Improve Your Landlord Customer Service

Owning rental property isn’t just about collecting rent — it’s about running a service-based business. And whether landlords realize it or not, their tenants are customers. The way you communicate, handle maintenance, and manage the living experience inside your rental property can directly impact tenant satisfaction, lease renewals, and the long-term success of your rental business.

In this episode of the Your Landlord Resource Podcast, Kevin and I talk about why customer service is such an important part of being a landlord. Many owners assume the best strategy is to simply stay out of the tenant’s way and only respond when something goes wrong. But in our experience, landlords who focus on communication, responsiveness, and professionalism tend to build stronger tenant relationships and experience fewer problems over time.

We share real examples from our own rental properties about responding to maintenance requests, communicating repair plans, notifying tenants about work being done on the property, and creating clear communication procedures. We also discuss why tenants should always have a backup contact when landlords are unavailable and how small gestures — like welcome gifts or birthday cards — can make tenants feel valued.

These simple practices may seem small, but they can make a significant difference in how tenants perceive their landlord and their living experience.

If you want to improve tenant relationships, reduce turnover, and run your rental property more professionally, this episode will give you practical ideas to strengthen the customer service side of your rental business.

LINKS & REFERENCES

Episode 87 Essential Communication Methods Every Landlord Should Know

TouchUp Cups 

3M Claw Picture Hanger 

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Transcript

Stacie 0:00

The last move out we had in that two bedroom unit, as of today, we're at$7,500 for lost rental income. So consider the cost of lost rent, cleaning, unit repairs, and marketing the unit. Time is money, so you having to meet people and do showings and then process applications, that's all time that could be spent better elsewhere. Studies from the National Apartment Association say that the average turnover costs are one to two months rent in lost income and expenses. So don't think that, oh well, it is what it is. Treat your tenants well so they only move when they have to, not because they want to.

Speaker 0:48

Welcome to Your Landlord Resource podcast. Many moons ago when I started as a landlord, I was as green as it gets. I may have had my real estate license, but I lack confidence and the hands-on experience needed when it came to dealing with tenants, leases, maintenance, and bookkeeping after many failed attempts. Fast forward to today, Kevin and I have doubled our doors and created an organized. Professionally operated rental property business. Want to go from overwhelm to confident if you're an ambitious landlord or maybe one in the making. Join us as we provide strategies and teach actionable steps to help you reach your goals and the lifestyle you desire, all while building is streamlined and profitable rental property business. This is Your Landlord Resource Podcast.

Stacie 1:37

Hey landlords, thanks for tuning in and listening to the Your Landlord Resource Podcast. My name is Stacie Casella and I'm here with Kevin Kilroy, who yes, is my co-host, but he's also my person. And you know what I mean, that one person that you know you can always depend on to be there. To boost me up to listen to my crazy ass dreams and love me no matter what.

Kevin 2:05

That's me landlord by day and Stacie's person by night.

Stacie 2:11

Yeah. And he is here with me, by my side to talk about all the landlord stuff that you guys need to know about. Bless his heart.

Kevin 2:19

Wait, bless his heart, like the southern people mean it or bless his heart, like it's a good thing?

Stacie 2:27

Wouldn't you like to know? All right, you guys, we are here today to talk about the importance of quote unquote customer service towards tenants when owning a rental property. And we have said this multiple times, but owning rentals is owning and operating a business. Your tenants are your customers, so treat your customers with the respect they deserve, and in return, hopefully they will pay rent on time, respect your property and stay for many, many years.

Kevin 3:00

And I want tp jump in here and say that some landlords feel that the best way to handle things is to not bother their tenants. We often hear, hey, all we want is that they pay their rent on time, and then if they need something from me, they'll let me know. And there are not many scenarios where that will work out well. And newsflash, most tenants are fine and actually prefer it when the landlord checks on their unit to make sure all is well. I don't know many situations where a tenant would rather deal with mold from an undetected leak or having to find a way to heat their unit when the heater goes out in the dental winter. You guys, they don't want to be inconvenienced any more than you want to get that unexpected call with bad news. Especially at like four in the morning. The bottom line is that landlords are not only providing housing, they are running a service based business.

