Property management is a never-ending job. Fielding the questions, complaints, and – sure – occasional praises from your tenants is a task that will never fit neatly between the hours of nine and five. Believe it or not an answering service can minimize property damage.
There are multiple ways a professional answering service can help property managers stay ahead of the curve with tenant needs. Of these, emergency response is perhaps the most integral. When handled with knowledge and compassion, call centers can help you maintain your cool, while minimizing property damage.
Here are four ways they do it:
- Offering 24-hour service: Electrical storms, plumbing disasters, snow-related snafus, and other emergency situations do not care about your schedule or anyone else’s. Their unpredictability makes continuous, open lines of communications between you and your tenants critical to minimize property damage. A call center can answer those cries for help when you are off the clock, out of range, or otherwise indisposed and provide you with complete, accurate, and up-to-date information.
- Keeping on-call lines straight: Delivering messages to the wrong technician can complicate and confuse matters, delaying assistance and exacerbating emergency situations. When a room is flooding, or tenants are stumbling around in a blackout, time is of the essence, and finding the right person for the job is paramount.
- Determining legitimacy: One of the primary ways an answering service can minimize property damage is simply differentiating between calls that are truly urgent and those that do not constitute a real emergency.
Concerns and dangers requiring immediate attention may include:
- Carbon monoxide detection
- Fire
- Flood
- Gas leaks
- Power outages
- Storms
- Vandalization
Noise complaints, parking violations, and minor leaks, on the other hand, do not pose an immediate danger to the health or wellbeing of your tenants or your properties.
Educated call center agents can handle these non-emergencies with diplomacy and grace while leaving your on-call lines open in the event of actual catastrophes.
- Providing reassurance: People tend to panic when things aren’t going their way. In times of crisis, they look for someone to provide some semblance of light in the tunnel when everything seems bleak.
A conscientious, knowledgeable call center agent can provide your tenants with reassurance that help is on the way. While this may not minimize property damage in the physical sense, it can absolutely be the deciding factor when it comes time for your renters to renew their lease, provide a referral, and more.
Empathizing with callers, sensing their needs – this is what sets Focus Telecommunications apart. When disaster strikes, we can help you minimize property damage, and maximize goodwill. Reach out to us today to see how we can help.