At SiteCompli, we’re focused on making life easier for property management teams. When it comes to mailings, spending less time on manual paperwork & getting follow-up work done faster are going to make things much easier for your team. These are the top 3 strategies for getting the highest tenant response rate possible with the least amount of manual work:
Prepare your team to communicate with tenants before and during the season.
- This may seem difficult or daunting if you’ve never done it before, but the first step is simple: use tenant mailings season to update your tenant roster with accurate phone numbers and email addresses for each unit.
- Before mailings go out, let your tenants know that they’re coming! Prep tenants that mailings are coming and let them know their participation helps make them & the building safer. We’ve seen property managers do this using emails, elevator or lobby flyers, the building newsletter or tenant website, and more! Employ whatever communications vehicles you have to get the word out.
- Lastly, make sure building staff knows who has submitted a response card and who hasn’t. They’re your eyes and ears at the building, so arm them with a list of non-responders so they can knock doors or drop off manual response forms. This will boost your response rate. Trust us!
Have a plan for doing follow-up work for each unit that requires a window guard installation, repair or a lead paint inspection.
- Know who on your team is going to do follow-up work. Is it the superintendent? The property manager? Being clear on who is responsible for what ahead of time will mean you get work done faster – and make tenants happier.
- KEEP RECORDS OF WHAT INVESTIGATIONS YOU’VE DONE! We must emphasize this one because it is so important. If the HPD Lead-based Paint Inspection (COTA) Unit issues a record production order for one of your buildings, you are required to submit “Copies of current year investigation reports conducted pursuant to those [tenant mailings lead paint] responses.” Keeping detailed records of responses and any work done after will help you avoid massive headaches down the road.
Technology can help you at every step of the mailings process.
- Ok, we’re a technology company, so we HAVE to say this, but it’s so true!
- Being able to call up your tenant response rate building-by-building or overall at the click of button is incredibly useful. Find a way to measure how you’re doing so you can improve in real-time or the following season.
- Give your on-the-ground staff to tools they need to inform tenants & improve response rates. As the world has shifted to doing (almost) everything on a smartphone, so has property management. Use technology to log inspections on the go, create work orders, and record that follow-up work was done in a unit.
The journey to mailings success begins with educating yourself and your team about best practices. If you have questions about anything safety mailings related, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@sitecompli.com.
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