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What do prospective tenants see when they look at your property? Do they see the amenities? Is it the fresh coat of paint? The Cat5 wireless networking? The swimming pool? Most of them absolutely do see all of these factors, but there is another factor you can absolutely be sure every prospective tenant is taking note of: your property manager.

Every owner must consider the property manager as the face of the property. And, as such, must take careful consideration in choosing that person in order to ensure the property is represented in the most desirable manner. A good way of looking at it is as though the property is a brand and the property manager is the brand manager.

Here are some tips to ensuring prospective tenants get the very best impression of your brand:

1. Customer Service. How focused is your property manager on providing customer service? One of the worst things you can have happen to your brand is a bad customer experience due to an unhappy employee. Managers should be friendly and pleasant. Talk to him or her about the importance of smiling, learning and remembering tenant names, and creating friendly conversation with tenants as a daily habit. Tenants will take notice.
2. Bringing a property manager onto a property that he or she is not familiar with may be one of the worst things that can happen to the property as far as tenants are concerned. The property manager should know the city, the area, and the ins and outs of the property itself. Someone who is unknowledgeable will give the impression that the property is not well maintained or looked after, and that’s a warning sign to prospective tenants.
3. Nothing tells a tenant that he or she matters less to a property than the lack of responsiveness to his or her requests. Ensure the property manager knows the importance of returning calls and responding to emails or requests as quickly as possible, with the maximum time being 24 hours for non-emergencies.
4. We put this last, not because it isn’t as important, but because it isn’t the most important factor. Yet, the way a person presents him or herself does affect the way others see him or her and whatever it is they are representing. And, while career suits or church clothes aren’t necessary, ensuring the property manager is presentable with work-appropriate clothing, combed hair, etc., is an absolute-must.

How well does your property manager represent your interests? Even though the property itself is home to many people, it is very much a business for you, and should be handled as such. So, choose a property manager with which you identify and who will manage the day-to-day and overall activities of the property in accordance with your desires for how you wish it to be seen by others.

Have questions? We’ve got answers. Call the professionals at Class A Management today at 817-284-1441 or send us an email to info@classamgmt.com.

Have you ever read a book by the name of In Search of Excellence? It was written in 1982 by an author by the name of Tom Peters, and it very quickly became the go-to resource for managers seeking ways to create excellence in business. And, even with its age, it is still a reputable source for stellar tips on creating businesses that last.

Here is an excerpt:
“Consider research done by the Forum Corp. Fifteen percent of those who switched to a competitor did so because they ‘found a better product… Another 15 percent changed because they found a ‘cheaper product’… Twenty percent high-tailed it because of the ‘lack of contact and individual attention’… and 49 percent left because ‘contact from the old supplier’s personnel was poor in quality.’ It seems fair to combine the last two categories, after which we could say 70 percent defected because they didn’t like the human side of doing business with the previous product or service provider.”

As a property owner, this quote should speak to you about the importance of building relationships with your tenants. Exploring the human side to business means going beyond the rental transaction to let tenants know you appreciate their decision to make your property their home. It’s the effort made to provide them with options when it comes to communicating with you (email, text, online, phone). It’s reacting to their needs within a very reasonable time of them being expressed (24 hours or less on service requests).

And, in order to give that human element to the rental transaction, an attentive property manager is an absolute must. You need someone on the property who is paying attention to details. You need someone who is trusted and who knows how to instill that trust in the tenants, and make them feel safe and at home. And, you need someone who, most importantly, understands that without providing such things to tenants, there is a great likelihood (70%) those tenants will go elsewhere to find it.

Do you have a property manager with interests invested in the human side of the rental equation? If not, we can help. Contact the professionals at Class A Management today to learn more at 817-295-5959, or send us an email for more information to info@classamgmt.com.

Does your multifamily property still keep 9-5 hours that require tenants to make contact only during those times? Does it still have pay-in-person options only? And, is the designated form of communication an automated telephone call to tenants when important news must be shared? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions and you’re having a hard time renewing leases and staying at occupancy, we may have just uncovered the reason why.

Here’s the simple truth: younger generations not only need, but demand more efficient, advanced technology from their apartment complex. According to a recent article by Multifamily Executive, making any of these mistakes will likely affect your ability to recruit members of younger generations, most notably Generation Y (AKA Millenials). Thankfully, however, there are some relatively easy and cost-efficient fixes, as we explore here:

• Online Accessibility. If you’re only allowing your tenants to communicate with you during ‘normal’ business hours, you will likely not be hearing much from them. Become a 24/7 service by opening up the lines of communication online—giving tenants the ability to contact you directly through an service request portal or a simple Jot Form from your website. You do not have to answer immediately for this approach to work. These tenants simply want to be able to point out their needs as they arise and scratch it off their list with the knowledge you will address them in a reasonable amount of time thereafter. The key is providing the ability to reach out to you, whenever.
• Online Payments. If you have yet to explore the options available to you for accepting online payments, you are far behind the times and need to quickly get up to speed. While younger tenants demand it, almost all tenants prefer the ease of and ability to pay their rent online. And, it’s a fairly simple fix through a number of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers who can integrate a payment portal right into your website for a simple monthly fee.
• Stop the Calls. Do you ever wonder why hardly anyone will answer the phone when you call? Very few people enjoy calls that are not with friends and family, and even then, a significant portion of youngsters prefer texts and emails. To give tenants what they seek, you must do so using the methods they prefer. Stop the phone calls all together and start a mobile communications campaign that focuses on delivering pertinent messages via either text, email, or both—depending on their designation. You’ll likely find a far greater response rate.

