Top 5 Resident Complaints

Smarter ways to solve them

By Erica Rascón on Sep 2, 2014 in News

J Turner Research analyzed 10,000 customer satisfaction surveys from multi-family communities throughout the nation to determine the top resident complaints. The results reveal that renter satisfaction does not depend on a slew of custom features and amenities. Rather, four out of five complaints depend solely on how onsite staff manages priorities:

1. Rental rates
2. Poor grounds/common area upkeep
3. Disorganized staff/lack of communication with staff
4. Quality of response to maintenance requests
5. Overall customer service experience

Yardi clients weigh in on how they handle multi-family’s most ubiquitous complaints.

Rental Rates There is little that onsite staff can do to influence long term rent rates. That’s why it’s important for staff to hone in on the assets around them, reminding residents that they are paying for the unit and all that the location has to offer.

Larry Busgeon, Controller at Landmark Realty of San Francisco, has no issue with marketing exceptionally high rents. The prices are a great value because the city has so much to offer. “It’s a wonderful place to live and you have to pay to live in a highly desirable area,” says Busgeon. He’s ready with a list of the city’s best features: restaurants, culture, cutting edge environmental programming, a unique political atmosphere, great schools, natural beauty, and moderate weather year round.

Finding ways to forge a direct relationship between the property and what the community has to offer will add value for residents. Staff may create alliances with local businesses, sending customers their way in exchange for discounted goods and services.

Maintenance Crews Whether landscaping and maintenance technicians are hired in house or through a third party vendor, they are still representatives of office management. As such, it’s important for onsite staff to make sure that technicians are staying on top of work orders and assignments without wasting time with micromanagement. Maintenance Mobile ensures that managers can address resident concerns and monitor technicians’ progress with the touch of a button.

Andre Teixeira, CFO at The Graham Companies, has experienced great success with Yardi Maintenance Mobile, “All of our maintenance crew has mobile phones that they’re able to—in real time—receive work orders that are assigned to them.  They’re able to go from resident to resident instead of having to go back to the office like we used to do in the past.  And when they are at the location, they can take pictures, automatically attached them to the work order, and close the work order in real time.  That has improved our service level significantly.”

Onsite Staff Organization and Customer Service Equipping onsite staff with innovative technology can improve efficiency, freeing personnel from the tedium of daily operations so that they can focus on customer care.

For Robyn Wilhite, VP of Operations at McCormack Baron, Yardi CHECKScan and Yardi PAYScan have allowed onsite staff to focus on improved customer service. “It’s so important that we stay on top of so many things that anything that can be automated to make us more efficient, it just puts us that much farther ahead,” says Wilhite. “We’re not spending time buried in paper. We’re actually able to work with the residents.” HOUSINGCafe and Yardi Payment Processing make it easy for McCormack Baron’s onsite staff to complete lease agreements and payments without the hassle of paperwork.

Automated processes make filing and verification easier, promoting an onsite staff that is organized and efficient. Automated processes also relieve stress from onsite personnel, allowing them to develop the sort of customer service that residents will remember when it is time to renew the lease or make recommendations to friends and family.

With the proper tools and perspective, common tenant complaints can be transformed into great selling points for any property.