The most successful property management companies know that they need to ‘be available’ to tenants and contractors around the clock. But what does that actually mean? Being available can mean different things to different people. We can offer our two cents based on years of experience offering property management answering services.
It has been our experience that being available in a property management environment involve key components:
- Responsiveness.
- On-site presence.
- Operational readiness.
- Adaptable scheduling.
- Multi-property management.
Surprisingly, each of these five aspects of being available involves telephone communications. Allow us to explain. By the time you finish this post, you should have a greater appreciation of why we offer live answering services for property management companies.
Responsiveness
Ask the average tenant or contractor what it means to be available, and you are likely to hear an answer that incorporates responsiveness in some way, shape, or form. Both tenants and contractors expect property management staff to respond to communications in a timely manner.
More importantly, they expect timely responses to emergency situations. Tenants are especially turned off by having to jump through hoops to get somebody to respond when a water main breaks or a heating unit goes out in the middle of the winter. Property managers cannot be responsive if no one is answering the phone.
On-Site Presence
It is a given that tenants and contractors also consider on-site presence part of being available. Both groups of people expect property management staff to be on-site during normal business hours. But being on-site does it mean always being present in the same space.
A tenant may need something from the maintenance crew. A quick call should take care of it. Likewise, a contractor may need to schedule something with the office. Someone needs to be there to answer the phone.
Operational Readiness
Operational readiness is critical to effective property management. It involves things like scheduling repairs, coordinating maintenance, and managing administrative tasks in a way that ties everything together cohesively. And once again, that brings us back to the telephone. Phone calls are a primary means of communication in property management. Operational readiness is hard to maintain when parties cannot communicate over the phone.
Flexibility
Being available often means being flexible. Maybe a contractor is scheduled to do some work on a specific day. Due to circumstances outside of his control, he gets delayed by a day or two. Can the property manager accommodate his change in schedule?
Flexibility is also important to current and future tenants. Current tenants often require flexibility when it comes to the time for maintenance and repairs. As for future tenants, the office needs to be flexible in terms of showings, taking applications, etc.
Multi Property Management
Last but not least is being available when a property manager is responsible for multiple properties. It goes without saying that communication is of paramount importance when multiple properties are involved. The more properties a manager is looking after, the more important effective communication becomes.
Phones play a critical role in coordinating the efforts needed to maintain multiple properties. Maintenance crews are calling in to keep management updated. Tenants may have maintenance requests at multiple locations. Contractors are looking to schedule appointments, work up quotes, or make payment arrangements.
Being available in a property management scenario means having the ability to respond to tenants, contractors, and others regardless of the circumstances or time of day. Phone communications are critical to all of it. That is why Apello takes live answering services for property management so seriously. We know how critical the phone is to managing both residential and commercial properties.
