Creating custom experiences for owners: What property managers need to know

Did you know that two-thirds of rental owners expect top-tier customer service from their property management company? It’s not just a preference—it’s the standard. Creating custom experiences for your clients can help you exceed those expectations, show your value, and stand out from the competition. After all, personalized service shows owners that their unique needs are being considered and met, without them having to ask for it themselves.

If you’re ready to showcase your value by including a personalized touch in your service list, keep reading. We’ll cover how offering custom experiences sets you apart from the crowd, ways to provide individualization without creating more work for you, and suggestions on which services can be tailored to fit each owner’s needs.

Why Personalized Service Matters in Property Management

Every property owner has unique goals and needs, which is why personalized service is a must-have in today’s market. Tailoring your approach shows owners you’re listening, adapting, and prioritizing their success. Each rental property owner in your roster will likely have a distinct set of shifting needs and goals that you’ll be expected to assist with.

For example, an intentional investor with a large portfolio of properties is likely to say that the ability to provide accurate and transparent reporting is one of the top services they expect from a property management company. Meanwhile, a more absentee investor might want a property manager who can take care of maintenance requests without needing to get them involved.

As a property manager, the more you can adapt your services to suit your clients’ needs, the more value you will have in their eyes. By extension, the more value you offer, the more likely your services will be in high demand, regardless of bigger shifts in the industry.

How to Free Up the Time and Resources to Provide Better Service

Before you dive into offering custom services to landlords and board members, it’s important to create space in your busy schedule. With the right tools, you can save time, streamline tasks, and focus on delivering standout service.

One easy way to do that is to invest in the right technology.

There are plenty of property management software solutions on the market, but the most comprehensive ones can help you manage a wide range of property management responsibilities—tasks like rent tracking, fielding maintenance requests, keeping accounts in check, leasing units, and communicating with owners, tenants, and other stakeholders—from a single, easy-to-use platform.

While taking the leap to invest in a property management software platform might seem intimidating at first, it can ultimately lead to less stress and a lighter workload. Having a central platform for management and the option to automated tasks take formerly time-consuming jobs off your to-do list. Ultimately, it allows you to put your time and energy where it’s needed most: providing top-notch customer service to your clients, including the level of personalized service that they’ve come to expect.

How to Create Custom Experiences for Owners

Now that we’ve covered why custom owner experiences matter, let’s talk about how to make them happen. It’s part sensibility, part strategy, but the impact on your relationships—and your business—makes it well worth the effort. Since every property in your portfolio is unique, this is more of an art form than a science. However, there are a few factors that you should consider when your plan of action together, including:

Understanding Owners’ Preferences

The first thing to consider when thinking about how to customize your service offerings is owner preferences. Start by doing some market research, using surveys such as Buildium’s Rental Owner’s Report to get a sense of industry-specific pain points and the solutions you can offer. Then, reach out to each owner in your portfolio individually to hear their opinions.

Here’s a list of a few key topics to get you started:

• Preferred communication channels: Are owner portals a good solution? Do they prefer you to text or call in the event of an emergency? Do they want to receive copies of important documents online or in the mail?
• Financial reporting: What reporting and analytics would they like you to share? How would they prefer for those documents to be delivered? How frequently do they wish to be updated?
• Managing tenants: How much involvement would they like to have in the tenant screening process? When would they like to be informed about problems involving tenants?

Adapting Experiences Based On Location

Next, it’s good to think about ways that you can tailor your services based on the locations of the properties in your portfolio. Consider how you can individualize your approach in the following areas:

• Marketing and advertising: Offering syndicating rental listings is par for the course, but can you set yourself apart by also advertising your listings in local newspapers or social media groups?
• Maintenance: Think about what vendors your clients are likely to need and what recommendations you currently offer them. If they live in a snowy climate, can you offer to connect them with a removal service? If they live in a warmer area, can you recommend a stellar pool maintenance service?
• Capital improvements: Look into how the properties in your portfolio stack up against similar properties in the area. Try to make appropriate recommendations to your owners on ways that they can invest in their properties to improve their ROI.

Factoring in the Specifics of Each Building and Community

Finally, every property in your portfolio has its own sets of needs—but this is especially true for larger multifamily properties and larger community associations. Each building has its own amenities, upkeep requirements, logistical challenges, and general quality of life factors to consider.

By tailoring your services to meet the specific dynamics of a community, you can become an indispensable partner—one that “gets” the property and what it takes to keep both owners and tenants satisfied.

Here are a few suggestions for areas where you may be able to make a difference:

• Collecting association dues: Making rent collection seamless is a top priority for most boards, which can make it an easy target for improvement. Study the strengths and weaknesses of each building’s current process and be prepared to make recommendations for improvement. Consider bringing in third-party service such as Steady Technologies.
• Gathering Resident feedback: Often resident feedback comes from a variety of channels and it’s easy for the sentiments to get lost in the shuffle. Take note of how feedback is currently being collected and considered and suggest ways to streamline the process. Specialized survey services, like those offered by Opiniion, could be of assistance here.
• Finding budgetary savings: Every association lives by its annual budget. Take a look at this year’s rendition and see if you can find ways to achieve cost savings without sacrificing quality of service. Whether your suggestions are big or small, they’re bound to show that you have your clients’ bottom lines in mind.

Personalized Service with Less Effort: Using the Right Tools

Creating custom services for rental property owners is about using your resources wisely, on services and outreach that matter the most to your clients and build a lasting reputation for excellence. With the right tools and approach, you can have that personal touch that sets you apart without adding more work to your plate.

While the best services and tech might change on a case-by-case basis, comprehensive software can target several areas giving you more time, flexibility, and technical capability to adapt to each client’s preferences.

If those benefits sound appealing consider looking into Buildium with a 14-day free trial. It comes equipped with tools such as communication portals, automated reporting, workflows, and notification, and a marketplace of fully integrated partner solutions that includes some of the other tech we discussed in this post—not to mention several other tools to help with every part of property management. With tools like Buildium, you can focus your energy on what matters most: delivering great service to your clients.