Resident Retention Eletter February 2012
Resident Relationship Coach's Corner: What Matters Most to Renewing Residents
Resident Retention Rx: Remarkable Recovery by Panera
Team Builder: The Smell of a Dysfunctional Team
Productivity Pointers: Leave an Effective Message
Resident Relationship Coach's Corner: What Matters Most to Renewing Residents
According to the 2011 SatisFacts Study, “Getting Inside the Head of the Online Renter,” the top three factors that influence a renewal decision are:
1. Quality of maintenance services
2. Safety and security
3. Quality of customer service provided by office staff
“Resident activities and events” was ranked least important, second only to “Community having a social media page.” In our reality of limited time, resources and staff, where are you allocating resources? Once again, the data has proven that the best investment you can make is in your own staff and ensuring they have the resources and training they need to perform their jobs to the highest standard.
Source: Jen Piccotti, SatisFacts Research
Did you miss February’s Retention Report, “Renewal Season is 3 Months Away! Do you Know Where Your Renewals Are?” View this free 30-minute episode at your convenience by registering HERE!
Resident Retention Rx: Remarkable Recovery at Panera Bread
I love everything about Panera Bread. Typically, Panera is organized and their staff is always in a serving spirit. Well, on this unusual day, they were not very welcoming and my overall impression was not a good one at all. After placing my order, I sat down and turned on my laptop. As I opened my internet, a survey request appeared on Panera’s home page. Usually, I decline the request, but I decided to leave my comments about the store and the staff. After answering a few short questions, I clicked submit and proceeded to eat my lunch.
About ten minutes later, my cell phone rings. It was the Manager asking me if I was still in the store. I told him I was and he came out of the kitchen and sat down at my table. He sincerely apologized for my less than stellar experience and told me they were short two staff members that day and had just finished their lunchtime rush, which he attributed to the appearance of the store and the poor service of the staff. He said that while he didn’t offer that as an excuse and that every customer deserved better service, he wanted to personally let me know that this is not what Panera was all about and asked me what he could do to set things right. I told him that I didn’t want anything and that his talking to me was good enough. He then offered me a free pastry and said to try his location again the next time I was in the area. As he walked back to the kitchen, I thought of how that short conversation was so impactful. Taking the opportunity to immediately address my concern was something he didn’t have to do. In fact, many companies never contact their customers. Not only did the conversation change my opinion of that location and its service, but what really stood out was the speed in which my survey was read and acted upon. Lesson learned: never let customer feedback go unanswered. One simple conversation may save a customer and earn even more.
Source: Lia Nichole Smith and www.SatisFacts.com
Work order follow up can provide a customer service safety net to catch issues that may be falling through the cracks. Learn about Insite™ Work Order Follow-Up HERE.
Team Builder: The Smell of a Dysfunctional Team
In the February 2012 issue of Inc. Magazine, there’s a brief research article regarding customer reactions to observing negative employee interactions with each other. Now, we all know if a customer is treated poorly by an employee, there is a high likelihood that customer will go elsewhere. But this study showed that there was a similar impact when the customer witnessed employees treating other employees poorly!
We’ve all experienced this in some way – seeing a manager reprimand an employee on the sales floor or seeing one employee reach maximum frustration with their co-worker and rudely taking over whatever was being done. It’s uncomfortable and it does make you wonder what kind of organization allows its people to treat each other that way. Not only that, it makes you wonder how they are going to treat you if you have a problem or question.
Respect and courtesy is not just reserved for your residents. It’s important to nurture a respectful and courteous workplace, as well, where rudeness among team members is not tolerated. As the article quoted Danny Meyer, founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, “When a skunk is angry, it sprays the thing it’s angry at, but everyone else within a 3-mile radius has to smell it.” Point taken.
Source: Jen Piccotti and “Be Kind to Your Co-Workers – Or Else,” Inc., February 2012.
Did you know SatisFacts offers Employee Satisfaction Surveys? Contact us to help you discover what matters most to your employees, because happy employees lead to happy residents!
