This month, my article may make you a little uncomfortable, and it may be confronting but please remember it all comes from a place of support. I want to see you all succeed and win, but to do that I need to warn some of you that it is time to up your game.
Our MLR sales and rentals competitors are getting very savvy when it comes to marketing their service. You should be aware that if you do not consistently build solid and meaningful relationships with your investors or show them that you are the best agent to look after their investment they might move on.
Whenever I receive an email or a phone call from an onsite manager to inform me that they have just obtained a ‘change of management’ letter from one of their investors it hurts. It is definitely something that I don’t like to hear but it hurts even more when I ring the investor to try and mend the situation and I find they don’t know the huge benefits of having an onsite manager look after them.
If your investor can not see the advantage of having you, an onsite agent who is available literally seven days a week, before and after hours, who walks past their investment daily, can fix minor repairs, can help tenants at the drop of a hat and is financially invested in the business, then I must ask, are you servicing them at the highest possible level?
If an outside agent is attacking your building and attracting your investors it is time to take a look at your business and be accountable. You can’t sit and blame “Britney from Big Shot Realty” for doing her job, you just need to start doing yours better. What is the saying? “You can’t control what others do only what you can do about it” (or maybe I just made that up).
Please note that having ‘hard’ conversations are not something I enjoy, so know that the last paragraph was extremely hard for me to write.
Now for the solution…
- First, if your investors are leaving and they don’t see the value in you, hold your chin up because you got this!
- Next, take a morning/afternoon or day to focus purely on your investors. If you are brave enough, which I know you are, pick up the phone and call them and ask for constructive criticism. Ask how they think you are doing and if there is anything they would like to see improved. Or they might feel more comfortable writing feedback in an email instead of over the phone, so be sure to offer them that. Some people don’t like to give feedback in person or over the phone (I know this from personal experience).
- Take their feedback and use it to improve your service and exceed their expectations.
- Keep in contact with them and show them that you are listing to them and their requests.
- Document everything you do for them and tell them what you do.
- Remember my mantra: You can’t sell a secret.
- On a broader scale, send out newsletters to all owners and ensure every edition includes a write up about something you have done for an investor, something that’s an example of when you go ‘above and beyond’. If you can also rustle up a couple of testimonials, even better.
- Finally, decide that now is the time to take charge and be on the offence not the defence (again hoping this is the right reference).
I want to finish by reassuring you that every business has its competitors, it is inevitable and, in my opinion, healthy. It keeps us accountable and allows us to evolve and grow in our business. Don’t be too worried about what your competitors are doing, instead focus on improving your business and relationships and they won’t stand a chance anyway.