EffEctivEcommunication
Howeffectively do youand yourmanaging agentcommunicate? Aleaseholder and
blockmanager, sharon Crossland puts in apleafor better customer service and relationship building
Don’tstop talking to your
property manager
always theaim-whether communication is written or verbal - and hazarding a guess I’d say propertymanagers probably all think they do it asamatterofcourse. It’s akey part of good customer service; after all, we can allsende-mails andmaketelephone calls can’t we? Customer serviceinthe leaseholdsectoris
*
likenoother.Whenmost peoplethink about customer servicetheyprobablythink about one-off situations,suchasthe advice they gotwhenmakingapurchase, or howthey were dealt withwhen returning faulty goods. However, as leaseholders,our customer service relationship with ourmanagingagent is somethingcompletelydifferentbecauseitlasts foraslongastheymanagethe blocks inwhich we live. It’s theservice they providefor us and our homes that determines howsuccessful this ongoing(andoften very long)relationship is goingtobe. Service levels provided by property
managers aredictatedbyanumberofdifferent factors, with oneofthe keyaspects being knowledge. Leaseholders expectproperty managers to have more knowledge than they do and this is particularly true ofRMC Directors.WhenIworkedforamanaging agentfor abrief period,somedirectors would phone with question after question. They weren’tdirectors of aFTSE100 companyso whyweretheydoing it?Ididn’treallyget it. It wasonlylater asmyownknowledge base expanded that Irealiseditwas becauseofthe incredibleamount of responsibility placed on themin theirrole; both they andthe resident management companyare treatedincompany lawexactly the sameas any other commercial director and company.
Flat Living Issue 17
translation?
Lost in
PutsimPly communicationis thesending andreceiving of informationthat’sgoing to be understoodbyall parties. This is
This iswhy leaseholdRMC directorsmust
be treated as professionals in their own right. It is oftentheywho areresponsible for employingthemanaging agent, just as any otherorganisationemploys itsworkforce. Whiletheymay nothavemuchknowledge aboutthe leaseholdsectortostart with, many will developthatknowledge (hopefully throughthemanaging agent) in order to instruct themmoreeffectively. Another factor that dictates service levels
fromthemanagingagent perspective is the number of flatsapropertymanagerhas in their portfolio. If this is toolarge then,withthe best will in theworld, effective communication will go straight outofthe window.E-mails will be scanned, rather than being read properly
leaseholdsector is like no other
andtelephone callstaken withoutactually hearingwhatisbeing said -particularlyifitis acomplaint. Both situations usuallymeanthat theresponseisatbest inappropriateoratworst, just downrightwrong. However, inappropriate or wrongresponses
are not just confined tomanaging agents. Ihad apotential situationwithmyown propertymanagerawhilebackbecauseinan e-mail he sentme, I thought he was teaching meto suck eggs andsaidasmuchinmy subsequent telephonecalltohim.However, as he explained tome,hehad to writecertain basicinformation in thee-mailtoensure he hadcovered allthe bases.Weendedup
serviceinthe customer
apologisingtoeachother andquicklymoved
on.Ithink this is agood example of howthe relationship betweenleaseholder(whether RMCdirectorornot)and propertymanager canbedeveloped over time.Butwhen a situationhas escalated, forwhateverreason, howcan communicationnot only be brought back on trackbut bemade moreeffectivein the future? Ithink it is importantthatthemanaging
agentalwaysremembers that they aredealing with thedeeplypersonaland sensitiveissues of leaseholder’shomes andfinances,making this a customer service environment like no other. There ismuch bad press associated with somelargermanaging agents butit should also be remembered that thereare ever increasing numbersofsmaller ones coming throughthe ranks, complete with good track recordsand satisfied
leaseholders.Ididn’t realise howgood someof themwere untilI was on the judging panel for the first ARMA-Q Award;Iwas totallyimpressed,not just by the tangible improvements they hadachievedbut by the relationships they had developed with theirleaseholders. Myadvice to propertymanagerswould
always be to apologise if it goeswrong.We knowit isn’talwaysyourfault butsaying‘sorry’ anyway canoftenprevent a problemfrom
worsening.Don’t send that e-mailimmediately but take the timeto go back, re-read andamend if necessary before sending(I’ve done itmyself and beenglad I did). Finally, if a more personal response is needed,make the telephone call standing up - apparently it allowsyou to think more clearly.●
sharon CrosslandisanAssociateoftheInstituteof ResidentialPropertyManagement (IRPM)andthefounder of theleasehold lifewebsite(
www.leaseholdlife.info)For thelastsixyears,Sharonhasbeenworkingastheon-site residential blockmanageronbehalf of thedirectors of the RMCwhichownsthefreehold of theblockof flatsinwhich shelives.
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