Just a Note

Do you ever just send your residents a note?  For no reason, just to say “Thank You”?  No?  Why not?  We all like to be thanked and you might just be missing out on a simple way to show your residents they are appreciated all the time…not just when their lease is about to run out…A few years back, I had a property that started having a lot of vacancies…we couldn’t figure out why.  The manager was a tough, by the lease kind of manager, but when surveys were done, most everyone liked her and she always scored well.  She had been with this property for many years and nothing had really changed.

After talking with the residents, it seems they felt a little under-appreciated.  Things had been busy in the office and she just didn’t seem to have the same ‘friendliness” as before…

So I challenged this manager to start writing “Thank you” on a post it, sign it and put that with most of the letters she sends out…I told her she didn’t have to put it on any Noncompliance letters…we didn’t want to confuse them…

She did this for 60-days and then I had another chat with the residents and most of the comments were…”I’m glad you guys stopped giving her so much work.”

I had to laugh becuase we didn’t change her work load, she just took those couple seconds to say Thank you…and it paid off…

Residents started telling their friends and family and she was 100% full within 90 days of  that first Thank you note…

So don’t forget to Thank your residents for…well, just for being your residents…