What would you do with an extra hour or two to spare in your workday? We’ve all heard of the old adage, “work smarter, not harder.” But, in the world of property management, this may be hard to do. Improving productivity in your rental office oftentimes means hiring additional help, but this doesn’t have to always be the case.
Take a look at these three things you can do to give you the additional time you need to manage your property more effectively. You can then dedicate your attention to where it needs to be most—your residents.
1. Partner with a contact center
Between the phone calls, prospect tours, paperwork and the occasional “fire,” a property manager’s job is never done. And though we may yearn for the ability, unfortunately, we cannot be everywhere at all times. Every time the phone rings in your leasing office, there’s a chance that it could be your next signed lease. If there’s no one available to answer the call, there’s also a chance the prospect has moved on to the next property, which equates to lost marketing dollars and time. To solve this problem, it may be a good idea to consider investing in a leasing contact center. These centers are able to capture those missed calls 24/7, which gives you and your team more time to focus on resident tours, marketing strategies and the day-to-day office duties.
2. Accept payments online
Every month those rent checks come pouring in, and you and your staff can spend anywhere from a few hours to days manually opening envelopes, processing and depositing. By taking rental payments online, you can skip it all. You are able to withdraw rent from your residents’ bank accounts automatically and have it deposited right into your community’s bank account. Aside from the fact that online rental payments are one of the top requested tenant amenities, online rent collection cuts down on processing times, allowing you the freedom and flexibility to handle other important tasks.
3. Simplify the maintenance request process
An apartment community can receive between ten to an upwards of fifty or more maintenance requests daily. If there is no streamlined process to tackle such requests, they can become a complete nightmare to handle. Not to mention, your tenants suffer in the process. It may be advantageous for your community to transition to online maintenance requests. Through one, streamlined portal, your tenants are able to submit their issues in one place. Depending on the software you choose, you can also assign to different workers, prioritize jobs, and even offer status updates to save both parties the hassle of a phone call. Your maintenance team will appreciate the convenience and organization, and the new automation will allow them the ability to address more property issues in less time and with greater efficiently.
Let Rentbot help improve your productivity
Every Rentbot site is already equipped with a seamless online payment system that accepts both credit cards and bank drafts. With Rentbot, your leasing team can skip the envelop openings and multiple trips to the bank. Additionally, through our online maintenance request portal, tenants are able to report their maintenance issues from any mobile device. Through Rentbot’s online capabilities, you will not only cut down on processing times, but enable your maintenance team to handle more requests in less time. It’s a win for both you and your tenants—who can say no to that? Improve your leasing office’s productivity by investing in Rentbot. We guarantee that you’ll be glad you did!
About the Author
Jonsette Calloway joined the Rentbot team in 2015. With a background in public relations, advertising and copywriting, she has helped a multitude of clients achieve their marketing and communications goals within various fields, but she particularly enjoys working with the apartment industry.