About 79% of renters want to communicate with their property managers or landlords via text or chat. Unfortunately, few property owners have a communications strategy in place. If you're not communicating with your tenants, tenant relations could suffer.
Unhappy tenants are less likely to renew their leases, leaving you to spend more time and money searching for new renters. Instead, start building tenant relationships!
Use these tips to enhance communication with your tenants and their satisfaction rates today!
Know Their Needs
Understanding your tenants will help you anticipate and respond to their needs before issues develop. Your tenants will recognize that you care about them, especially if you begin personalizing communications.
Determine who your tenants are based on demographic and psychographic information. Consider their needs, concerns, expectations, and goals.
Ask how they prefer to communicate (by phone, email, text, or in person). Consider how often they want to hear from you (weekly, monthly, or quarterly). You can use this information to develop a tenant relation strategy.
Prioritize Clarity
When communicating with your tenants, be clear and concise. Make sure your message is easy to understand, whether you're sending:
- Rent reminders
- Maintenance request responses
- Lease agreement documents
- Lease renewal reminders
Try to avoid slang or jargon. When possible, break your messages down using numbered steps or bullet points. End each communication with a call to action so they know what to do next.
Be Responsive
If you want to retain quality tenants, you need to remain available and responsive. Otherwise, tenants will get frustrated if they have to wait months for your responses.
Respond to inquiries, concerns, or requests in a timely manner to show you value their feedback and respect their time. Try using technology to receive automated alerts and reminders.
Give tenants more opportunities to reach out using different communication channels. For example, emails, text messages, social media, or online platforms.
Seek Feedback
The average tenant satisfaction score is +51 when a tenant moves in but drops to +24 after six months. Scores continue to decline due to poor communication. If you're not giving tenants the chance to communicate, it could cause:
- Unnecessary costs
- Angry tenants
- Frustrated landlords
- Missed compliance checks
- Relationships to breakdown
- A loss of confidence in you
- Distrust
- Increased tenant churn/turnover
- Poor tenant retention
- Badly managed properties
Ask your tenants for their thoughts to avoid these issues. Use their suggestions to improve. You can also hire a property or HOA management company for help.
Remain Calm
Try to remain calm and patient when communicating with tenants. Avoid being:
- Brisk
- Vague
- Inconsistent
- Unavailable
- Defensive or dismissive
- Dishonest or misleading
Communicating out of frustration could damage your reputation or credibility. You'll struggle to build long-term relationships with tenants. Instead, remain professional and try empathizing.
Enhance Tenant Relations Today
You don't have to develop a tenant relation strategy alone. Instead, consider hiring a property manager. With help, you can improve tenant relations.
Boosting communication and satisfaction will help you reduce vacancies, improving your ROI.
PMI Tampa Bay is dedicated to maximizing owner profitability. We have over 20 years of experience helping property owners like you. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
