I remember when I first started in the apartment industry, someone told me to always ask my residents if there was anything in their apartment that needed fixing. Now, at the time, I thought that was kind of odd. Why would we ask if there was something WRONG with our product? That seemed … I don’t know…almost as if we had no confidence in our own apartments. But because I was instructed to do it, I did it. And guess what? It worked.
Every time a resident either called our leasing office or came in to the office in person, I always said, “Is there anything in your apartment that needs some attention?” OR “Are there any outstanding maintenance issues in your apartment that we can take care of?” OR “Do you need us to come in to you apartment to repair anything” OR “Is everything working all right in your apartment?” (You see, I got bored with asking the same old question, so I changed it up every single time I asked it.) And almost every single resident had *something* that needed attention. I might have been a leaky faucet. Or a loud blower motor on the furnace. Or maybe even a bi-fold door off the track. But there was almost always something. And they were all very grateful that I had taken the time to ask if there was anything they needed.
Yes, it creates work. But it does so much more. It keeps the small problem, like the leak, from becoming a big problem. And it lets your residents know that you care about keeping their home repaired, safe and something they can be proud of. So remember to always ask. And you’ll reap the benefits immediately.
Posted on 20. Dec, 2011 by Lisa Trosien