Stacie 4:01

Yeah, and I think it's also important to remember that tenants have choices. So based on your marketing, they choose to do a viewing of your unit. Based on how your unit presents itself and how you interact with those prospective tenants, they choose to apply or not. Once accepted, they choose to move forward with the lease and move in or not. We have actually had this happen to us a couple times and it's really frustrating because you think they applied they must be interested, and they want to move in. When in reality they have applied to multiple units and are waiting to see which they get accepted to before actually committing to moving in.

Kevin 4:42

Yep. That literally just happened to us a few weeks ago and it is no fun at all. This was our two bedroom unit and it was brothers moving in together. We were excited to have roommates who, one knew each other and two, they had lived together before, so there wouldn't be any surprises about how the other one lives or acts, or if they don't keep things clean or if they're a night owl or they always have friends over.

Stacie 5:12

Yeah, losing those ones stung you guys'cause we were kind of pissed to be honest. And that just goes to prove my point, that these tenants have the choice to live in your unit or not. And one thing about business owners, especially landlords, is that you will succeed long term if you treat your tenants like valued customers. So what does customer service mean when it comes to rental housing? It can lead to lease renewals, fewer complaints, better property care, and there's a better chance they're gonna accept a rent increase. Conversely, poor customer service can lead to tenant turnover, property damages, complaints, and a higher vacancy cost. And the last move out we had in that two bedroom unit, as of today, we're at$7,500 for lost in rental income. So consider the cost of lost rent, cleaning, unit repairs, and marketing the unit. Time is money, so you having to meet people and do showings and then process applications, that's all time that you know could be spent better elsewhere. Studies from the National Apartment Association say that the average turnover costs are one to two months rent in lost income and expenses. So don't think that, oh, well it is what it is. You know, treat your tenants well so they only move when they have to, not because they want to. Which is why we are here today to share five simple things that landlords can do that will significantly improve tenant satisfaction. Kev, why don't you take number one?

Kevin 6:51

Okay. So one thing that Stacie and I take very seriously is to respond quickly to maintenance requests. And this might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how many horror stories we hear from tenants. When something goes wrong, they want it fixed yesterday. They don't want you or a service person traipsing through their unit.. It's an inconvenience, and they expect it to be handled quickly and professionally. Do you know that the number one complaint tenants make is regarding maintenance delays? If your refrigerator's not working, are you okay with waiting a week to get it replaced? Are you good with keeping perishables in a cooler and having to buy ice every day to keep it from spoiling? Or if your heater goes out when the temps are in the forties, are you good with having to go buy space heaters to only use them for a week or until the HVAC person gets out there to repair it or figure out what parts are needed? If you're not, what makes you think a tenant is? For tenants anything that is wrong is urgent because they don't want to have to pay for a home with a leaky sink, or doors that don't lock. Stacie and I joke that our units are taken care of better than our own home, and it's really not that far off. We deferred so much maintenance to our own personal home because we're always doing work on one of the units to improve them. Just so that our tenants are happy and stay on for a while.

Stacie 8:26

Other than that one jinxed unit though. No matter what we do there, it has not been successful.

Kevin 8:32

Well, I might be too optimistic sometimes, but I really am hoping the apps we're processing now work out and it's all good for once.

Stacie 8:41

Yeah, me too. Yeah.'cause we really need to get that rent rolling in.

Kevin 8:45

Right. Alright, so when someone contacts you either directly like a text or email or through a property management portal like Turbo Tenant has, please respond quickly. If it's not urgent and it comes through after whatever your set business hours are, like, say you get a text that someone's toilet is running at 7:00 PM, you can wait until the next morning to respond. Your first response needs to be within 24 hours for a non-emergency request,, and you need to show some sympathy about the issue. Keep it simple and respond with something like, we're sorry you're experiencing this issue, I'll contact my plumber, electrician, HVAC tech, or whoever and will let you know when they're available to get there. If it's you that's going over to evaluate the issue, tell them a window of when you are able to handle it.

