The value of customer engagement software for property maintenance companies

Effective last mile customer engagement isn’t out of reach. In fact, it’s the surprisingly simple secret ingredient to standing out amongst the competition in any industry, including real estate. 

Customer engagement software for property maintenance companies is one way to enhance your recipe for success. It adds value to your business while making life easier for everyone involved: operations, tenants, and technicians.

There are many types of property management maintenance software that help with scheduling work orders, managing assets, and keeping facilities running smoothly. However, not many address the customer service side to the standard demanded by today’s tech-savvy tenants. 

In the age of Uber and Amazon Prime, where transparency into the service process is expected, it’s imperative to provide excellent tenant service — especially because customer satisfaction is critical to your bottom line. In fact, 60% of consumers say they’re willing to switch to a brand that offers superior customer service. 

Tenants are no different. 

Achieving great customer engagement in property management doesn’t need to be a challenge, though; customer engagement software can play a huge role in increasing tenant satisfaction and retention while optimising operational efficiency. Bonus: When customers are happy, 70% will share the experience — which means a boosted reputation and free word-of-mouth marketing. 

Here, we’ll take a look at what you need to know about customer engagement software for property management maintenance and the benefits for operations, tenants, and technicians.

What is property management maintenance software?

Property management maintenance software helps property managers and landlords efficiently maintain and repair their residential and commercial rental properties via features like maintenance requests, lease management, and finance management. It can connect property managers with tenants, owners, and vendors to better organise repairs, create work orders, utilise space, allocate resources, manage inventory, track warranties, and more.

What is field service customer engagement software?

Field service customer engagement software builds on property management maintenance software by facilitating two-way communication through features like live chat and customer portals. The technology lets organisations confirm and follow up on tenant service appointments with automated alerts and provide accurate technician ETAs, as well as allows tenants to track field service technicians in real time.

Benefits for operations

Customer engagement software for property management maintenance companies can be a boon for operational efficiency. It enables companies to better allocate resources by automating a host of services, while also meeting the ever-higher expectations of tenants. 

Some of the main operational benefits include:

• Decreased inbound ETA query calls. Providing tenants with real-time tracking of service technicians frees up property management staff to handle more urgent calls.
  
  
• Decreased “no access” appointments.
• Increased customer satisfaction, which can lead to referrals. 
  
  
• Instant feedback from automated surveys, which allow organisations to continuously hone the tenant experience and reduce the need for outbound calls.
  
  
• Improved Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT), Net Promoter Scores (NPS), and Customer Effort Scores (CES).

Read more: The Hidden ROI of customer engagement

Benefits for tenant experience

For tenants, customer engagement software increases transparency, giving residents more control over their experience and keeping them informed.

The value-add for tenants includes:

• Decreased anxiety before, during, and after service appointments. 40% of customers say they experience stress and anxiety while waiting for service technicians.
  
  
• Control over their experience and freedom to plan their day with streamlined two-way communication. More than half of customers say they’d feel relief from being able to track their service technician’s location on an app or website, and more than 70% say they’d greatly benefit if they had the opportunity to directly communicate with their service technician. 
  
  
• Ability to share feedback about their experience and feel heard.

Benefits for technicians 

Customer engagement software also makes technicians’ jobs easier and safer. 

Benefits include:

• Improved job efficiency. When service technicians can communicate directly with residents, it increases first-time access, allowing them to service more residents more quickly.
  
  
• Improved safety. Automated ETAs and live tracking lets residents follow the tech’s journey; the tech can focus on the task at hand without needing to text or talk on the phone while driving or completing a repair.
  
  
• Increased job satisfaction. Property management maintenance software removes much of the friction and frustration of service appointments, which means less turnover and a better client experience.

Conclusion

With features like real-time appointment visibility, live ETA tracking, two-way communication, and post-appointment feedback, customer engagement software for property maintenance companies can create a better experience for everyone: tenants, property managers, and technicians.