You probably already know how vital performing regular maintenance and responding to maintenance requests is to your resident retention. Poor maintenance service is one of the top reasons why residents move-out, leaving vacant units and a loss in revenue for your property. If you want happy tenants, you need to have an efficient maintenance process that is easy to communicate. Here are a few ways to optimize your maintenance request process.

Prioritize requests

Maintenance requests shouldn’t necessarily be completed in the order that they are submitted. Some requests will have more urgency than others, so you should prioritize accordingly. You can put requests in emergency, high-priority, medium-priority, and low-priority categories. 

Emergency

If the request is something that makes a tenant’s living space inhabitable, such as a burst pipe flooding their unit, that should be recognized as an emergency request and your first priority. You might need to find a temporary space for your tenant to live while fixing the issue. You should have a list of vendors, hotels, and other relevant resources on hand for these emergencies.

High-Priority

Your high-priority requests are tasks that directly impact your operations in the near future, like broken in-unit appliances. They should be addressed promptly, otherwise they could pose a high financial risk or negatively impact the resident’s ability to live safely and comfortably in the unit. 

Medium-Priority

Medium-priority requests will often be tasks like preventative and seasonal maintenance. These tasks will affect operations eventually if they are left unattended, and should be scheduled out to avoid last-minute costly repairs. This can be outdoor maintenance like debris and brush removal, or safety maintenance like smoke alarm checks. 

Low-Priority

These requests are generally easy to identify. They don’t pose a risk to safety or significant damage to the property over time. They also don’t prevent tenants from using their space as needed. They are often cosmetic like wall repairs. Even if they are low priority, you should still be communicative with your tenants about your plans to fulfill their requests so they don’t become disgruntled.

Create a standardized process

Having a strong SOP for maintenance requests will enable your team to fulfill more resident requests efficiently, which will directly impact resident satisfaction. Residents notice when property management isn’t organized behind the scenes - their requests take longer, they are left hanging, and the request may not be completely fulfilled to their satisfaction by the end. That’s why it’s important to keep an organized maintenance process for your staff. Make sure your team is trained and on the same page with your SOP and you will see a boost in efficiency and resident retention.

Keep communication clear

Most residents understand that maintenance issues will pop up here and there. What they really care about is how you communicate with them throughout the process. Residents don’t want to be left hanging when their refrigerator is broken down. Sometimes the maintenance is out of your control - in this example, you can’t get a new refrigerator to a tenant for another few days. It’s not ideal, but if you don’t communicate with your tenant about this, they will be increasingly frustrated. 

Keep them updated throughout the process. That can look like a simple text conversation that will keep the communication quick and direct. And always remember to follow up with the tenant afterwards, just in case there are still issues to be resolved. Residents will appreciate the follow up and your attentiveness to their needs.

A smoother maintenance system isn't just about repairs; it's about making your property a winning place to live for the long haul. So, by getting smart about how you prioritize, organize, and communicate through your maintenance request process, you're not just fixing things faster, you are making residents happier. 

Looking to be more communicative with your residents’ maintenance requests? Check out our messaging solutions for multifamily, or schedule a conversation with us today.