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Page 12 — Property Management Quarterly — May 2015
A s director of a leading
global commercial real
estate company’s property
management group, over-
seeing Denver’s regional
operations, I am often asked for
reflections on the early years in
my career. Back when I began my
career in property management
some 20 years ago, I had a wonder-
ful tenant that challenged me as a
manager and passed along a pearl
of wisdom that I value to this day,
“I appreciate you treating me as a
paying guest instead of an inmate.”
The expression gave me pause
to think about the way I treated
my tenants every day from then
forward – always as paying guests.
Over the years, I have realized a few
valuable lessons that others would
benefit from knowing as well.
Care and feeding of each tenant
is a critical aspect of successful
property management. Like our
health, if we are not diligent in our
own care and feeding, we get tired,
sluggish and complacent. As food
is a basic need in Maslow’s theory,
the care and feeding of property
tenants should be as well – contact
cannot be limited to the last nine
months prior to lease expiration.
Consider that renewing a current
tenant is 25 percent of the cost of
replacing a tenant. How tenants
are treated by a property manager
from before the lease signing and
throughout tenancy has a signifi-
cant impact on each tenant’s deci-
sion to stay.
How ser-
vice delivery is
approached is as
important as how
often a tenant is
contacted. Instead
of saying no to a
tenant request,
a guest response
would be, “I’m sure
we can do this or a
variation for you.”
I encourage our
managers to think
of the service we
provide to our
tenants as a five-
star hotel concept; going above and
beyond on politeness and over the
top on service levels does not need
to cost any more money. Thinking
of tenants as guests, instead of ten-
ants, changes our thought process
and actions.
Sometimes it is the little things
that have a big impact. For example,
lobby attendants stepping out from
behind the desk to open doors or
assist in transporting goods to the
tenant’s space, or providing regular,
specific contact by way of learning
tenant names and greeting them
individually. We encourage tenants
to provide lobby attendants with
names and photos of valued visi-
tors. It is great to watch their face
as they are greeted by name and
escorted to the tenant’s suite. As
a manager, taking a few days each
month to do this will pay dividends.
The guest courtesy makes a huge
difference in tenant perception.
It is important to take every
chance to find opportunities to
get out from behind the desk and
practice the art of management by
walking around. As we say in the
property management business,
“Expect what you inspect.” This
requires walking tenant spaces,
asking the tenants about the expe-
rience in the building and what
could improve the experience.
There are plenty of low-cost and
no-cost opportunities that make a
difference. Simply checking in is a
great way to understand each ten-
ant’s platform and the health of his
business.
Find ways to make tenants feel
special. For example, budget for
tenant lunches and tenant-relations
programs or get to know birthdays
and send a card to let them know
you remember. Or track a tenant’s
business news in the local journals
and print media, clip the articles
and forward with a handwritten
note congratulating the tenant on
their success.
Ask for input by professionals you
admire. Do not be afraid to ask a
co-worker to review the asset and
give honest feedback from his per-
spective and from the perspective
of a tenant or a visitor arriving at
the building. How is the signage,
both for pedestrians and automo-
biles? Are the tenants’ guests find-
ing it easy to locate their destina-
tions and find their cars when they
leave? Directories should be up-to-
date, clean and presentable.
In a different analogy, a building
is like a garden – remember, if a
garden is not cared for consistently,
the weeds take over. Root out the
weeds by sprinkling tenants with
some professionalism, support and
kindness, and watch the relation-
ships grow. That value of the guest
approach with tenants creates a
richness of its own.s
Dan Simpson
Director of
management
services, Newmark
Grubb Knight
Frank, Denver
Perspective
Thinking of
tenants as
guests, instead
of tenants,
changes
our thought
process and
actions.