Communication in Property Management with all “clients”
Office team members, property owners, tenants, and vendors.
We talk to LOTS of people.
You may often hear us use the term clients. That really encompasses a few different groups that we do business with, such as our property owners, our tenants, and our vendors and maintenance personnel. A client is someone we feel we want a business relationship with. We want to invest in that relationship, help them accomplish their goals, and treat them well. In order to be able to accomplish that, we have to communicate well. Accounting errors can be fixed, reports can be created, but if there is a lack of communication, it can quickly end a relationship.
This can get really tricky though, because everyone has and prefers different communication styles. And each of those groups of clients requires a different type of communication all together. Tenants and owners need very different information about the same situation going on at the rental property. Even the way we speak to our vendors, and owners, and tenants is set in a different tone. Learning to navigate these different types of communication is key to having successful client relationships, but here lies some of the most challenging aspects of this:
The challenges of the explanations…
Property managers often have to translate between groups of our clients. Not only are we in the middle of translating between groups, we have to explain each side to those involved. If we repeated exactly word for word what the vendor said about the tenant, or the maintenance issue directly to the owner, it could come off as incredibly unprofessional and offensive, even though the vendor is just trying to give us an overview of what is really going on the best they can. Just imagine if a contractor told you the property looks like it’s falling apart, the tenant has weird artwork, and fixing this tiny leak under the sink is only the first of these problems.
Well you know, you can’t say that to the owner, because you know he scraped up enough money just to make this repair, and the owner doesn’t need to know what kind of wall art the tenant has because the tenant has never been late on rent and keeps the property really clean. It is our duty to inform the owner of necessary repairs needed, and if the vendor caught anything else that needs immediate attention we make sure to communicate that to the owner properly. Without some of assumptions that were made.
The challenge of targeting, or the wrong targeting…
Communication management is a skill that every member who manages property needs to be able to excel at. If your communication gets into the wrong hands, it could not only get you in big trouble, but private information could lead to lawsuits!
Just imagine if internal staff accidentally sent this to the wrong person:
- Smith from 123 Sesame St left a message for you, he said the contractor smelled like a dumpster, and he didn’t like the way he talked to him. He requested a new contractor to come out for the next visit.
Don’t ask us how we know the headaches this can cause if you accidentally CC someone in an email, or accidentally publish the wrong note in an online portal…. But having a team of well-trained communication managers is crucial to keeping the ever moving gears of property management working smoothly!
The challenge of being circumnavigated….
We have a really important rule to be able to effectively manage and maintain all working parts that go on with a rental property. Is that our clients have one point of contact. Us. Why? Because 100% of the time when an owner calls a tenant directly, they have actively taken away our ability to manage any situation because it becomes a he said, she said game, and decisions are made without us being aware of any of it. Making it nearly impossible to do what they hired us to do in the first place. Manage their rental property. Just imagine if a tenant who needs a bit more communication or is trying to get some extra things done at the rental property begins calling and texting the owner on a daily basis? That owner is going to think that you are completely incapable of doing the job they hired you for. And you are left in the dark because you don’t even know the tenant managed to get ahold of the owner’s information.
There is a phrase of having too many cooks in the kitchen…. And with property management being a complex mechanism with multiple gears turning at all times, it’s crucial to have all your clients have one point of contact. Make you develop clear processes for communication and choose your policies and platforms wisely. You can best serve their needs, help them accomplish their goals, reduce stress, and make things operate greatly if you become a master communicator!
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