Tenant communication is always important but now vital during covid-19.
By Barbara Jackson
With COVID-19 affecting every aspect of daily life, it’s important for tenants to know that their landlords, property managers, and real estate agents are keeping lines of communication open. Learn how housing professionals are using technology to manage tenant communication during COVID-19.
Be prepared
Tenants are going to continue to have a lot of questions surrounding COVID-19. Consider adding an FAQ section to your website, so your tenants have one place to go to get all their questions answered. Address any changes in operations, such as new safety precautions, the hours your office is open (if at all), how tenants can pay their rent safely and efficiently, and how you are showing new properties. Update all of your business listings to have your current hours of operation, and direct your tenants to the FAQ page on your website.
Be patient with your tenants. Do your best to give them all the information you can, and assure them that their safety is your No. 1 priority.
Be available to prospects
Prospective tenants cannot communicate with you if they are unaware of how to contact you. Set up your website with various chat options for tenant communication so that you never miss an opportunity to connect with a new prospective tenant.
Live chat options
Folks are still looking for housing, even in these trying times. With a large portion of the nation working remotely, prospects may think that your office is closed, and avoid calling your business number. Having live chat installed on your website can make communication easier.
When prospects need to get in touch with you, they can go to your website, click on the live-chat icon, and type in their questions. An employee can answer these questions in real-time easily from their computer or mobile phone.
You may be thinking that it would be a drain on your company’s resources to have an employee available 24/7 on live chat. In that case, housing professionals can use BirdEye Webchat. When a prospect is on a website, they can click on the existing live chat icon, but if a representative is not available, the prospect can leave a message along with a phone number. Then, an employee will respond through a text message once they are available.
Chatbots
If you want to get answers for your prospects even faster, consider using a chatbot; it’s easy to set one up to work with various live-chat and webchat services. Chatbots are able to answer FAQs like, “What are your hours?” or “Where are you located?” Not only does this get prospects an immediate answer, but chatbots help employees dedicate their focus on answering more detailed questions. This saves your business valuable time and resources, and delivers your prospects a better customer experience.
Create easy communication with your tenants
Whether you are answering emails from home, researching new listings, or managing your properties on-the-go, chances are you always have your mobile phone with you. Your tenants are no different. Business texting is a fantastic way to set up easy two-way communication with your tenants.
Use SMS texting to send payment reminders, schedule appointments to view new properties, or to send important updates about the safety precautions you are taking. Have your tenants save this number so they know to text with any questions they may have during this uncertain time.
Track tenant communication in one spot
It can be overwhelming to track all of your conversations with prospects and tenants across multiple platforms. Instead of hopping from platform to platform, use a unified inbox so that all of your conversations can be stored in one place. With a unified inbox, you can be notified with each new message, respond to it, and store conversation history in one hub. Effortlessly keep track of tenant communication and let your tenants and prospects know that they are your top priority.
With the right resources we can all adjust to these unique circumstances. Install live chat on your website, make your business phone number textable, or store your communications in one inbox, with BirdEye. BirdEye Interactions has everything housing professionals need to manage their tenant communications during COVID-19.
About the author:
Barbara Jackson is a marketing writer at BirdEye. She has degrees in Nonfiction Writing and Communications & Rhetoric, and writes on a variety of topics ranging from Online Reputation Management to Customer Experience and SEO.
