As we kick off this new 2018 year, now is a great time to freshen up on best practices for employees! Maintenance plays a large part in a residents living experience, but before the maintenance staff can service the renter, it starts with the office staff receiving the service request in person or over the phone.

No matter how the service request is placed, one key to successful service requests is making sure the service request is clear and detailed.  Without detailed information maintenance can only guess on what needs repair. This situation creates frustration for the maintenance; possibly having them to return to the renters home several times, and the resident begins to feel they are not able to trust the team to fix their concerns the first time.

Some questions to ask your residents when entering in a service request

·         Verify name, unit and email address

·         Location of issue (choose from the drop down menu in your PMS)

·         What exactly is not working with “dishwasher, washing machine etc”

·         What is broken with “dishwasher etc”

·         Have you tried to rectify the issue yourself?  Ex: Poured drano down the sink or toilet?

·         Leave any and all specific info/description of the maintenance request

Stay away from yes or no questions as those don’t allow you to receive detailed questions. Ask open ended questions, which allow the renter to share detailed information about the service request.

A recommendation to make sure maintenance is well equipped with the information they need is to schedule a meeting with your maintenance team and gather information from their perspective on exactly what they are looking for.  Ask maintenance to share with the office staff the top 10 common service requests and list 5 questions that can assist in making the service request clear. This will allow them to complete the service requests in a timely manner and not make multiple trips back to the resident’s home. Residents also feel they are priority when items in their home are corrected the first time and the resident’s perception of the office and maintenance team is courteous, professional and caring.