How Customer Service Plays a Role in Resident Engagement

One of the greatest benefits of the FRONTSTEPS portal is that when used properly, it can help reduce calls to your community managers. Constant resident calls can become a huge headache for community managers, as well as a significant time suck.

That’s why it’s critical that your managers direct residents to the portal soon after launching it in the communities they manage. From random questions to booking an amenity, it’s important that your managers reinforce these questions can be answered and tasks can be completed online. If your managers continue booking amenities each time a resident calls, chances that they’ll use the tool next time are pretty slim. While it may take some more work and phone calls upfront, once residents get used to using the portal, the phone calls will go down. However, this is all depends on the level of service your team provides, as well as how responsive they are.

Similar to making sure there’s updated content frequently posted in the portal, your team needs to be quick to respond to resident requests, bookings, and questions, or residents will learn that they need to make a phone call in order to get something done.

Encourage managers to block off time on their calendar several times per day to check FRONTSTEPS. Develop a target time for them to aim to approve all bookings, postings, and requests, as well as respond to messages. Create guidelines for approvals and denials, as well as updates on the status of work orders, ensuring managers provide necessary notes to keep residents in the loop and help them understand why something was delayed or denied.

Another important thing to double check is available amenities. It’s important to make sure all facilities that can be reserved by residents are added to the portal. This will ensure there’s no reason a resident would ever need to pick up a phone to reserve an amenity.

While your managers are still getting phone calls, it can serve as a great opportunity to get important feedback from residents. For tips on how to collect actionable feedback that will help improve your overall community, download our free resident engagement guide!