Stacie 9:42

And let me jump in here really quick. First and foremost, either you or someone who represent you, like for us, it could be our contractor, Jim. If you're sending someone else to work on the unit, unless they're an actual employee of yours and know exactly how to handle being in someone's home, you or someone you know has to represent your business, even if the tenant's there to meet them. We have had multiple times where our normal person is not available and we send someone new. The tenant says they're happy to meet the tech, so we don't go. And we ended up paying so much more than if we were there to ask questions and get answers about what was going on. We had a plumber we sent out for a gas leak. Pretty urgent, right? And to their their credit they showed up pretty quickly. But then they said that they didn't have the proper tools to do the work. Now for clarification, this was a very small leak outside of a separate dwelling in the back of a rental. So no imminent danger, but certainly something that we needed to get going on. And they ended up rescheduling work for another day. And I kid you not, they showed up and said they needed a shovel and didn't have the one they needed. Then when it finally gets dug out, they say, oh, this job's more extensive than we thought. We're gonna need to pull a permit and dig all the way to the front of the house, which was total bullshit. All they had to do was repair the connection that was failing. Now, if Kevin had not been there, who knows what we would've ended up with having to pay. And I will say we did have to pay hundreds of dollars for this evaluation, for a job that was never completed. We ended up calling our regular plumber out to do the repair when they were available. Same thing happened with a washing machine that was leaking. The tenant said, oh, you don't have to drive all the way up here, I can meet'em. And this was around the time we were getting ready to head out for our son's wedding so we were like, great. Oh my God, you guys, this guy tried to tell us that he had to repair something that they had already supposedly repaired the year before. And because I keep good records, I was able to call him out on it. And he said, well, your tenant must be washing large loads of jeans, so it's too heavy. Now, chew on that for a minute. He said, without knowing this tenant, or what kind of laundry he does, that he's filling the washer with jeans and that doesn't fall under the guarantee. When he said he had to come back to pull out the washer to get the part so that he can take it to the supply house, I knew we had a problem. So Jim took over from there. We had his appliance person come out, and essentially we ended up having to buy a new unit. And you guys, this process took us three weeks to resolve. Three weeks. How do you think that looked to the tenant? All the going back and forth and coming and going and for context, both those experiences happened just six months ago. No more. From now on either we or Jim will be present when repairs need to be made.

Kevin 12:48

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but we are really having a hard time finding good repair people. Our normal guys are wonderful, but because they're so good, they're always booked out. I don't know, I guess we just have to wait for them from now on. Anyway, let's get back to what to do if you get a maintenance request. First respond quickly, at least within 24 hours. Next thing is to always communicate a plan in writing. If you speak with them on the phone, follow up with an email and reiterate what was said so you have written proof about how you were going to handle it. When you have a plan in place, email or text them who is coming, the day and time, and what they will be doing. As we always say, document, document, document. Because sometimes it's a repair and sometimes it's just an evaluation. Plumbers, electricians, and some HVAC people can repair right there on the spot. Appliance repairmen usually are only evaluating and will have to return with parts. And the last thing you want is a complaint to the city or county that you are not communicating what is going on with their repair. Once the repair is made, follow up with the tenant to make sure they are satisfied with the work that was completed. This is important on two levels. One, you want to make sure the work was completed and the issue is fully resolved. And two, you should use this as an opportunity to check on the workmanship of the person who did the repair. Many times we are unable to meet the repairman and the tenant handles it. And even though we do recommend being there, it's also nice when the tenant is there to explain the issue at hand. Because sometimes not often, it is a user error issue, and the tenant can then be told what to do differently.

Stacie 14:52

Yep. Case in point is the ever so lovely garbage disposal. Now we know a lot of you don't like to have them installed and that's fine, you do you. We have them in all of our units because, well, they were already there installed when we bought the places. We also like our tenants to be able to break down foods before sending it down the drain. But for some people they don't realize garbage disposal can be temperamental and not everything can run through'em. They also might not realize that they need to run'em on a regular basis, you know, at minimum once a week to keep them from rusting out. We have added a small paragraph in our addendum on this as well, and have included it in our unit binder that we provide upon move-in.

