Have you ever heard one of your employees say this to an owner or tenant?
“I don’t know. That is not my job”
OMG, I think you could see smoke come out of my ears every time I hear this statement. I’ve also had this happen to me in various establishments and it’s perplexing as a client.
It screams that I really don’t give a crap and I’m not willing to do anything further to help you.
In the world of Property Management, we are expected to be able to answer a lot of different questions however, we cannot fool ourselves in thinking that we know it all. Every day, I have to tell someone that I don’t have the answer but I will find it and get back to them. This essentially comes down to customer service 101.
A proper response could be formulated as such:
“I may not have the answer to that right now. Let me do some research for you and I will call you back with either the answer or with a status update of my research by 5pm today. Is that okay with you?”
The PM business is a little different from a lot of businesses out there. We have 2 main clients that we must answer to tenants and owners. There is also the internal aspect of this conversation. As an owner, I would never want to hear this from one of my employees if I asked something of them.
From tenants or an owner’s perspective, this kind of response tells me that this person is not looking out for the best interest of their company. At the end of the day, every one of my employees represents myself and my company. Every answer that is provided comes from a single person, however, is reflective in the entire company.
The experience behind an answer can make all the difference in the world for your customer!
Respond with care and with respect.
Talk with your employees about the importance of such things. Raise the bar in how you and your employees talk to your tenants and owners.
You would be surprised as to how many opportunities are out there to create exceptional experiences for our tenants and owners. We just need to look for them!