Peoria Charter Service Bus

If I get hit by a bus…..

Everyday in my training to those on my team, I would repeat certain sayings that I felt were important to ingrain and teach those that I cared about or those that I felt had what it would take to become a good property manager or overall employee. One of my classics was …If I get his by a bus, the next guy will be able to…….

Well the other day I did get hit by a bus (sic) and it did not hurt, it was actually pleasant! The bus that hit me was not moving but parked in a rest area taking a break. I noticed a huge mural painted on the side that stated ‘surf and ride’, but I knew there were no “waves or surf” around there, so I was my normal, curious self and I interviewed the bus driver to find out what this message was about. What I learned was so very interesting. The twist is that the bus has free wifi for its passengers. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so please view the bus photo in this article, which is a Peoria Charter Bus that travels between Champaign and Chicago, Illinois.

What a fabulous idea! A bus moving down the highway with wifi. How cool is that? I loved it. Of course it got me thinking about how neat it is when a business owner makes a decision to do something unexpected and innovative. The owner of this bus company believes that by providing wifi on his bus he betters his chances of getting you to ride his bus. This is not profound, it is simply good business.

Based on that concept, then why do we as property and facility managers not realize that by providing services, like wifi, or customer service online 24/7 or automated messages, or client document portals, that can really help grow our business? Why are we not running to get the services or subscriptions for our buildings and facilities? Is it us or is it the building owner? Who is really, driving the bus, to embracing technology in our world?

I find it amazing not to find automation or connectivity in every building or facility I visit. When I travel, I look for places with wifi. Why? Because quite frankly, I cannot work or play without it. Yes, I can use my smartphone as a hotspot now for my laptop, but there are times I need to have wifi. Where I work can change in a moment. I need to work where wifi exists, yet I trudge around looking for the service. IMHO nobody has grabbed this space yet (besides Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds) other than fast food, bookstores, airports, libraries, hotels, and (what is left?)….. No office buildings, retail stores, apartment communities, condominium buildings, medical buildings, and industrial complexes, have really embraced this yet. They are just not feeling the love for these services.

In our industry we have to realize that if a bus can roll down the highway at 65 miles per hour and offer FREE wifi service, should we as building managers embrace this for our clients and visitors too? It seems like a basic utility today, yet there are common areas throughout buildings all over America with no wifi, no online customer service, no 24/7 portals of information! It is the same old thing. Call the office between 9am – 5pm, or we will snail mail it to you or if you are lucky we can send it to you via email.

That spells o-p-p-o-r-t-u-n-i-t-y in my book! Maybe your property can make a statement or get exposure by offering FREE wifi or online everything, 24/7. Maybe your company can make a statement and offer automated services of the basic paper you are pushing now. These efforts can be turned into exposure or marketing events for your property in the marketplace. They say being 1st is so very important. Why not make your property or company step up and take that step?

Alright, so you do not want to be first. That is totally understood. But guess what? You are NOT first in the world, just first in one small aspect of one single industry. Banking has totally embraced ATM, digital reports, cell phone apps, paperless checks, debit cards, and a host of other customer service tools. The airlines are online for everything. You can see your loved one’s flight online and watch the plane in the air, 24/7/365. Almost every single retailer or product you purchase has online services. You are not 1st in the world, just in our small part of one industry.

Try it by taking a baby step. Take one horribly painful task that is repetitive and paper intensive and think of how you can do it without paper or online or via a software as a service application (SaaS). Think of a communication step that you can use with automation. Once you start the conversation in your building or at your company, it will start to gain momentum. I can promise you that once you and your staff get a taste of efficiency or streamline a process, they will never look back. The only complaint you will get is, ‘Why did we not start this sooner?’

If you want to discuss solutions and ideas or a vision to take for your property or company, email or call me and I will be happy to listen and then may be able to make suggestions for solutions that are at your fingertips NOW! Call 312.725.0060 or email Linda@ManagerLabs.com.

1. Do what you say you will do and exceed customer (tenant and building owner) expectations. Procrastination and letting people down, causes more work in the long run.

2. If you are out of the office, say so on your voicemail or instruct those that answer your calls to let callers know when you will return. Create a list of key VIP building owners, tenants and leasing brokers so those calls and messages are directed to you as soon as possible.

3. Give an alternate human to contact if you are busy or away. People want the answer now! Do not make anyone wait. Use an online VoIP forwarding system to have the “follow me” service to your other offices, cell and mobile lines. Many voice mail systems have great features such as voice mail notification. Each time a voice mail is received, the system calls you on your cell phone.

