Answering Services For Property Management Companies
Property managers are the conduit between owners and tenants. Whether you manage a commercial or a residential property, you’re the bridge to great tenant service.
As a property manager your primary responsible is coordinating, communicating and following up on tenant issues and needs. Most property managers let inbound calls roll to voicemail which is not optimal. The challenge here is that many after-hours calls come in and they aren’t necessarily emergencies. What’s ends up happening, is that you’re being woken up in the middle of the night with routine calls. This is when an after-hours answering service can come into play.
Using Voicemail Vs. Hiring A Professional Property Management Answering Service
When a tenant calls, they’re looking to speak with a live person right away and not land in your voicemail. Many property managers who decide to outsource their answering services are committed to providing responsive service to both perspective and existing tenants.
A professional after-hours answering service is more than just someone else to call after 5pm. In many ways, it provides a strong customer service foundation on which your potential and existing customers can rely on while protecting your reputation.
If you’re still not sure about outsourcing your communication to a third-party property management answering service, we are listing the benefits of doing so below.
1. An Answering Service for Property Managers Assists With Managing Tenant Expectations
Property managers are professionals who are on-call virtually 24/7 due to the sheer magnitude of their responsibilities. They coordinate, listen, maintain and sell. However, it’s rare when all of these responsibilities happen at the same time — but when they do, they tend to pile up on one another.
This is why a property management answering service is seen as the perfect solution and the most efficient way to lighten the workload and increase efficiency. For instance, when someone calls, and your telephone lines roll over to the service, a live call agent is ready to take the next call that come in. This keeps your business running smoothly and provides information to potential tenants.
2. As a Property Manager, How Are Addressing Maintenance Issues?
There are two main types of maintenance in the realm of property management, include:
- Emergency maintenance – Issues such as no heat, no air conditioning, water leaks, etc.
- Routine maintenance – Issues including broken fixtures, cracked windows, electrical malfunctions etc.
Many times, what is a perceived emergency to a tenant is not deemed a real emergency by your office. As you know, maintenance issues like the ones we listed can occur at any time. However, not every property manager is able to address or fix them in the right away.
In cases like these, an answering service gives the appropriate level of attention to all maintenance issues — and sends a strong signal to tenants that you care and that their issue will be addressed in a timely manner — regardless of when they call.
3. A Property Management Answering Service Should Be Available 24/7/365
One of the most important benefits that property managers consider when hiring an answering service is the fact that their services are available any time of day or night.
This means that hiring an outsourced property management service impacts the productivity of you and your staff. Still, your tenants don’t need to know this — just like they don’t need to experience any decline of service.
In cases like these, your answering service should be able to take calls anytime. You shouldn’t have to worry about employees calling out sick or similar problems. Rest assured that your property management answering service is there to support you at all times.
4. After-Hours Calls Are Covered
After-hours calls are becoming more and more frequent. If you have a professional property management answering service that’s available 24/7, you won’t experience any missed calls after-hours.
This is where a property management answering service comes in – as the perfect solution for your needs in times like these. Once your answering service provides coverage on after-hours calls, you will focus on the calls that need immediate attention and won’t be distracted by those that don’t.
5. The Perfect Way To Generate Revenue From Another Channel
Last but certainly not least is the final benefit that relates to growing your business, reducing vacancy rates and increasing your profit.
Having a property management answering service lets you generate revenue when you can’t. It can also go the extra mile and help you close the sale, whether it’s scheduling showings based on your availability or canceling showings for prospects who are not interested in them anymore.
Final Words
Outsourcing your communication to a professional property management call center with 24/7 coverage, gives you the ability to manage your properties more efficiently — and attend the needs of your tenants and prospective tenants responsively. With availability around the clock, an answering service like this can assist you to become more successful in your profession and build a stronger reputation within commercial and residential property management industry.
