Have you ever noticed that rental customers are often different than any other types of customers? I mean, doesn’t it sometimes seem as if some of your residents leave their intellect, perspective, fairness and sense of reality at the door to your office?
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In my years in the industry I believe that the reason that so many people burn out, get jaded, lose interest and leave the industry is because rental customers often do see things differently than we would expect; and that can really wear your people down.
The first step is in recognizing some of the things that renters often think and why…
One:
“The lease is just a piece of paper and is really there as a formality. If my situation changes you need to bend the terms of the lease to meet my needs.
Of course, the exception to this is when you try to change any terms of the lease that are favorable to me. So while I believe that you should waive my “lease break” fee, if you try to change my rent in the middle of my lease, I’m calling my attorney.”
I believe that the reason many customers think this is found in Number Two …
Two:
“You should let me out of me lease, or decrease my rent, or waive the application fee, or not charge me for the carpet replacement because you’re a big company, you can afford it. I’m just a little guy.”
Many customers simply feel their own individual situations override any type of legal agreements they’ve entered into. In fairness, some of this is born out of desperation or fear, especially if they have to pay a large amount of money. But sometimes it really is a matter of a resident simply thinking that the rules shouldn’t have to apply to them.
Three:
“I don’t deserve a rental increase! I pay my rent on time. I never complain and no one ever complains about me. I have lived here for two years and now you raise my rent? You should be paying me something because I’ve added so much to this place that it’s now worth more than when I moved in…”
Some renters take rent increases personally. They view increases as a reflection of how much they are valued by management. In other words, higher rent translates to, “Those jerks in the office don’t appreciate me!”
Four:
“You should, however, raise the rent on my neighbor….he sucks! And all those new people moving in, their rent better be higher than my rent is or I’m going to be ticked!”
Five:
“Wait!! Why is my rent higher than my neighbor’s?”
If a homeowner realized that she paid more for her home than her neighbor down the street in the same floorplan, she wouldn’t call her agent or mortgage company and complain that she got ripped off. She would probably assume that it was due to the specific market conditions when they bought their homes.
If a renter found out that his one bedroom cost more than his neighbor’s one bedroom, he could think you ripped him off.
Six:
“I don’t understand why you can’t tell me exactly when, where and how UPS or FedEx or the USPS is going to deliver my package!”
I remember one resident getting frustrated with me because I didn’t know the exact route the mailman took to deliver mail. All I can say is be patient…and answer as nicely as you can (for the hundredth time) that you and FedEx are not actually connected.
Seven:
I’m paying for this….I deserve the royal treatment.
Even though some renters probably accelerated my gray hair collection over the years, the one principle I drilled into my teams was that our renters pay good money to live here~they deserved our best all the time … even when, especially when, we wanted to tell them what they could do with their complaint.
Conclusion:
I think one of the best things you can do to succeed in this industry, is to prepare yourself for life in the multifamily world. It’s not easy…but it can be very worth it!