4. Create an online permanent and on-going, F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) so the simple and most common questions can be answered immediately, with or without you! (Touch It Once)

5. Stay in front of your tenants. Host mini events as often as possible. For instance invite other businesses, community groups/organizations in your area or service vendors, to your location to educate and inform you, your tenants and your staff. This will keep you in the know and addresses a multitude of outreach goals you must keep up with.

6. Do a one page newsletter or blog on a regular schedule that keeps all clients, customers, staff and key vendors up to date on projects at your properties. Include a copy of this page in your monthly owner report so your Asset Manager or Building Owner see the day to day happenings as well.

7. Proofread. Double check. Do the math twice. Check your work, inspect the final product. It saves tons of time by eliminating the time it takes to unravel silly or careless mistakes.

8. Allow enough time to do projects well and defend your deadline or due date. Do not allow people to push you into accepting a deadline you cannot meet. Explain why you need more time upfront rather than agreeing to a date you cannot achieve. Quality is more important than bad quantity.

9. Think about the next guy to follow you. Document, document, document. Leave an excellent audit trail for the “next guy” to follow. Post-it notes work just fine as the most basic bread crumbs. Just leave something to point the way. We are an industry of change, and we need to embrace that eventual sale or transition.

10. Use your website to set up as many online intake forms and documents as possible. In other words, if you wish tenants to keep you informed when key contact information changes, set up an online form or a downloadable form so those important, but easy to execute tasks can be done with a free and simple form.

This list of basics came to mind because there is so much focus on doing things faster and more efficiently and with less people; but you cannot lose sight of the basics. No matter what the economy or the trends, the above 10 basics can make a difference in your time (property) management efforts. Best of all these 10 basics are FREE or very low cost solutions!

July 1st,
is the
trendycharts.com
beta launch!

Stephan Wehner and I have created our first, team, web application. The entire process was developed as an intentional test of our ability to work as a team and collaborate and execute 1 single application in very short order.

We decided that if we were going to work together on the various Manager Labs projects, we needed to test the waters first. We both agreed that there was no other way to do it but to do a test of our team capabilities and our ability to “get the job done”. We are both very excited about tomorrow and are eager for visitor feedback on this project.

The story of trendycharts is simple and is based on the constant need I have observed for folks in the CRE and PM/FM industry to always want to know how many others are doing what and what were they using and who were they using and what do our clients, customers, tenants, colleagues, vendors, committees, boards, think of us? What does the outside world observe and can we influence how they perceive our company or marketing or curb appeal? This is the first Public beta for Manager Labs, so for us, this is big deal in that respect, however, it is not our main application. When contemplating what our mini-project would be, we figured that “the need to know” in our industry was critical now. If you are not checking the pulse of your clients, customers, tenants, vendors, there is no way you can know your future. We felt this mini-project would help us, as well as the entire industry. That is how the trend aspect came to me as well. If I know what you think today, can I influence that thinking? We knew there were many excellent poll and survey sites out there, but none of the sites we were aware of did recurring or interval polls and surveys. What is most interesting about trendycharts.com is how we will be able to monitor and watch for trends and see those trends change. Everybody know the pain of change. We hate change. It is so painful for us as PM/FM people to make a move until there is a trend towards it. Nobody wants to be 1st! This is how trendycharts.com was conceived. From concept we took it from there. I applaud Stephan and technical genius. I can also say I truly enjoyed the project and we hope all of you enjoy it too.

Please help share our excitement by answering a few polls and giving us your feedback. Thanks to all of you who have supported us during this time. During the beta we need the “eagle eyes”. Please share your thoughts about how you see trendycharts.com helping you in your business or if you have issues with its functionality, please let us know.

http://www.trendycharts.com

Also, please feel free to post trendycharts on your favorite social media sites or within your Yahoo, LinkedIn, IREM, CCIM, BOMA, etc. groups. We appreciate all of the momentum we can get. I am loving the various polls people are posting. Yes, already in a couple of days we have had some good ones!!

Have a safe, healthy and happy 4th of July.

Thanks,
Linda
Stephan

Please take this one question poll about how you process work orders. It should take you 5 seconds to respond!

Everyone in the Property Management and Facility Management industry is looking at how they do things. It is a good time to take a pulse on what methodolgy the industry is using for work orders?

Check out this poll and take the poll yourself.

Thanks,
Linda@ManagerLabs.com

Click here: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/82981/bfkgx

If you think being a Property Manager is about maintenance, utilities, contracting, technology advances or troubleshooting, you are sadly mistaken. Property Management is about “Customer Service” first. The entire purpose and being of a Property Manager is about tenant satisfaction and tenant retention. There is nothing else it is about.

