Hello friends it’s me Leslie Mathis with the Multifamily Streamlined podcast. Still on the struggle bus over here and sliding in sideways but I am determined to get this podcast out. I guess if I am being transparent it’s definitely not my best work lately but I know if I keep showing up it will get better so don’t give up on me. I swear I will find a groove again. I’m certain the interviews will help too. I was determined to corner my dad this week but some how time got away from me. That kid has had a pretty cool career especially in the military and is a born mover and shaker. While not in our industry but just seems like he might have some great Easter eggs to share. We shall see but he’s also a wild card with perhaps some surprises. Haha
Anyways it’s been a minute since we talked about customer service and since we are seeing some softness in the market not to mention a recent incident shared with me it seemed like a good topic to discuss again. If the market is headed where some say it is – customer service is going to be our game changer. It seems to be the thing that has been lacking lately because times were good but I warned all of you that it wouldn’t last forever and we couldn’t lose our the art of customer service.
Over the weekend I had a family friend call with an apartment issue. Y’all it happens all the time but I do always try to help. The short version was their family member was in a new construction deal and had several issues with minimal communication and no resolution. I get it – that happens but not cool. That ’s when people get MAD. See when we over communicate and at least provide a small amount of value we can appease them until we get the situation figured out. When we constantly tell them that corporate will handle or even worse – SORRY THAT'S OUR POLICY. What? Y’all that fuels fires. I mean big scary fires. There is not a phrase that sets people off worse than that’s our policy. Listen I don’t give a darn about your policy I care about my situation. Trust me that’s how they feel… I get it – they might be unreasonable – it might be out of our control – we might be at the mercy of the vendor but that’s not their problem it’s ours. So what can we do?
- Listen – like truly listen.
- Ask them what resolution they are looking for.
- Provide a timeline.
- Do what you say you are going to do. And when you say you will.
- Do not blame it on corporate or your owners.
- Make sure they feel heard and that you care.
- Provide some level of transparency.
- Be relatable.