Productivity Pointers: Leave an Effective Message
It happens every week. I listen to a voice mail, and as I listen I’m jotting down the caller’s name (if I can understand it), property or company (if I can understand it), and phone number (if I can decipher it). I am often amazed at how frequently I am unable to understand or decipher any or all of these components in the message! The greatest challenge, though, is the return phone number. Most people wait until the end of the message to state the number. Most of those people also only say the number once. And a great many people say the numbers so quickly, it’s impossible to write them down. And so I’ve got to listen to the message again and hope I can decipher the rest of the numbers. The comedian, Kevin James, does a great bit on this issue that illustrates my frustration perfectly. You can find the clip HERE on YouTube.com.
To ensure the greatest likelihood to receive a returned call, state your name slowly and clearly, state who you are, state your phone number slowly and clearly, state the reason of your call very briefly, and then state your name and number once more. Name and number at the beginning, name and number at the end. Make it easy for people to return your phone call, and more often, you’ll hear back from them quickly.
Source: Jen Piccotti
Ask SatisFacts about a Productivity Analysis, because we know you are wondering, “Where does all my time go?”
Seen, Heard and Served
Join us for MProTV's Retention Report by Doug Miller, Jen Piccotti and Lia Nichole Smith! The Retention Report airs every 3rd Thursday at 12 p.m. EST / 9 a.m. PST. Register for this FREE 30-minute learning opportunity HERE.
• Click HERE to read Doug Miller’s Retention and Recession blog on NAA’s new ‘APTly Spoken’ blogsite.
• Are you LinkedIn? If you are, or if you're thinking about it, click HERE to join our Resident Retention Group on LinkedIn. Learn and share best practices on resident retention.
• Do you Twitter? Follow @SatisFactsLia, @SatisFactsJen and @SatisFactsDoug
SatisFacts Resident Relationship Management Services™
In today's challenging economy, it’s critical to protect your revenue by increasing resident retention. At a cost of nearly $4,000/move-out, our Resident Relationship Management Services™ (RRM) offer a clear financial benefit by helping clients identify and address the issues impacting unnecessary resident turnover.
SatisFacts Services That Will Enhance Your Resident Relationships
• Annual Telephone, Web, and Written Resident Satisfaction Surveys
• Insite® Unclosed Prospect, Move-In, Work Order Follow-Up and Pre-Lease Renewal web-based feedback surveys
• Employee Surveys
• Work-Time Analysis – a productivity study to identify how your teams are spending their time
• Custom Research Studies
Our ever-growing national client list, which includes many NMHC Top 50 and other leading firms like several NAHB Multifamily's Pillars of the Industry Management Companies of the Year, is evidence of the impressive impact our reports can have on the economic performance of your portfolio. What drives the value for our clients is our unique, timely, powerful, affordable and statistically reliable approach to tracking and reporting satisfaction.
SatisFacts has certainly caught the industry's eye, as evidenced by Doug Miller and Jen Piccotti being selected to speak regularly at the Multi-Housing World Conference, NAA Conference/Expo, and many local apartment associations. In addition, they are both frequently published in leading industry publications such as NAA's Units Magazine. Doug is also an Industry Expert on Multifamily Pro's Marketing Bulletin Board and a facilitator at their annual Brainstorming conference. SatisFacts is a proud member of the National Apartment Association's exclusive National Supplier Council, as well as the National Multi-Housing Council.
Client updates
Apartment Guide contracts for Insite CRM program pilot
Arizonia-based NMHC Top 50 new client contracts for Insite Program for its national portfolio.
California-based client renews contract for Annual Websurveys for its regional portfolio
California-based client contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Colorado-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Florida-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Florida-based client expands contract for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based client expands contract for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based client expands contract for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based new client contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based new client contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Georgia-based new client contracts for Insite Program pilot for its regional portfolio.
Illinois-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Illinois-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its national portfolio.
Maryland-based client expands contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Massachusetts-based NMHC Top 50 client expands contract for Insite Program for its national portfolio.
Massachusetts-based client contracts for Annual telesurvey for its regional portfolio
Massachusetts-based new client contracts for Annual Websurveys for part of its regional portfolio.
Pennsylvania-based client contracts for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Tennessee-based client renews and expands contract for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
South Carolina-based NMHC Top 50 client expands contract for Insite Program for its regional portfolio.
Texas-based client contracts for Annual Websurvey for its regional portfolio.
Texas-based NMHC Top 50 client expands contracts for Insite Program for its national portfolio.
Texas-based NMHC Top 50 new client contracts for Insite Program for its national portfolio.