Location, Location, Location. And Price. We all know these are the primary drivers when customers are choosing a property. But how do you get them to choose your property over the competition across the street? Focus on the one thing completely under your control: service.
In the latest issue of Buildings magazine, chief content director Chris Olson addresses this exact topic. He said the results of the 2013 Global Tenant Survey – discussed at last month’s BOMA 2013 conference – revealed, “to no one’s surprise,” that high degrees of service and communication have a high correlation with tenant satisfaction.
And when it comes to managing a successful commercial real estate property, tenant satisfaction is crucial to keeping peak occupancy. After all, it costs property owners and managers a lot more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. How can you ensure happy, committed tenants? It’s simple: superior customer service.
But, what does “superior customer service” entail? The three key elements are:
• Communication
- Offer tenants a variety of ways to communicate with you: email, text message, phone, or even social media. Make them feel connected and their voices heard.
- Keep tenants aware of any maintenance or construction in the building that will affect their daily life – and remind them how they will benefit from the end result.
- Be sure your staff is courteous and responsive.
• Action
- Always provide quick responses to work orders. Even if you have to tell them you can’t resolve an issue immediately, at least they will know it’s important to you.
- Stay up-to-date with preventive maintenance and inspections to keep your building is in top shape.
- Conduct customer surveys and use feedback to guide your operational decisions.
• Technology
- Have an easily accessible building website and online tenant handbook which offers tenants a variety of tools, including resource scheduling, work orders and visitor lists.
- Make those tools available on mobile devices and tablets.
- Give your staff the ability to work remotely – this will deliver faster response times and more opportunities for personal interactions with tenants.
According to Defaqto Research, 55 percent of customers are willing to pay extra to guarantee a better service. Wouldn’t you like that to be in your pocket?