According to a 2018 global tenant survey by the CBRE Group, a commercial real estate and investment firm, findings show that building management was the highest-rated factor for tenant satisfaction.
With this in mind, properties that aim to be a step ahead of their competition should look toward improving their tenant satisfaction efforts.
In this article, we’ll explore how effective building management may have an influencing factor in improving this metric, and how specific strategies can be implemented to improve it.
Note: The report is now unavailable on CBRE’s official website, but we find that it’s still credible information, as it has been referenced multiple times by real estate firms.
Why is Tenant Satisfaction Important?
Aside from ethical reasons, keeping your tenants happy can be a factor for thriving in a competitive industry such as real estate.
How? According to a 2023 report on how tenant satisfaction matters in the commercial building sector, findings show that happier tenants offer landlords and property owners a consistent income stream by offering the following benefits:
- 8.36% more likely to renew their leases. This reduces costly turnover and vacancy rates for landlords
- Project a 0.17% increase in the growth of gross rents and a 0.59% increase in effective gross rent.
- 11.52% more likely to attract new tenants through positive word-of-mouth
This can also lead tenants to become more cooperative and careful of your property, leading to fewer maintenance issues, which lowers repair costs.
Conversely, if tenants are unsatisfied with your current arrangement, you will unlikely have the capacity to scale your business.
Fortunately, facility management services such as Connect Facilities can help resolve such issues and improve upon existing systems by employing the latest industry techniques to keep tenant satisfaction high.
With that said, here are two ways in how effective building management help you reach this metric:
Optimising Response and Action Times
Whether it’s through a phone call, email, or a visit to the front desk, we found that most tenants expect a response to non-emergency issues within 24 hours, and emergency issues within two hours or less.
Slow response times can slowly build frustration and dissatisfaction among your tenants, and if push comes to shove, may result in high turnover and vacancy rates.
With this in mind, it’s critical for any property to address any concerns before they escalate, and implementing a communication channel can solve tenant requests without the landlord being physically there whenever there’s an issue to be resolved.
While automated systems are effective, a concierge offered by a facility management service can be considered an even better communication channel.
They are often perceived as a ‘luxurious’ liaison between tenants and the building manager, coordinating with maintenance staff to solve requests, and relay personalised updates to tenants.
Additionally, from an operational perspective, concierge services aim to address tenant queries regardless of time, with maintenance issues arising even late at night. Having the right staff to properly address these queries at odd hours will demonstrate your property’s attentiveness in meeting the needs of your tenants, which leads to higher satisfaction.
Scheduling Regular Maintenance Checks
When issues like faulty elevators, leaky pipes, or broken air conditioning systems arise, tenants expect them to be fixed as soon as possible, especially if they happen during the day.
This is an important factor to address as these issues may disrupt the daily life of residential tenants and interfere with day-to-day operations with commercial tenants.
Multiple case studies by Oownee, a property management software, found that properties with frequent maintenance checks had fewer major fixes over time as building managers can promptly schedule repairs to address the situation.
In the same study, landlords who made it an onus to promptly address maintenance issues saw a significant jump in tenant retention rates. This is likely due to tenants seeing them as reliable, seeing their issues were quickly addressed and taken care of.
This proactive stance helps lower long-term costs in terms of repairs, improve the life-cycle of the building, and keep tenants happy by preventing problems from building up frustration and interfering with daily life.
Facility management services can help landlords identify aspects upon which they need to improve, and this may include reducing the average time between cleanings or repairs by assessing maintenance quality.
They may even propose a tailored preventive maintenance plan to reduce reactive maintenance. This results in a safer, better, and happier environment not for just tenants, but for all building occupants.
Get In Touch Today – Connect Facilities
Tenant satisfaction is a proven metric for measuring the long-term feasibility of properties, and multiple sources indicate that employing good building management practices can significantly enhance them, leading to even greater success.
Connect Facilities provides unparalleled support to a diverse range of properties, and our scope also includes providing effective building management services. Whether you need a helping hand for a single issue or may need specialised solutions to multiple aspects of your property, don’t hesitate to reach out.