Kevin 15:39

Right. We do what we can to prevent issues from occurring. If you had to deal with an issue that could have been prevented, you likely have created some sort of notice in the lease, or at least tell the tenants how to help you out by doing or not doing something.

Stacie 15:56

Okay, well, on that note, let me take a minute and touch on the importance of preventing issues before they occur. We do this by performing biannual inspections. In the fall, we inspect things that are really important to work well in the winter months. So think like heaters and the roof, fencing and landscaping, like tree branches. In the spring, we're checking the air conditioners, checking for leaks, rodent or pest intrusion, making sure that the window screens don't have holes, things like that. The more prevention that you can achieve, the less chance you will even have to deal with a tenant making a maintenance request. Okay, so let's move on to our next customer service item, and that is giving your tenants the courtesy of letting'em know when work is being performed on or around the property. If you say, hire a company to power wash the house, or clean the gutters or trim trees, send your tenant multiple notices to let them know. One week before send an email. Especially if they have to move their personal items to allow the workers access. Two days before, send another reminder email. The day before, send a text message reminding them of the timeframe someone's gonna be at the property. And if you're gonna be on the property doing general maintenance like trimming bushes or a fixing sprinklers, just let'em know. For most states, if you need to enter the unit, you need to give at least 24 hours notice, and some states require 48 hours, so you need to know which it is. Why is this important? If they work from home, they can be mindful of scheduling meetings around when they might get interrupted, either in person or by sound. If they work the night shift, they need to know their sleep could be impacted. If they need to not park their car in their normal spot so a truck can get access to the tree or power lines, or the painter or contractor needs to get their ladder put up to repair some dry rot on a window, the tenants need to know to not have the blinds open or cover up when they're out walking around.

Kevin 18:08

And don't forget about tenants with pets, because those need to be secured or removed to protect the pet and the person working there.

Stacie 18:16

Right. Pets who are in the yard definitely are gonna be, need to be contained so that they don't escape. Another reason why it's good to let tenants know when you or someone will be working at the property is'cause there are scammers out there who will impersonate workers. If your tenant knows to expect someone, they're gonna be a little bit more at ease and not feel so intruded upon. And we have heard of stories of people working on a property only to find out that they had the wrong house.

Kevin 18:46

Yep. The lawn one, right?

Stacie 18:49

Yep. Exactly. Not us, but another property manager we know had a rental property where they were very good at communicating with the tenant anytime someone was gonna be working there. Well, one day a crew shows up and starts digging up the lawn, and the tenant went out and asked what they were doing. So the workers tell'em they have to replace some, I don't know, irrigation or drainage line or something like that. And it didn't sound right to the tenant, so they called the property manager who then rushed over only to find that the workers had the wrong house, right address, wrong street. But that tenant's awareness protected the property.

Kevin 19:29

Well, I, I don't know, that owner could have gotten all new water lines.

Stacie 19:33

Yeah. Right. You know, we have that scenario here with our house. All the blocks have the same address numbers, but different street names. It's a total pain because we get other people's mail all the time.

Kevin 19:47

Yeah. Not a big deal, I just take Gracie on a walk and we return it to the rightful owner.

Stacie 19:53

Yet we never see anyone return our mail. What are the odds? The funny thing is the mail we get is almost always magazines. Maybe I should just read'em and then I can return'em afterwards. Anyway, remember to always communicate when someone is going to be working on your rental property, whether it's you or someone else. You want to include the date, the window of time, the contractor's name, and the reason for their visit.

Kevin 20:18

Right. Any effort is appreciated, especially if it's for something that will improve the tenant's living experience. Our next tip is something that many small landlords forget to plan for, and that is when you are going to be unavailable either a vacation or a planned medical procedure. Provide your tenants with alternate contact information. Your tenants need to have a way to get ahold of you even when you are not available. If not, and there's an issue that needs to be addressed immediately, like a gas or water leak, that will stress your tenant out.

