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Welcome to the property management blog, where we look at issues impacting rental proeprty. Today I am going to give you an outline of what happens to calls that forward to our PhoneSmart call center.

Roll Over Calls:
If the manager or leasing agent can’t get to the phone for any reason, the call rolls to us. You don’t need any extra phone equipment. All you need is for your local dial tone provider to place a “call forward when busy” and a “call forward no answer” order on your lines. If you have one line coming in to your office, we become your line two. If you have hunt lines rolling at your office, we become your last line.

If all your lines are tied up, then an incoming call immediately diverts to us and the caller hears the initial voice prompt greeting.

If the phone is unanswered at the store, it rolls to us after a predetermined number of rings. Most clients set the calls to roll to us after three to four rings.

Once the call gets to us…

Roll Over Calls:
Callers hear a voice prompt that thanks them for calling your property and asks them to press “one” to speak to someone about renting a unit or press “two” if they are a current tenant . We try to direct all non-rental inquiries to the voicemail system we set up for you. This is a convenient way for your current tenants to leave a message for your manager, if they are calling to let him or her know they are coming in with a payment for instance. We don’t want to get in the middle of any relationship your manager already has with a tenant since we don’t have access to your rental records.

If callers press one, they come into our call queue and the call rings to one of our sales reps. Our system identifies the exact property being called and brings up current information to the rep’s screen as soon as the phone starts ringing.

Our sales reps walk each caller through a consultative sales program, helping the callers determine their needs. For storage callers, we ask to reserve a unit. Our first goal is to make a reservation guaranteed with a credit card number. If no credit card is available, we will attempt to make a “First-come-first-served” reservation to help get that caller to your store soon. If the caller isn’t quite ready to commit to a storage unit, we will attempt to schedule a site visit, so the caller can come and see your store. We know if we can drive potential renters to your store, your managers will rent to almost every one of them. If the caller won’t need a unit for some time, we at least get a name and a phone number for your managers to follow up with.

Our goal with apartment seekers is to set up an appointment to tour the apartment home or to start an application over the phone. If a caller is not ready to come in for a visit, we will at least get a name and phone number for follow-up. Since we are sales people and not answering service reps, we sell your property for you and help the callers talk themselves into renting with you.

With commercial/retail callers, our job is to give the potential tenant a great first impression and either set an appoinment to view the property in person or creat a quality lead for follow up. We know there is a reason that person is calling your porperty. We want them to feel good about having made that call. This is going to vastly increase your chances of signing a lease with them.

We are pleased to customize our service when possible to meet your operational objectives. We currently operate several different business models that work very well for our clients. Please ask about other available options.

As soon as we end a reservation or a lead call, a fax and e-mail are sent to your property with all the information your managers and leasing agents need to do an effective follow-up call.

Your staff will feel great knowing that they have professional sales people acting as their back-up.

bye for how, Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog, where we look at ways to lease more units. We like to hold our own call center out as a good solution for property managmetn companies, especially in the apartment home market. Here is our quick blurb.

Apartment seekers know what they want:
They want your attention, they want it fast, they want it NOW! So when a potential tenant calls for pricing, availability or even a rental, you’d better answer the phone. Because if you don’t, he’s off to the next apartment complex on his list. And you’ve lost the opportunity for a rental.

That’s where the PhoneSmart Call Center comes in:
We answer the calls you can’t. So when your leasing agents are tied up with another call or have to step away for any reason, you won’t miss a single rental opportunity… all calls will forward to us within four rings.

We answer the phone just like you would:
We’ll know your rates, availability, policies and procedures. Best of all, we’ll do our best to close the sale. Then, quick as a flash, we’ll send every important detail to you.

We give your callers a pleasant first experience with your community and turn your missed calls into opportunities

You’ve already paid for the advertising and marketing that makes your phone ring.

Why let a rental inquiry pass you by?

If you are looking for some addiitonal upside in your property, it may very well be in the phone calls you are already receiving.

bye for now,
Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog, where we look at the property management business.

What do you do when your projections don’t hold true? What do you do when historical trends don’t continue? What do you do when your customer’s behavior and spending habits change? This is where some people see the apartment market in many communities.

What many owners and industry insiders are doing is re-working their numbers, re-doing their studies, re-checking their bearings and running new surveys. What is your organization doing to adjust to the changes in our industry? Some of you may be thinking, “What changes? Things are pretty much the same, just in a 2005 sort of way.”

Well we will see how things develop. won’t we?

bye for now,
Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog. We are a diary of the property management business.

The building that we are officed in is in the middle of a face lift. We are on the “older” side of town that has just recently been busy with building and re-developing. Two new subdivisions with a shopping center were built up the road from us. They are doing well. A bank purchased the empty lot across the street from us and put up a nice new building.

The state has selected our street, which is a state highway, for widening and improving in the next two to three years. So the owners of our building and our company did the logical thing. They put a new face on our building. I know intellectually that a building face lift can do a lot for the look and feel of even an area as small as ours. But when you see the end result, it becomes much more than an intellectual exercise. It pleases the senses to look at a re-done building. It feels good.

Driving by the building is a different experience now. It is much more attractive. So more people will be interested in being in our building and doing business with us.

It will help bring business to the bank across the street. And their new customers will also want to come across the street and do business here. I know this is not news to you, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that the emotional energy that a face lift brings a property should never be under estimated. Even just a fresh coat of paint and a new flower bed is often enough to get your emotions flowing in the right direction.

So if you are looking for some upside in your proeprty and you are looking for a big solution, maybe you should try a smaller solution first. Give it a face lift or a fresh coat of paint.

bye for now,
Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog. We deal with issues involving apartment, commercial and retail rentals.