Delivering high-tech solutions doesn’t end here. Millenials have expectations that extend beyond the ways in which they interact with you, to include the ways in which they are able to interact with others. So, ensure the property is properly equipped to allow tenants the best Internet access, phone service, and even mobile docking and charging solutions, and you’ll likely find your property is quickly ranked as favorable among the youngest of tenants.

For more information on Class A Management and its property management services, call 817-295-5959 or send an email to info@classamgmt.com.

What tactics are you using to market your multifamily property? If you’re like most, you probably have an ad on Craigslist, some signs around in the yards, a newspaper ad here and there, and a few subscriptions to services like Apartments.com, where your property is featured among others in the same zip code. Seems like you’ve covered everything, right?

Wrong.

If your property doesn’t have an online presence with marketing to promote it, you’re potentially missing out on some very savvy tenants. That’s because the majority of apartment hunters are going online these days to research their options before they ever get into a car and go driving around to see them in person. They want pictures and they want as much information as they can get to compare your property with their other top choices so they can make the most informed decision. And, search engine optimization (SEO) can help.

Here’s how:

1. Get a website. If you do not already have a site for your property, now’s the time. Get a site up that has a few interior and exterior images (the best you can get, even if you have to sink a little money into them), information on floor plans, information on pricing, and information on amenities. Then include address, contact information, and any specials you’re running for that month. Don’t worry – this doesn’t have to be a big site; even a one-pager will do the trick.
2. Optimize it. If you’re not sure what this means, hire a professional from Cowtown Creative to go into each page of the site and optimize it for search engines. This includes choosing the keywords that are relevant to your property, which prospective tenants might use in a search to find it (e.g., full property name, ‘fort worth apartment’, ‘family-friendly condo’).
3. If you have the budget and want to do so, consider AdWords. This is an offering through Google that allows businesses to purchase their top keywords for use in campaigns. So, when a user enters your keyword (fort worth apartment), and sees your ad at the top of the search results in Google and clicks on it, you are charged a single instance of the agreed-upon rate with Google (ranges in accordance with popularity; typically between $1 and $5). You can set a per-day budget in order to keep the campaigns within your marketing budget.

Need some assistance? We can help. Call the professionals at Class A Management and let us help you determine the most effective marketing methods for your property today. You can reach us at 817-295-5959 or by email at info@classamgmt.com.

If you don’t know this by now, marketing should always be top of mind for the successful property manager. While at one time, marketing was thought to be something that required a lot of money to be effective, times have changed. There are now a whole lot of resources and tools at your disposal, and many of them are free.

Our top 8 must-have free marketing tools for property managers are as follows:

1. WordPress. There are several Content Management Site (CMS) platforms out there, including Drupal and Joomla, but WordPress just happens to be our favorite. You can sign up for an account, install a free theme (included), plugin your content, images and contact information, and you are good to go. Of course, if you’re not familiar with WordPress, it may not be best to test your skill with your property’s site. You can hire a pro on Guru.com relatively cheap and be up and running in no time. Another option is the drag and drop site, Wix.com.
2. Twitter. Nowhere else can you reach such a wide audience in 140 characters or less. Simply sign up for an account, spend some time customizing your profile, and then start a follow campaign. You do this by identifying businesses or brands in your industry, already established on Twitter. Take MHN, for example. You follow them and then follow some of their followers. They will more than likely follow you back. Make sure to target your local chamber, BBB, SBA, and the like. Use hashtags in your posts that are local-friendly, such as the city and property name.
3. Instagram. Another very powerful social media tool, Instagram allows you to showcase some of the more “backstage” occurrences. This is where you might post pics of the staff, event involvement, tenant highlights, and the like. Connect to Facebook so posts are automatically posted in both places.
4. YouTube. You must have a YouTube channel if you have a multifamily property. The likelihood that a prospective tenant is going to first look for a virtual tour of your property and units is high, so make sure it’s easy for them to do so. Simply sign up for an account, create a channel, grab your cell phone or video camera, and shoot.
5. Facebook. This social network is popular; however, small businesses are having a hard time reaching audiences if they aren’t paying in advertising for content posts. So, while Facebook is a place where you should at least have a business page that is updated regularly, it isn’t likely this will be the platform where you’ll have a lot of interaction with prospects.
6. 1-2-3 Press. This is only one example of the many available free press sites on the web. Simply create your newsroom, identify something newsworthy (volunteer opportunity, property improvements), write the press, and upload it using city and property name as tags. We recommend you search for a press release how-to or template is this is your first time writing one.
7. MailChimp. If you have fewer than 2,000 recipients a month, you can use a service like MailChimp to send up to 12,000 emails every month. The best thing about MailChimp is that you have access to its full library of awesome and fully-customizable templates, in addition to an analytics dashboard that shows you just how well your communications perform.
8. Volunteering. There’s little out there in terms of positive and free publicity than that which is achieved through volunteering. Get your staff and/or tenants together to work at the local food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, or other local charity. The face and brand exposure time you’ll receive is immeasurable in terms of marketing.

Can we help you get the most from your marketing efforts? Contact the professionals at Class A Management today to learn more. Call us at 817-295-5959 or send us an email to info@classamanagement.com.