset because you’re SUPPOSED to take care of that stuff.
It reminds me of this meme…
You might be wondering, “I’m not in maintenance! I work in the office. What does have to do with me?”
While you may not be replacing the blinds, fixing the thermostat, or repairing the leaky faucet you are probably the one who is taking the phone call, reading the email and then entering the maintenance request-which means that the maintenance process often starts with YOU. When things go wrong you’re probably the person who has to deal with the complaining resident. Either way you’re involved.
So…what can you do?
One: Ask the Right Questions
Residents: When taking a maintenance request you want to ask good questions so that you can good information so that when your technician reads the request s/he will have a clear idea of what is really wrong. I remember a maintenance supervisor in one of my classes complaining because he received a work order that said simply, “Sink broke.” Obviously he didn’t know which sink was “broke” or what was “broke.” Was it the handle? Drain? Caulking? Leak?
- “Can you tell me which sink is broken?”
- “What exactly is wrong?”
- “Where is it leaking?”
- “How long has it been leaking?”
Maintenance: If you’re unsure of what questions to ask your residents ask your maintenance team what information they’d like for you to put on the work orders to help them do their jobs well.
Two: Offer Solutions on Basic Items
Repairs like a tripped GFI switch or a jammed garbage disposer are often easy fixes that you can walk a resident through right on the phone or through an email without your maintenance team having to respond. This frees them up to get your new move-in “make ready” or to tackle the really big issues at your community.
When a resident calls in with an outlet that stopped working, ask them if it has a GFI switch. (If they don’t know what it is describe what it looks like and where it’s located so they can find it!) Then ask them to press the “reset” button. If it works you’re done! If not, put in the work order.
BTW: Want to know how to fix a jammed garbage disposer? Here is a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgZeozmFqQY
If you have other common issues ask your maintenance team for advice on how to help your residents resolve the issues fast and easy!
Three: Take the Heat Even If It’s Not Your Fault
Your residents do not see a difference between “maintenance” or the “office staff” so the next time a member of the maintenance team makes a mistake instead of pointing fingers try to take the heat instead. When you point fingers, you might think it’s protecting you, but in reality it just gives a bad look to the entire team. So, let’s say a technician worked on the wrong toilet and a resident calls to complain about the technician; Instead of saying something like, “Ugh. I know I wrote the work request correctly…Mike is always making those kinds of mistakes!”
Why not say something like, “I’m so sorry. I must have not been as clear as I should have been on the work order. Mike is normally great at the details.” See the difference? In other words don’t throw anyone under the bus.
What else would you add to this list?