Stacie 20:56

And you need to consider this. Do you wanna be on a nice vacation with your family and have to take time away to deal with a maintenance problem? Would your family appreciate you not being available while you dealt with it? Or, if you've had a medical issue or a family issue that needs your undivided attention, you want to be bothered with someone calling to say their door isn't closing property. Let me tell you, eventually you will have something happen, and it only takes one time to disrupt your time away to realize that you should have found someone to help you out.

Kevin 21:30

Yep. For all the travel we've done and we've done a lot, we have only had someone have an issue like maybe three times, and we never even knew it was going on until we returned. One was a garbage disposal and I believe the other was a running toilet. I can't remember the other one it was quite a while ago.

Stacie 21:52

And I think it was an appliance issue of stove, I think.

Kevin 21:55

Yeah, I don't, I don't remember that one. But with all that said, we're very lucky we have our contractor Jim to handle most anything that comes up. We simply draft an email about four days before we depart and let our tenants know we will be out of the office or out of the country, between these dates. If they have an emergent, and the key is to say emergent issue, so they know to wait on any problems that does not need immediate attention, but if they have an emergent issue, they can call Jim and we give his number. Now Jim has all of our preferred vendors because most of them are his contacts. And even if they aren't like our HVAC guy, he has worked with him in the past, so if a heater or AC unit goes out,, he can get him out there right away.

Stacie 22:48

And in the past, before Jim became such an integral part of our team, we would list out our vendors and ask the tenants to just call them to start the process. These vendors know how we work and will only do what needs to be done to get the problem fixed at that time. If more work is needed later, we would handle that upon our return to the office. Essentially you guys, you're taking your standard operating procedure for handling a maintenance request and putting it onto the tenant to handle. If you don't want them to handle it, find someone you trust, who can do it for you. A friend, your handyman, your Realtor, or another landlord that's in the area who maybe you can trust and would do the same for them. You know, trade vacation coverage. If you're dealing with a family matter, can your spouse or your partner handle fielding calls? And then the two of you find a time to discuss them, and then you can give direction on how you want to handle it.'Cause you guys, what it comes down to is that you need to have a backup plan anyway, because you never know what can happen. A car accident or a sudden illness for you or a loved one. Remember how Kevin said to do your best to prevent maintenance issues from happening? This is along those same lines. Have a plan in place for someone to step in when you choose to or have to step away.

Kevin 24:13

Yeah. The bottom line is that by doing this, your tenants will feel supported. They will know you are responsible and always thinking of their wellbeing. That you plan ahead and care about their comfort. Which is a huge part of customer service, right? And for you, that means you get to avoid frantic calls, delayed repairs, or even worse, escalated property damage that could have been minimal if your tenant had someone to call. It means you get to take time away and avoid the feeling of why now. Or of course, when I'm away, something happens. Well if you plan ahead, even if something does happen, you've got your tenants and your property covered. Okay, now let's talk about something that surprises many landlords, your tenants can help fill your vacancies. So the core concept here is that great tenants often know other great tenants, right? Because people do tend to associate with others who have similar habits. And this means that responsible tenants may be able to refer responsible friends to rent when you have a vacancy. Here's what we do. We offer a flat rate reward based on the size of the unit available. For the studios it was$50, the one bedroom$75, and the two bedroom unit yielded a cash bonus of a hundred dollars. So when a vacancy comes up, we first email our tenants. And full transparency here, we only email ones that are really great. Not the slobs, not the complainers, and absolutely no one who has ever paid us late. We email them what unit is available, the link to the online ad, and we will include our criteria for acceptance in there. So the rental rate, the income requirements, the credit rate range we prefer, occupancy limits, pet criteria, et cetera. As far as we're concerned, the more applicants the merrier. We like to have choices because that removes the chances that we drop the criteria we have and lease to someone who quote unquote kind of meets them. Less chances of us entering panic mode and renting to the next warm body who applies so we can get that space filled, right? Which we have absolutely done before.

