How Contact Centers Improve Work/Life Balance for Property Management Staff

Leah Mendes — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 14:21:34 +0000

Sometimes, the simple things can improve work/life balance in property management. Just having someone there to pick up the phone, answer an email or respond to a live chat request can give a leasing staff much needed breathing room, no matter the time of day or night. Single family property managers can’t always be there to take every leasing inquiry or maintenance call, especially when call volumes are high. And believing that most prospects or tenants will call back if they don’t get an answer or reply right away is a false assumption. Covering the bases and providing a great customer experience can be stressful without a little help. “Running a business is not an easy task, which we all know typically comes with wearing a ton of hats,” said rental industry leader Hannah Lau, a Vice President of Operations at RealPage, Inc. “We have found during office hours that the contact center can capture 50 percent of calls that would have gone to voicemail, of which 80 percent will not leave a message and 55 percent won’t inquire again.” Associates at Blackwell Property Management in Charles Town, W.V. know first-hand the value of a contact center. Since choosing Propertyware Contact Center, the full-service property management company has been able to focus on improved customer service and grow business knowing that inbound inquiries are getting handled around the clock.

Enabling staff life after business hours

“Propertyware Contact Center gave us back our private lives, so for the first time we can really leave work behind when we leave the office,” said associate Melissa Francis. Propertyware Contact Center ensures management companies like Blackwell Property Management are open for business after hours. Professionally-trained, live agents are an extension of the front office, capturing every leasing call and email and offering 24/7 maintenance request support on multiple channels. The Leasing Contact Center ensures every call and email is answered in real-time, no exceptions, by live agents who are trained to fit the specific needs of the property and sales strategy. The solution has proved to enable users to sign 2.7 times more leases.

Improving customer service without hiring new employees

Patrick Blood said the Contact Center has enabled Blackwell Property Management to improve service without adding headcount. The company’s property listings have doubled in size as a result. “When a client calls they are speaking with someone who’s seeing their account live,” he said. “This attention to detail has allowed us to double our doors in the past year, taking us from 200 to 400 properties under management.” A contact center enables properties to optimize workforces, understand where their leads originate, gain market visibility and deliver consistent quality, among other advantages. Maintenance teams have become essential to the image of property management companies over the years. The Propertyware Contact Center is committed to providing a great tenant experience when repairs or services need to be completed. A proprietary dispatching system allows maintenance techs or vendors to listen to a recording of the conversation between the tenant and the Contact Center agent. This allows the technician to become familiar with the issue, even before even contacting the tenant. In addition, the vendor is provided with a work order with pertinent details in your Propertyware system, such as the issue, whether or not pets are inside, and if there are locks on the door. It’s a level of customer service that goes above and beyond. “We’d need two more eight-hour shifts to match the benefits we receive from the Propertyware Contact Center,” Blood said. Learn how Propertyware Contact Center can support your business.

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Could Your Rental Property Management Business Benefit From a Contact Center?

Marc Eiting — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 22:07:59 +0000

Talking to others is the cornerstone of any business, and in a relationship that can be complex, effective communication is even more important. An article in the Seattle Times states that “perhaps the most underappreciated art in the rental-housing industry is that of simple communication. A majority of unpleasant issues faced by landlords and tenants seem to sprout from the soil of communication breakdown.” While you strive for excellent communication at your rental property management business, it’s hard to be available 24/7. If phone contact with your customers is one of the challenges of your business, you may need a contact center.

You Already Have Online Owner and Tenant Portals

Your business is built around accessibility, and you want to be available to owners and tenants. So you’ve developed online portals enabling them to review their fee and payment information and track important details about their property. However, owners and tenants will still have questions about the information that you provide through these portals, sometimes when you are out of the office and unavailable. According to The Guardian, “for companies that have an international presence or that provide business critical services, there usually comes a time when they ask themselves: “Do we want to go 24/7?” If your answer to this question is yes, then you can either hire new employees or subscribe to a service that provides 24-hour access. To address tenant and owner questions problems, you need a person on the other end of the phone.

Your Owners and Tenants Need More Information

Owners and tenants need information about their properties. From owner tax statements to tenant maintenance issues, the diverse and varied groups that you work with require information outside the traditional 9 to 5 work day. Owners may live far away in another time zone. Tenants may be at work all day. No matter what the reason, adding a 24/7 call center can help you address these nagging worries, regardless of when they arise.

You Need a Better Way to Manage After-Hours Emergencies

It’s an unfortunate fact, but after-hours emergencies happen. A sewage leak in a basement won’t wait until Monday at 9 am. You need a way for tenants to call about these emergencies so that they can be addressed as quickly as possible, minimizing damage to the property. A contact center can provide an easy solution, entering, tracking, and managing service requests so that they’re dealt with more quickly.

You’re Upgrading Your Marketing

Being available gives your company an appealing face to future tenants. It also helps on a practical level, since contact center employees can help prospective tenants with after-hours questions, setting appointments, and collecting valuable tenant-specific data. Instead of scrambling to respond to interested tenants, by the time you get into the office, you’ll already have the information you need to productively connect with prospective tenants.

You Need to Manage Employee Costs and Availability

As a rental property management professional, you know your employees work hard to satisfy your tenants, owners, and vendors. They need time with their families, and this is hard to achieve if they are always on call. These additional hours can also cost money, affecting your overall budget. For a better solution, retain a specialized call center that understands the needs of your property management company. This gives you the 24/7 availability you need without requiring your employees to be available all day, every day.

Excellent customer service enhances your ability to market your products, gain new tenants and retain existing tenants. As you strive to achieve excellent customer service, contact Propertyware. Our call center services can help you maintain the customer contact you need. Get pricing today.

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