IRPM CEO Andrew Bulmer tells us why communication is the key to great customer service
A decade ago, a great property manager was one who could demonstrate strong technical skills delivered efficiently within budget. In the last few years our sector has undergone a huge cultural shift and today’s clients and residents expect a whole lot more from their agents. Property managers are still expected to possess a forensic understanding of how leases and buildings work, to keep blocks running efficiently, to be compliant with all the relevant legislation and to set and work within realistic budgets. But what customers increasingly expect from their property agents in addition to all that is, we are told, excellent service.
Customer service, which we wrap up into ‘Customer and consumer’ is one of the IRPM’s 4 Elements of professional property management. This aspect of service delivery is about a great deal more than just responding rapidly to enquiries and providing a contact for complaints.
Developing strong relationships with clients and customers for me has four components
Competence.
Doing the basics well. I.e., being a competent, qualified professional
Creating trust.
I.e., behaving ethically and being transparent about what you do and why.
Having empathy.
There are some genuinely bad people in the world, but not many. Mostly, we are all just trying to rub along without too much grief. It’s not easy when homes and money, both of which have star billing in the pantheon of emotive triggers, are our subject.
Communication.
We’ve gone beyond ‘say what you do’ into a more complex world of different channels carrying information, and sometimes disinformation, in all directions. Mastery of communication is key to demonstrating competence, conveying empathy and securing trust.
These things are fundamental to customer service.
Our clients and customers inhabit a fast-paced digital environment where companies like Amazon, Uber and Netflix can deliver a virtually seamless service and respond instantly to queries and this is what consumers now expect from all providers.
Residents expect to be given open and easy access to information about their block, rather than it simply resting in the hands of property managers. With so much digital technology now at our fingertips, property managers can communicate with their customers more easily than ever before. We need to embrace digitisation to help us pin down what our customers want so we can develop better services and build trust.
Customer service in our industry is more nuanced than in sectors such as retail. Technical competence is key but first class service delivery also encompasses resident engagement, relationship building – which we all know isn’t always easy – and keeping the lines of communication open, even when there is bad news to be delivered. This is the human face of property management and it has really come into its own in the last 12 months. Customer service has been elevated to prime position in the property management skill set during the Covid-19 pandemic. With residents in lockdown spending more time at home than ever before and conscious of every property niggle, a fast and efficient response has been key to ensuring customer satisfaction, not easy when your own world of work is grappling with home working, while your contractor has just gone down with Covid.
This is a tough time for everyone.
Plus, many leaseholders are also under huge stress from building safety risks and the financial strain of waking watches and paying for remediation. Small wonder they can get super-stressed. The property managers who really stand out to their customers can be the ones who have gone beyond just keeping buildings clean, compliant and well-maintained and have offered support to residents who are struggling, sometimes while struggling themselves. All that is about much more than just putting a process in place. It means embracing the soft skills around trust and empathy that are harder to learn – and to teach.
Perhaps the key to all this is to scrap the phrase ‘customer service’ altogether and focus on customer relations instead. After all, that’s really what we’re talking about here. If we can put ourselves in the shoes of our clients and leaseholders and genuinely understand what they need from us – beyond the practical skills that all professionals can provide – that’s when building management services will really be moved up the value chain. That way lies success – and professional managing agents, as well as their client base, will benefit.
The Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) is the professional body for residential property management specialists and provides nationally accredited qualifications, guidance on career pathways and resources, to assist property managers within their roles.
IRPM is dedicated to supporting, building, and setting the standards of the profession.