I am still at the Brainstorming session in Orlando and I learned something interesting at the trends luncheon presentation. I learned that we are a trend. I know that call centers are a graet idea to capture missed rental opportunities and a great way to manage maintenance requests. But I guess others in the property management industry agree. On-line leasing, call cneters and business intelligence were some of the main waves of the near future that are moving through the property management business. I hope, of course, that this means our company, PhoneSmart, is in the right place at the right time to help lots of properties become more profitable and keep their tenants longer.

There are many factors that make the use of a call center like ours look attractive. Vacancies are up in many markets. Home ownership continues to grow as continually low interst rates are pulling apartment renters into the home ownership market. The fragmentation of demographics is making it trickier to market properties in the wasy they have been marketed recently..

It will be intersting to see how things develop in the next few years.

bye for now,
Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog, where we share our insights on the commercial and residential property management industry. As a call center and secret shopping service that works with rental properties, we get some interesting experiences.

Even your favorite tenant can get mean with you on the phone or in person sometimes. Sometimes you or your co-workers may have done something to tick them off, or maybe not. Either way, it can sometimes be an effort to cool them off and get to a satisfactory resolution. I thought I’d share some of our phone practices with you. I hope you find them helpful.

If you have a difficult caller…

(Ask yourself this…Did the caller have a bad day already before calling you)?

 Listen to their concerns and try to help them to the best of your ability.
 Don’t take it personally.
 Remain professional and ask open ended questions.
 Take notes during the call so you can re-iterate to them later, what you thought you heard.
 Try to understand their needs or anger by telling them you’ll see what you can do.

 Show them that the company they are calling… cares.
 Do not be combative. Be concerned.
 Ask probing questions so they can vent it out and lessen their concerns or anger.
 Re-confirm what you thought they said so they know you’re listening.
 Try to answer all of their questions to the best of your ability without hesitation.

 If there are questions you cannot answer refer them to a manager or supervisor for a call back.
 Sincerely apologize for inconveniences even if it is not your fault. Often, appologizing for the situation helps cool off the person by several degerees.

Keep in mind….
 It probably wasn’t you if they were already mad when they called.
 You may be just the person that they need to vent it out to.
 Let them vent and then try to help them.

If all else fails…
 Ask them… “If I get your name and number, I’d be happy for someone to give you a call back to answer your questions.”
 Let them know that you …“don’t want to give them the wrong information and can certainly have a manager call them back.”

If the caller is persistent to keep you on the phone and you have tried absolutely everything…
 Ask them this… CAREFULLY … SINCERELY …. And with the appropriate TONE INFLECTION…
o “What would you like me to do for you?”

If at any point they say they want to speak to your supervisor or manager (and you have ALREADY tried all of the above)…
Tell them… CAREFULLY … SINCERELY …. And with the appropriate TONE INFLECTION…
 “Absolutely…. If you can hold on a minute, I’d be more than happy to.” …then get help.

bye for now,
Tron

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We sometimes think that our policies should prevail in all circumstances. But I would like to share a letter with you from an experience I had a few years ago that illustrates the assumption that dissatisfied customers will try to tell the whole world about their bad experience and happy customers may not tell anyone at all.

Property managers need to keep this in mind whether they manage hotels, apartments or office space. In the property management blog I hope to share insights and experience that will help you with your properties. Business blogs and apartment blogs are probably filled with people who want resolution to an issue. Most times it is better just to resolve the issue. I am still sore about an unpleasant experience I had 2 years ago. Here is the letter:

Dear Mary,

I received your letter of 10/10. Here is the history of events leading to the attempt to cancellation my reservation at the New Paltz Days Inn. On Weds. The 2nd of October I stayed a night at the Inn. The room smelled bad, the heater was incredibly noisy, and there was human hair in the bathroom sink and tub. There was dust and dirt in areas that should be easy to reach for the cleaning staff. It was very late, around midnight, when I checked in, after a full day of travelling from Central Missouri.

The last thing I wanted to do was to spend more time awake comparing and changing rooms. The next morning when I went to check out, there was no one in the office, so I left my keys at the desk waved to the cleaning staff person that I saw in the distance in the walk –way and went about my day. I then called the customer service line later in the day to cancel the reservation I had made for the three days in question. The customer service line said they could not help me and referred me to the local property. I called the local property and spoke to a woman who answered the phone, She said only the owner can cancel the reservation. I played phone tag with him during the day and was unable to reach him.

I made it clear to both the customer service line reps and the woman at the property that this was an unusual circumstance. I understand you have a 72-hour cancellation policy. That is fine under usual conditions. When I finally did talk live to Mr. Patel from the local store, he made it clear to me he would not cancel the room or refund the 407 dollars in question, even if I felt the room was a dump.

I travel frequently and know others who travel frequently. If this issue is resolved to my satisfaction. That is, if my credit card is refunded the $407.16, I will assure you that I will tell everyone I can about how you were able to make it right with me and I will pledge to stay at a Days Inn whenever possible in each of the 15 business trips I am planning in 2003. If the only response I get from this situation is “too bad, so sad”, I will never stay at a Days Inn ever again and will be as loud a voice as possible complaining about the “gotcha” tactics that you and your local property have used in this instance.

I leave the ball in your court. Is it the goal of your department to make it right with a customer or to create interference and try and wear down my resistance to a “gotcha” tactic? If your customer service department is seen as a profit center by your superiors, then refunding the $407.16 to my credit card would create immeasurable good will as well as real revenue from my business and the business of others I tell about you. On the other hand the profit from the $407.16 could never even come close to the lost revenue and lost good will that will happen because of it.

Sincerely ,

Tron Jordheim

bye for now, Tron

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