Should You Hire a Property Management Call Center?

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Are you planning to successfully launch a property management company? Or do you have one that’s already running? As a property manager, part of your job is getting never-ending calls. Calls on leaky faucets, vandalized property, broken pipes, and disputes between neighbors can come early in the morning, late at night, or anytime during the day. While answering calls is not your top priority, avoiding them can turn away clients, resulting in business closure. So, what should you do to ensure all calls are answered and issues resolved? Partner with a property management call center. Are you curious about what a call center is and why your property management business needs a call center? Read on to find out.

What Is a Property Management Call Center?

TechTarget defines a call center as a centralized department that’s responsible for inbound and outbound calls from current and potential customers. With this in mind, you can define a property management call center as a professional service that responds to tenant requests. Agents at property management call centers are available 24/7, meaning they respond to emergencies and process maintenance requests any time of the day.

Now you have an idea of what a property management call center does. Let’s delve into the benefits they offer property managers.

1. You’ll Have More Time for Enhanced Property Management by Partnering with a Call Center

As defined by The Balance, the responsibility of a property manager is to maximize the return on investment of a property through efficient performance of:

Budgeting and marketing
Facility upkeep
Risk management
Ensuring tenant occupancy

Between budgeting, preparing financial reports, marketing, and capturing new tenant leads, handling calls is the last thing you want to think of. However, you still need an effective communication system to ensure tenants can reach you quickly and have their issues resolved without interrupting you.

A property management call center does that. It supports streamlined communication with tenants, property owners, and potential renters. By answering calls on your behalf and calling tenants to remind them of rent, call center agents reduce inconvenient interruptions. The outcome will be that you can invest more time focusing on the core aspects of your property management business.

2. It Will Give You the Chance to Streamline Property Maintenance Operations

One thing a call center does for your property management business is to serve as a single point of contact. How does this benefit you as a property manager? When all calls for maintenance requests are directed to one place, cases of miscommunication are reduced significantly. You’ll also maintain streamlined property maintenance operations, thus improving efficiency.

For example, it’s common for tenants to make emergency calls saying a boiler is broken when it isn’t. An event like a storm causing floods will force tenants to make an overwhelming number of calls.

Having a team of professional call center agents can help make sense of what’s an emergency and what’s not Typically, your receptionist or call handler will organize all logged calls into an easy-to-view priority list. That way, you can organize how to respond to each call. For instance, let’s say two tenants call complaining of a similar maintenance problem, like leaky faucets. This complaint will be visible on the call log. For a property manager like you, arranging for a maintenance contractor to fix both issues during the same visit becomes easy, hence reducing costs.

3. A Call Center Will Give You After Hours Customer Support

A healthy work-life balance is one thing property managers find difficult to maintain. Regardless of how keenly you follow essential property manager tips like scheduling and delegating tasks, you could receive maintenance emergency calls in the middle of the night. A tenant might call during the weekend to report a conflict with a neighbor.

Ideally, when you’re managing property, be it residential or commercial, it’s hard to relax. However, investing in a call center can save you the stress of having to respond to calls at night or during your time off work. How? Your call center will provide after-hours phone answering services, meaning they’ll receive calls and provide the help your tenants need 24/7.

As reported by STAFFVIRTUAL, having around-the-clock call center support ensures prompt attention to tenant inquiries and property management needs. While you can build an efficient in-house call center, it makes sense to outsource your phone answering needs. You’ll save time and money on training, enjoy customizable services, and receive data-driven insights to improve your property management customer service.

4. A Call Center Will Increase Customer Satisfaction

How would you feel if a service provider didn’t respond to your calls fast? Of course, you would feel frustrated. That’s how tenants and landlords feel when property managers don’t provide answers or solutions promptly.

Based on an article published in Forbes, responding quickly to clients to ensure they know you’re addressing their problems is a vital part of customer service. The best way to enhance customer service in property management is to have a call center. With a help desk or call receptionists, you’ll ensure there’s someone available to pick up calls, reduce wait time, and provide quick responses.

Whether your customers are calling to report an emergency or make a simple inquiry, a quick response will give them peace of mind. Tenants will report high rates of satisfaction, which will lead to an enhanced business reputation, thus attracting more tenants. Landlords, too, will feel satisfied and compelled to renew contracts with your company because you handle phone calls with professionalism and efficiency.

Conclusion

Answering calls from tenants all day every day is a tedious task. The best solution for property managers is to delegate this task to a call center, where calls will be handled efficiently and effectively. Having a call center in-house or outsourced to another company gives you more time to concentrate on important business matters.

Another reason property managers need a call center is that receptionists or call agents are available 24/7. They also streamline property maintenance services. Most importantly, collaborating with a call center improves customer satisfaction by ensuring tenants and landlords have someone to listen to them and offer solutions.