An answering service for property management offers several benefits to your business. It provides 24/7 support to your clients by answering their calls on time, thus enhancing tenant satisfaction. Besides, it gives your staff enough time to focus on other crucial business tasks, ensuring efficiency and professionalism.
If you are selecting a property management answering service, you will have a variety of options to choose from. However, not all answering service providers are the same. Therefore, it is important to consider all the pertinent factors in your choice to get a property management service that will serve you cost-effectively.
We have compiled a list of things to consider when choosing an answering service for your property management needs. Keep reading to learn more.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Answering Service for Property Management
As a property manager, you will have several roles, such as handling tenant problems, managing rent, setting rent, and screening tenants. It can be challenging and overwhelming to perform all these tasks while simultaneously taking phone calls from your clients. A reliable property management answering solution is a good solution for your firm handling large volumes of phone calls.
Here are factors you need to consider when choosing the best answering service for property management.
Years of Experience and Qualifications of Staff
Property management is a complex and highly competitive industry. The best way to put your firm in the right hands and remain at the top of the game is to ensure that the answering service provider you work with is established and has a good reputation.
Has the answering service won any awards? Have they received good reviews or testimonials? Do they possess any certifications from property management associations? These questions will help you narrow down your choices to find a reliable and trustworthy answering service provider.
When choosing an answering service for property management, you should determine their level of knowledge and experience with basic call answering as well as other matters related to property management.
If they have the necessary experience, they are likely to hit the ground running. You will not have to spend much time bringing them up to speed. Besides, they may even offer you best practice suggestions and tips based on their previous experience.
In addition, you must make sure that the answering service you are considering has a well-trained staff. With a well-trained staff, you and your clients will receive quality answering service that is always consistent. Therefore, the company should have professional and courteous customer service representatives who understand the needs of property management companies.
Hours of Operation
Important phone calls often come during holidays, weekends, or when your office is closed for the day. These calls can be from potential tenants experiencing emergencies or people who simply cannot call during regular office hours because of work or other engagements. If you are not accessible, a person considering renting from you may just move onto the next property or housing option on their list. A reliable answering service will keep your phone lines open.
When choosing an answering service for property management, it is essential to consider the company’s availability and potential hours of operation. The ideal answering service provider should be available 24/7 to serve your clients. With a 24/7 or after-hours property management answering service, you will relax knowing that your tenants’ phone calls will always be answered. They will work for you with features such as after-hours coverage, overflow support, and appointment scheduling.
A reliable answering service will increase customer satisfaction and ensure you do not lose potential and existing clients to other firms.
Receptionist Services
An answering service for property management may offer a wide variety of services. Most of them will only take messages, answer phone calls, screen calls, and forward you the most critical calls. Others will offer advanced services, such as customer support and appointment scheduling. If you need these additional, advanced services, you should consider a property management answering service that offers them.
While some property management answering service providers will train their virtual receptionists to provide detailed information about your firm, others have receptionists who will only take a basic message from the caller. When choosing an answering service for your property management firm, you should consider one that can provide helpful information, such as rental rates and availability.
The ideal virtual receptionist should be equipped to offer financial management support like collecting rent and other expenses. They should also be able to help with tracking expenses and providing reports to the owners. In the case of an HOA, it can help with collecting dues, scheduling/confirming meetings, and updating the board of directors.
Since offering some of these receptionist services requires additional training, not all property management answering service providers will offer them. You should research their capabilities and determine the services you need most and those you can do without.
Ability to Handle Maintenance Emergency Calls
When choosing an answering service for property management, it is important to consider the provider’s ability to handle maintenance emergence calls. When tenants call for assistance, they expect their issues to be addressed immediately. If their calls are not answered, they may become frustrated and seek help from another firm.
It is important to find out how the company trains its employees and how they handle a surge in call volume. The ideal answering service for property management should work with your staff to develop a list of after-hour emergencies that need escalation. You can provide them with variable scripts and workflows to accommodate each type of situation. Common property management emergencies include:
- Plumbing emergencies
- Disturbance and noise complaints
- Water or gas leaks
- Front gate repair
- Electrical problems
- Refrigerator Repair
- Broken doors, locks, and windows
Your answering service should have well-trained virtual receptionists to handle maintenance emergency calls. The receptionist should be polite and professional on the phone. They should be able to screen calls using a series of questions that help them determine the level of severity and route only high-urgency calls.
Customizable Solutions
The live answering service you choose should be able to offer customizable solutions to meet the specific needs of your property management company. You should verify that they offer automated services such as automated appointment scheduling and payment processing. This will allow you to put more staff resources toward other roles.
In addition, if you need an additional language for your phone answering service, you should look for a company that offers bilingual services. For instance, with the large numbers of Spanish speakers in the United States of America, you will need to find an answering service company that can help both English and Spanish speakers.
You should also consider the company’s expertise and efficiency. You can find out what qualifications the company looks for when hiring its employees.
In Summary
A good answering service for property management will offer 24/7 customer support to your clients by answering their calls on time. It will also help your company run smoothly by ensuring employees have enough time to focus on other essential tasks. When choosing a property management service, you should consider the company’s experience, receptionist services, hours of operation, and ability to handle emergency maintenance calls.
Whether managing apartments, commercial buildings, or HOAs, Always Answer has been working within the property management industry for more than three decades. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you choose the best answering service for your property management company.
