Creating Loyal Tenants

Many tenants are satisfied with their leasing experience, but is satisfied good enough? Satisfied tenants feel that their basic renting expectations are met, such as a working AC and a kept up building. This tenant isn’t looking for anything beyond the status quo. But what if your tenant was truly loyal? What would that look like? A loyal tenant is one that sings your property praises to those they work and socialize with. They encourage others to contact you to see if you have any upcoming apartments available. They promote your services, property and brand to others, through social media and word of mouth. How great is that? As you can imagine, this type of loyal tenant can increase your revenue, save you time, and increase the value of your investments.

Now, how can you turn your satisfied tenants into loyal tenants? A few actions on your part, as a landlord, can increase the likelihood that your tenants will refer others to you.

#1 Spend a Few Minutes

Meet with your tenants at move-in time, spend 20-30 minutes sharing the features of the property, answering questions and making them feel welcome. Do this at move-out as well – ensure tenants are familiar with move-out procedures, and use this time to gain their input.

Many of our landlords with loyal tenants ensure they walk around their property and casually speak with residents who might be outside.  This is an easy way to make a personal connection.Your tenants want to feel valued and appreciated. With a quick “hello”, and a friendly conversation, tenants will feel a personal connection with you and their apartment home.

#2 Survey Your Current Tenants

Survey? Yes. Understanding your current tenant’s loyalty factor is a key step in making improvements. By gauging your tenant’s likes, dislikes, what’s working and what isn’t, you gain an understanding of your opportunities to make the tenant’s experience better. How can you survey? Consider a few options: a quarterly email to tenants asking for areas of improvement, a personal call on a periodic basis, or feedback tools on your website. Some landlords engage online survey tools, such as SurveyMonkey for periodic feedback.

By asking where you can improve, tenants gain a sense that you care and are invested in them.

#3 A Great Response

Now that you have input on what you can do better as a landlord or property manager, ensure you respond quickly with a follow-up email to let your tenant know you’ve received their feedback.  Set a policy that you will respond to feedback or questions within 24 hours. Nothing is worse than asking for feedback and doing nothing with it! So, at minimum, acknowledge the suggested improvements. When possible, share with the tenant your next steps to improve on their recommendations.

What if you can’t make a suggested change? If your tenants are asking for a new pool, and you can’t pull that off – share with the tenants other options. This might include a negotiated discounted rate a nearby gym, or alternative locations closeby to take a swim.

As often as possible, truly consider the suggestions for improvement, and prioritize a few for change.

#4 Make It Easy

The biggest way to create loyalty is to make renting with you as easy as possible.  Providing services that remove any hassles associated with renting is a key step. Landlord software, such as Schedule My Rent, removes the hassles that go along with paper check rent payments.

Many of our landlords share that the biggest source of dissatisfaction with tenants is the rent payment process. When paper checks or money orders are sent, the tenant can’t be sure how long the postal service will take to deliver the payment. This may cause the tenant to incur costly late fees. In some cases, rent payments are lost in the mail, causing concern on both sides, as both parties are unsure what happened to the payment. In this case, the tenant often needs to put a stop payment on the check, again incurring fees.  If you collect rent online with Schedule My Rent, concerns are minimized, as the payment is automatically sent and received.

  

 With Schedule My Rent, your tenants are able to pay rent electronically, saving them time and effort. Schedule My Rent automatically:

·         Reminds tenants that a rent payment is due

·         Allows the tenant to approve payments

·         Provides the tenant with receipt of payment

·         Enables tenants to split payments between roommates

All of these features make it easy for your tenants to pay rent. Schedule My Rent provides them with the assurance that their payment is received on time each month, as the rent payment is pulled from their account on the same day each month. This avoids costly late fees, again improving your tenant’s experience.

 Want loyal tenants? A few simple steps can turn your satisfied tenants into loyal tenants. Creating a personal connection with your tenants, seeking feedback and making it easy to rent with you are key elements to creating loyal tenants. A few simple tools, like allowing tenants to pay rent online with Schedule My Rent, save you and your tenants time and effort, and make renting with you, a better experience.