With each maintenance item, utility bill, new technology and contract signed, it is about the end result: Customer Satisfaction and Service. It is probably the last thing you hear folks talk about or plan for or think of, and it should be the first! Each day you are on the job you need to start your day with: What have I done for the tenants today? If you ask that question and honestly address it, you will be an excellent Property Manager. Remember, if the tenants are happy, the building owner should be happy.

Happy Tenants Here!

Now, I know there are some building owners who are never happy and will never care if the tenants are happy. There are always a few bad apples in every batch, but for the most part, savvy building owners who really care about the bottom line do get it. It is really the naive building owner who does not get it. Quite simply, tenant retention is everything about Property Management.

With times being so tough it forces many to realize that their treatment of their tenants will surely rear its ugly head if the tenants have not been considered first. When you think about it, this just makes good business sense. Why would any business operate against the customer? Why would any business plan its operations around annoying customers? It makes you wonder sometimes when tenants are treated badly or ignored. That is absolutely insane. Why would you not answer the phone with each ring or respond like a lightning bolt with each work order request? I say it is pure training and education. Most folks who are trained or mentored are not always taught the importance of being nice and the simple rule that the customers come first.

Today it is paramount. It is not optional. The tenants must be considered and respected or they will move. It is that simple. When you look at the massive effort it takes to find a NEW tenant! OMG, you are lame if you do not treasure the tenants you have. If a tenant moves, that should be like a knife in your heart and it should hurt really bad. Nobody wants to lose a tenant today.

Now I realize that there are tenants who go out of business; but I am talking about a tenant who moves to another location. You must avoid that at all costs! You should never let a tenant leave your building. All of the staff must have that drilled into their heads. It must be the #1 thing they eat, drink and sleep, literally. It should be like propaganda on everything they use or work with. Make it your tag line and make it stick. Put it at the bottom of every timesheet, email or on every work order ticket. No matter what you do, every single member of the operations, housekeeping, security, contracting, suppliers and so on, must know this is your entire reason for being.

Once you are sure each member of your team is committed, the next thing is to create your program each year. Literally walk through each month of the year and create a theme or program or whatever you can do. It must involve everyone. That means, contracting services, staff members, and any other groups who touch your tenants must be on board with the plan. Include your contracting service vendors in the events and in sponsoring the events. The motto must be – We are in business because of the tenants and we appreciate the business very much!! That can be said in a ton of different ways, but you get the drift. Create a code word that equals your message.

If you come to the building every day with that message in your head, it will make a difference. Just think about being in the tenants’ shoes. How do they see the building, the staff, the contract service vendors? Do they see a group of folks they are proud to work with or do they see sloppy and messy or rude folks? All of that makes a difference and can make a tenant move as a result.

There is no room for error here. The Property Manager is the leader of the team and the leader must think of the tenants in every project, every thought, every maintenance plan, etc. How you ask? Well first of all communication is the #1 thing. Today there is so much technology you can use for free, especially email. Be sure all of the occupants of your property know what is going on. That is the most effortless and basic thing you can do. For instance, if you are doing anything to improve the building, tell them about it. Also let the tenants know what to expect. That is the most basic rule of customer service. Hang signs, hand out flyers, whatever you can do. Plaster it in the restrooms, whatever works for your configuration or building traffic flow. Nobody wants to walk in to the office and ask, what is going on. They should already know. Give all tenants advance notice!! Do not wait until the last minute. Why? Because that tenant may be planning a big event themselves, or they may have VIP visitors coming to town. Encourage them to tell you about their significant visitors or meetings. Why? Because you can help to welcome those visitors as well. You can spread the word to the staff to be on the look out or to help people get into the building with boxes or whatever. It is jumping through hoops and making them feel special.

There are so many ideas on tenant retention and most of them are truly common sense and not rocket scientist level stuff. They are old fashioned and traditional courtesies or ideas that show people you care. Your goal is to have the nicest and friendliest staff in the world! If you can create a powerful team, you have it cinched. If you have cranky or ornery folks among you, they will have to go if they fail to follow your leadership. I am sorry to say, but you will have to hire nice people who can deliver the best customer service possible. Do not compromise that point. You can always give folks a chance to change, but if they do not change, they must be asked to leave.

Just remember to ask yourself – What have I done for the tenants today? – and if you do that simple thing each day, you will be on the road to excellent Property Management and superior Customer Service which all lead to high levels of tenant retention that you can count on at your property.