Stacie 26:46

I think we can say most landlords have been in that position and it's no fun. Some other perks to this is if you have a multi-family property or maybe multiple single family homes in one neighborhood, your existing tenants now know that the unit is vacant and hopefully they will be more aware of any activity around it. Another thing is most tenants will not refer someone they wouldn't want living nearby, right? So they will only refer those who they know that they get along with and are happy to have living closer to them. For example, like we had a family in a single family home rental and nearby we had another similar home come on the market and we sent out this referral request. And the renters came back and said that they had a sister and her family who wanted to move nearby and they were interested. They qualified and they rented a property for several years. And the kids all went to school together and they helped each other out with taking care of each other. So always check with existing tenants to see if they can refer someone. Because we rather move forward with an applicant who already has a positive rapport with someone who we are already happily renting to and can vouch for their character. And maybe you're wondering how this has anything to do with customer service. Think about the fact that you're showing your tenants that you trust them enough to allow them to refer other great tenants to rent from you. You're involving them in the process in a roundabout way. Allowing them some control to basically choose on who their neighbor could be. It's almost like you're bringing them in on the business level. For us that's the ultimate level of trust, right? Does it always work out? No way. But you don't know until you try.

Kevin 28:44

Yeah, it's hit or miss for us, but we always give it a try because you just never know. All right, our last tip for improving your level of customer service to your tenants is to do small gestures that make your tenants feel valued. And you guys, Stacie is really good at this stuff. Stace talk about the welcome basket we leave for all new tenants.

Stacie 29:07

Yep. Okay. Well, I will say that they've changed a little bit from the beginning'cause we've been doing this now for 15 years. When we started doing this in Sacramento, I used to put a copy of Sacramento Magazine in each unit, and that magazine was filled with all the things you can do and the restaurants to try all in the area. The thought behind it was that it gave those who were coming in from out of the area ideas on how to get out and see the city that they now lived in. I also left them toilet paper that was pre-wrapped in tissue, not just a regular roll, some chips and salsa, a couple candy bars. We put bottled water in the fridge and always a gift certificate to the deli across the street. Now that gift has somewhat evolved since those early days. We now have food issues to consider, and a lot of people don't eat sugary snacks. Remember, we're in California, right? Now I'm still leaving toilet paper, but I actually hang the roll on the holder and I put a little sticker on it that says Welcome. And I get those for the midterm rental, but there's like a hundred or whatever on the roll, so now I just use those for all of our move-ins.

Kevin 30:22

And the toilet paper is actually in the bathroom where they need it, not on the kitchen counter.

Stacie 30:28

Yeah, exactly. I do leave a roll of paper towels in case something spills or if something in one of their moving boxes, leaks. We have our unit binder that has everything a tenant would need to know before having to contact you. So think of things like where to send the rent, where the garbage dumpster is and the recycling bins are, and when they're put out, a link to our video on what to do if the garbage disposal isn't working. You know, stuff like that. We actually, should do a Shorty Podcast on that binder so you can hear all about it.

Kevin 31:01

That is a good idea.

Stacie 31:02

All right, what else is there? So we still leave bottled water in the fridge, protein bars, some trail mix or a bag of chips. The last time I left some flavored pretzels from Trader Joe's, but we also leave a blue scrubby sponge that we prefer the tenants use because the green and yellow ones, they scratch the crap outta stainless appliances. So we leave them a blue one to start'em off so they'll know what to replace it with at some point. We leave a Touchup Cup with a small amount of paint and a small cheap brush that they can, you know, well touch up any dings or marks on the walls that are likely to happen during move-in.

Kevin 31:41

And that's been a real hit with the people.

