As someone that has a reasonably positive outlook on life, I generally always see the glass as half full. My journey has thrown many challenges at me, and I see these as opportunities, not hurdles. The property management industry has often struggled to deliver value to its customers; however, during the Coronavirus pandemic, we have managed to incite a much higher level of engagement. The glass half full outlook perceives Covid-19 as an opportunity to strengthen the relationships with our customers.
With social distancing came sudden changes in legislation, new procedures, and financial hardship. As property managers, we used this opportunity to architect new ways to support our landlords in everyday property management activities. Many of these activities involved regular updates through phone calls, newsletters, and even video updates.
Our sister company Ailo runs a Customer Satisfaction platform for surveying our clients. This survey tool breaks down the survey into four key areas. These key areas include Value For Money, Helpfulness, Expertise, and Communication. Traditionally we struggle with Expertise and Communication scores as these are often connected when it comes to a landlord’s perception of how we manage their investment. In short, 'communicating' our 'expertise' to our landlords shows value.
As property managers, we work hard solving problems, fixing issues, and managing risk on behalf of our clients; no one would argue this. However, we often forget to communicate this to our landlords. The constant updates to our customers, during this time, has driven a spike in both expertise and communication scores. Our landlords are now seeing the value in our services as a property manager.
Covid-19 allowed us to jump on the front foot and communicate the many changes that Covid-19 presented to us. We were negotiating rent reductions, interpreting legislation, advising landlords on risk management and modeling the impacts on our landlords. The bi-product of these proactive updates was an increase in our client opinion of our expertise and communication skills.
We now have momentum in this space, and it would seem a shame to let this spike in confidence slide. Let's devise a way to keep these great communication channels open with our daily tasks. Let's ensure we don't let this spike in appreciation lose momentum.
