Why use Landline Texting for property management?
- Text messages are instant.
Skip the phone tag and opt for a text message instead. Not only do a whopping 98% of text messages get opened, but 95% of them actually get a response in just three minutes!
With landline texting, gone are the days of tenants calling the property management office, leaving a voicemail, waiting for a return call, missing the return call, receiving a voicemail, returning the call, leaving another voicemail… and on and on.
Not only does landline texting make normal communications more convenient and less time-consuming, but in the event of an emergency, you’ll be able to notify tenants much faster. When time is of the essence, you need the fastest possible mode of communicating with as many people as possible. Landline texting will give you that ability.
- It’s affordable.
Most business texting services offer different types of packages based on your business’ needs. There’s also no need to purchase any additional equipment or hardware.
With landline texting, the only thing you need is a subscription to a business texting service and a web browser! With a business texting service, you can text-enable your current office phones/phone number and voila!
- Keep records of tenant communications.
Within your business texting service platform, you can keep clear and organized records of your communications with tenants.
This can come in handy big-time just as a reference tool or in the event that there is some dispute to be settled between the property management company and a tenant. In a case where it might otherwise be your word against theirs, both the tenant and your office can have access to clear records of crucial conversations.
- Make life a bit easier for your office and your tenants.
At the end of the day, no one wants to sit on hold to ask a simple question. Likewise, your employees can be much more efficient with their time and productivity with the simplicity of text communications, especially if you’re dealing with a large amount of properties and/or tenants.
Plus, a lot of people actually prefer texting! And for those who’d rather call and speak to someone, that option will still be available. Landline texting will not affect your regular voice service.
- Streamline internal communications.
While we are always touting the benefits of landline texting when it comes to communicating with customers or, in this case, tenants, it’s also an extremely useful tool for internal communications.
Oftentimes, not all members of your property management company will be physically located in the office. After all, there are properties out there that need managing! This is especially true in the wake of COVID-19, with employees across a variety of industries going remote.
Use your business texting service to keep all internal communications in one, easy-to-access place!
Now that we’ve addressed ‘WHY’ property management companies should use landline texting, let’s get into ‘HOW.’
- Send reminders.
One of the most popular ways that property management companies are using text messaging is by sending rent reminders to tenants. Using landline texting to send reminders has rendered great results across a variety of industries, and it can do the same for your company!
Try sending a friendly reminder a couple days in advance and then another on rent day for those tenants who haven’t decided to pay early. If your tenants have the ability to pay their rent online, include a link to the web page where they can do so in your reminder message. Otherwise, be sure to include any other pertinent information they may need on how to submit their payment.
Reminders don’t have to be relegated to financial purposes, either. For instance, many property management companies, especially in the cities, send an exterminator regularly to take preventative measures against pests. Use your landline texting capabilities to send tenants a reminder when the exterminator is expected to arrive. This is an excellent customer service use for property management companies, and tenants will certainly appreciate the heads up.
- Maintenance requests.
One of the benefits for renters is being able to reach out to their landlord, property manager or superintendent for basic apartment maintenance. However, for property management companies, that may mean fielding a lot of time-sensitive calls.
Landline texting gives your tenants the ability to file a maintenance request and receive a response right away. As you probably already know, certain issues, like leaks, get exponentially worse over time. It’s crucial to your tenants that they be able to immediately alert someone of an issue. It may also save your company money in the long run on costly repairs for problems that might have had a simple solution if they were handled right away.
- Apartment tours.
In the case of a current or upcoming vacancy, texting tenants and/or prospective tenants is often the most convenient way to communicate.
For instance, if you’ve planned to show an apartment with an expiring lease, you can text reminders to both the prospective tenants and the current one(s). This will aid you in preventing prospective tenants from falling through the cracks because of missed appointments. Additionally, it can give the current tenant a friendly nudge to tidy up for the visitors!
With social-distancing guidelines still in effect around much of the country, you could also offer prospective tenants a virtual tour via text. Shoot them a message with a link to the virtual tour for immediate delivery and streamlined communication.
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While we’ve given you a few uses for landline texting, keep in mind that its capabilities are certainly not limited to this short list. Basically, anything that requires short, timely communication, internally or externally, can be accomplished through this tool! If you’re ready to start experiencing these benefits and more through landline texting, start your free, 14-day trial with us today!
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