Turning an apartment in the transient South Florida market is all about making the process efficient, economical and ready for show! More often than not getting a unit “Ready” for show becomes the focus with little regard for when the showing translates into a move-in. (Sigh.) This is when an all too common chain of events occur:
- Embarrassing Move-in Inspection
- Moderately annoyed resident makes 1st complaint
- 1st Service request in a series of avoidable $ervice request$
- New resident sees your property in a whole new “dim” light.
- 'Sigh'….again
Then the questions of Who and Why becomes a temporary obsession and oddly you as a manager become the most desperate to get to the root cause. After all, the buck is stopping with you and the reputation of the property can start with the once moderately but now completely annoyed and disappointed resident.
The lesson here is about Excellence! Excellence that is conveyed to your team in such a way that it becomes the rule not the exception. For maintenance, help them to see it like a handy flashlight in a dark space. The dark spaces usually come in the form of a tripped garbage disposal to the dusty vents that are easily overlooked. I like my maintenance team to imagine that they are preparing units for their best friends or their Moms.
As for leasing, excellence should be like a Master key that can open any door! A key like this is priceless for a busy leasing consultant. Yes, I realize Master keys are controversial, but for the sake of this post and our residents its all about using it exclusively to unlock compassion for those that decide to make our properties their homes
