What good is an answering service for a property manager?

Property management companies have a lot riding on their shoulders. Not only are they expected to help in the increase of the value of the property but are also supposed to ensure that the tenants’ needs are also met. So, with so much depending on you – attending tenant calls, collecting dues, property maintenance, and handling the steady flow of tenants in and out, it can become quite challenging to handle every aspect of the job on your own. This is why few companies have started relying on professional answering service for property management. So, if you too feel exhausted by the end of the day and find yourself extremely short on time, you can have a look at it too.

Benefits of choosing a great answering service for property management

• Better than automated systems: Let’s face it! Nobody likes an automated answering service as it forces people to choose options that may not actually reflect their problems or needs. On the other hand, when someone reaches out to your professional answering service, he or she gets to talk to a person right away. Such professionals are thoroughly trained to handle any and all property-related calls.

• Handling prospective tenants: Being a property manager yourself, individuals call you all the time for information about available units or other queries regarding the same. In such a scenario, hiring a professional answering service provider is of big help. Being a professional service, they are better equipped to respond to queries while you are busy dealing with other important stuff.

• Scheduling appointments: What does the work of a property management answering service generally entail? Apart from providing valuable information to people calling, such services are also great for scheduling appointments for people willing to come down to visit a particular unit or property. They can also come in handy for handling or scheduling maintenance appointments or rerouting calls to your maintenance staff, as might be necessary or applicable in your case.

• Elevated reputation: Perhaps one of the major benefits of having an answering service is that it elevates your business at par with the bigger property management companies and heightens your company reputation. The fact that it allows you to deliver the same level of professionalism as any other major property management firm, lets your callers know that they are dealing with a reputable company.

• Better overall efficiency: When your company invests in a robust 24/7 answering service for property management, your existing staff no longer needs to answer the phone in addition to their job role. Instead, the entire team can focus on other important aspects of the business and handle things in person when someone visits the office. This significantly ups the overall business efficiency.

• Offering personalized attention: Every caller is important as they all are potential leads, and thus, by roping in a professional answering service, you can offer more professional attention. Unlike an automated service, which repeats a pre-recorded message to whoever calls, you can offer much more through a reliable answering service. Giving people an opportunity to talk about issues, seek information about particular properties, and schedule appointments on the fly, would help your business in building a great professional relationship.

Key takeaway

While there are many companies that claim to offer unmatched answering services for property management companies, not all companies are alike. So, finding the right one for the job matters. Always go for an answering service that is well-established and has the requisite experience. They should have a reliable team of operators who are thoroughly trained and are equipped to handle calls efficiently. Apart from picking up calls, taking messages, and answering queries, they should also be able to schedule maintenance, handle simple backend jobs, and route calls to appropriate departments. They should be able to screen calls based on their severity and notify you about urgent messages or calls that can directly or indirectly have a bearing on the business.