What percentage of phone calls go unanswered at your properties?

With the holiday season upon us, we all know it's a time when multifamily property staff might be running lean due to well-deserved breaks and vacations. Yet, it's also when potential residents have extra free time and may be reaching out more frequently to inquire about properties.
Missed calls can be a significant challenge for many apartment communities, especially during this busy season. While some may have systems in place to minimize this issue, others might find it a more prevalent problem.
Curious to learn about your experiences. Are missed calls a rare occurrence, or are they an area you're looking to improve?
How does your property handle the increased call volume during the holidays with fewer staff on hand? If you have a certain policy for dealing with this issue, please feel free to share in comments below.
 

Chiming in as a non-resident. When we unfortunately have to call properties for collections, we get an answering system of some sort probably 75% of the time. Granted, that is not a perfect sample because frankly, if someone has issues with paying an invoice, they probably have greater issues at the property which probably impact answering the phone. But regardless, I've found the number of calls that go to voicemail to be astounding.

Brent great point! As a resident, I've also been in the position of calling and leaving several voicemails, thinking, "They must not want my business," and then moving on to the next place.

But let me share a perspective from the other side.

A friend once told me that people would be shocked at the high number of calls his property received in a single day. However, many of these are from vendors, solicitors, and robocalls. So, after dealing with pressing issues like maintenance, tours, resident disputes, etc., he often lacked the enthusiasm to sit down and listen to often poorly left voicemails or call back random numbers to identify who is calling about urgent matters.

This creates an interesting dilemma where potential customers feel like they're being ignored, but the property staff feels overwhelmed.

I build into my training and leadership crystal ball thinking, Managers should of been planning, evaluating and thinking about seasons before they actually happen. I.e. Eastern USA should have been testing furnace heat systems in October and engaging tenants on upcoming winterization. This lowers phone calls/emails, call backs.

Planning ahead for the seasons is great advice. It reminds me of the idiom, "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready." Thanks for sharing James!

It would be interesting to hear some stories)