In my previous post I wrote about how the little things really matter in customer service. If you haven’t read it, I invite you to do so. I want to expand on that thought today.
I spoke recently with the leadership team from a property management company about “customer service” and resident retention. One of the issues they brought up with me was that when their people hear “customer service” and/or “resident retention” they often think giving good service or doing things to positively impact the resident experience must cost money or need additional resources.
Yet surveys show again and again that one of the most effective customer service/resident retention things you can do is the most simple….SMILE!
I know, you’ve heard this before!
I know, I know, this is not new to you. Yet in the conversation I mentioned earlier one of the leaders told us a story of watching one of her associates walk right past a resident without looking at him. Let’s be real this associate probably didn’t make eye-contact with the resident because he was afraid that the resident might start talking to him and then give him 28 requests for things that need to get done now! (Trust me, I’ve done this maneuver before.) Unfortunately this associate missed a huge chance to increase resident satisfaction and retention by not smiling.
For there past few years I have been tracking resident satisfaction survey results and without fail the number one driver of resident satisfaction is “value” and the number one driver of “value” is “sense of community.” The data suggests that “sense of community” is based more on a resident’s interactions with the community team than with their relationships with their neighbors. In other words if you work in a community a “sense of community” is determined in large part by your residents relationship with YOU.
How do you handle things?
So…what do they see when they walk into your office? How do you respond when you get the 1oth phone call asking “Did Amazon show up already??” When someone eats all of the cookies do you do a massive eye-roll or try to passively-aggressively guilt the “offender.”
When you’re walking in the courtyard and you’re in a big rush do you SMILE at a resident walking past? Do you smile when residents interrupt your flow or does your face let them know what you’re really thinking? (You know what I’m talking about!) Do you smile when you’re swamped and someone walks in at 5:58pm with a maintenance request or wants to see an apartment?
Today’s market is competitive and quite frankly there are very few communities that have amenities that NO ONE else has. Is a pool a big deal anymore? How about a fitness center? Those have become quite common-even expected in many cases.
So how do you stand out from your competitors? How do you keep your residents your residents? BE NICE! Engage! Find opportunities to connect whenever you can.
You don’t need a budget to be nice!
You really don’t! If you want to…
- Enhance your resident experience
- Help your residents feel more connected
- Help yourself feel better (when when stressed)
- Make it more likely for your residents to remain your residents
Try this simple thing…SMILE, every chance you get.
