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One principal has been able to offer a comprehensive service to clients by establishing relationships with tenants as well as local service providers.
Elizabeth Hood, principal at Elite Real Estate, said she has always had a passion for service and has dedicated a lot of time to building relationships with local professionals to offer additional services to clients.
“It’s about making sure I give clients the right contact details of people locally who I think will best service the tenants,” she explained.
“Obviously, I meet these people regularly for coffee to build a strong network of professionals in different industries from around my city.”
According to Ms Hood, a helpful way to better understand and service clients is by meeting up with them personally prior to starting the tenancy.
“I like to take my tenants out for coffee right at the beginning because I want to have that half hour with them where I can get to know them and really give them that service, because everything that follows is based on the relationship you have with them at the beginning,” she said.
“For example, if there’s a maintenance emergency, they’re not going to be screaming down the phone at you, because you’ve got that connection and relationship with them.”
Ms Hood said she works closely with banks and mortgage brokers, tradespeople, insurance providers and other professionals who can assist tenants and landlords.
“Clients shouldn’t have to go to 10 different people to have their needs met; they should just have you as their first point of contact,” she highlighted.
“Just because you’re their property manager or business development manager, doesn’t mean you can’t be their representative in the property industry.”
Property managers can not only create a more holistic service for their clients, but they can generate new business through glowing referrals from local professionals, Ms Hood said.
“Now that I’ve looked through the eyes of a BDM with the experience that I’ve had, I realise that there is so much potential for a property manager to grow the business themselves, because of the people that they deal with at every part of the day,” she explained.
“Tenants talk, especially if they’re impressed, so renting properties is not just about the transaction; it’s about the whole start-to-end process.”
[Related: Tenants crucial customers of the industry]
