What makes a neighborhood desirable? One that people seek out and constantly keep an eye on new MLS listings, just waiting for their opportunity to become part of it. Sure, the obvious things like great schools, walkability, local restaurants and coffee shops, excellent amenities, and beautiful parks are attractive prospective buyers, but think further than that.
What is it that keeps residents in the neighborhood for years to come? The answer is the culture of your community.
Does your community have an established culture? Don’t stress if you can’t answer that right now. Culture isn’t something that you can prescribe or simply create within a day. Culture takes time, investment, and participation from both you and your residents. Here are three ways your team can have an impact on creating a strong culture in your community.
Focus on Transparency
If you Google the term “company culture a common trend you’ll find is the importance of transparency from the top down. Companies with incredible cultures focus heavily on transparency. Employees know what the short-term and long-term goals are, they understand how the company is doing financially, are familiar with the values and mission, and are not in the dark on important issues impacting the team. This concept can easily be applied to your property management company.
First and foremost, your team must remain extremely transparent with your community managers. When your community managers begin to value the transparency provided from their managers, they will be more likely to bring that level of transparency into their communications with residents. Ways your community managers can implement transparency include:
- When incidents arise in the community, alerting residents about what happened rather than covering issues up.
- If there are delays in completing maintenance requests, be honest with residents letting them know why there’s a delay and when you anticipate the work will be done.
- As soon as you anticipate an upcoming round of assessments, explaining why these are necessary and how much you estimate they
will cost residents. - Any time you are writing violations, focusing on why the violation was written and what can be done to avoid them in the future.
Put Residents First
While the HOA board might be paying the bills, you must think of the residents as your customers. It’s extremely important that your team focuses on providing excellent customer service any time they come in contact with residents, whether they’re addressing complaints or simply helping someone reserve an amenity.
Providing excellent customer service means putting your residents first. From selecting community management software to determining where to invest money in the neighborhood, your decision should always focus on the best interest of your residents. Will the software be easy for my residents to use and will it enhance their experience living in the community? Will this new community feature positively impact each resident? These are questions you should always ask yourself to keep resident experience top of mind when making decisions that will impact them.
Don’t Forget to Have Fun
Another common theme you’ll discover when researching corporate culture is that fact that top companies find time to have fun. These companies focus on bringing fun and excitement into the workplace, which positively impacts employee happiness and productivity. With that being said, don’t forget to have fun with your residents!
From block parties and chili cook-offs to pool parties and book clubs, the options are endless for finding fun ways to engage with your residents and bring them together to build stronger relationships with one another. If your team takes the initiative to create fun events a couple times a month, there’s a good chance your residents will start looking for
opportunities to get people together to pursue common interests (think community gardens, volunteering, run club, and more).
Looking for additional ways to delight your residents? Download your free copy of our Six-Step Guide to Providing an Exceptional Resident Experience.