Stacie 31:43

Yep, so we'll link those in the show notes. Super simple to use. It's a little plastic container with a ball in it to help mix the paint when you shake it. Now, kind of like a protein shake bottle, only smaller and it works really well. We, also leave a single package of a 3M claw, and that's a strong durable drywall picture hanger. It barely leaves, but small little holes in the wall. The one we leave holds up to 15 pounds, so it's pretty robust. Anyway, we leave those with the hopes that they won't put huge holes in the walls when they hang their artwork and stuff. We'll link those in the show notes as well. We always buy a big box of them for our kids when they move into a new place. They're super easy to install and they do hold most frames. So that's kind of the move in gift that we leave on the counter with their keys of course.

Kevin 32:34

Yeah, and we always get a very nice response from the tenants on those. The whole point of it is to start the landlord tenant relationship off on a good note, right? It helps the tenant settle in, lets them know you care, and hopefully reduces their stress a little when they first move in. We also send each tenant a birthday card as well, and often we will include a small gift card to the deli across the street or maybe a Starbucks card because there's a store right around the corner. And here's the shocking thing about those birthday cards. Many tenants, when they text or email to say thank you also report that that was the only card they received for their birthday.

Stacie 33:17

How sad is that though? I mean, I know physical cards are kind of going by the wayside, but I still love getting a birthday card in the mail. And you guys, I know they're crazy expensive. We don't buy cards that are$5.99. Most places also sell dollar 99 or two ninety nine generic birthday cards. For like 10 bucks you can buy a pack of all the same cards too, or maybe hit up your local dollar store and buy a few to get you through the year. Set a reminder on your phone to mail it out and voila, you're done.

Kevin 33:50

We also do send a holiday card with a little gift as well, usually a gift card to a local restaurant for them to get a quick bite. Our Sacramento building is walking distance to a ton of great places, so we select a different one each year, and those are always a hit as well. One thing to note is that the IRS allows businesses to deduct up to$25 per recipient for gifts annually. Now, we usually go over a little bit, but it's still worth it for us. The things we do don't cost much, but they build incredible goodwill and respect with your tenants. And when tenants feel respected, they are more apt to communicate more openly and take better care of your property.

Stacie 34:35

Yeah, exactly. There's a whole psychological aspect to gift giving, because small gestures signal thoughtfulness. And with so many landlords out there who are scumbags and treat their tenants like they're lucky to have a place to live in their property, we just want our tenants to know that we value and respect'em. Also shows professionalism. That we take our business seriously and recognize they are our client and need to be treated nicely. And in return we hope they're gonna pay their rent on time and like Kevin said, take better care of the rental property. A little hospitality goes a very long way, you guys.

Kevin 35:15

Alright, before we wrap up here, I want to point out a few tips on communication. Be very clear when you communicate. And when I say communicate, this can be every single thing that transpires between you and your tenant. Use your addendums in your lease to state maintenance procedures and expected response times. Payment rules is another one. Then repeat those things in your unit binder. Tenants appreciate clarity, and the more you can hammer the policies and procedures into their head, the better off all of you will be. When actually communicating with your tenants, even during conflicts, always remain professional. Do not get emotional with them. That's when you lose the battle, and likely will say something you will regret. It will make them feel resentful and that's the opposite of what you're going for. As a professional landlord you need to protect both your reputation and your legal position. And the last thing I want to say about communication is to treat all tenants consistently. Create email verbiage and use the same template for everyone. This follows Fair Housing and also makes you appear to be more professional.

Stacie 36:33

Yeah. You guys should check out an episode that we did called Essential Communication Methods Every Landlord Should Know. It's episode 87. You can go to your landlord resource.com/episode 87 to give it a listen. We'll link that in the show notes as well. Okay, let's set up a quick recap of what we discussed today. Number one, respond quickly to maintenance requests. Always get back to'em with something within 24 hours. Number two, notify tenants when work is happening on the property. They need to know so they are not caught off guard at the last minute. Three, provide an alternate contact when unavailable. This is as much for you as it is for them. Number four, offer tenant referral incentives. This really is mostly for multi-family rental property owners, but always something for all landlords to consider doing, even if it's replacing the outgoing tenant. Number five. Use thoughtful gestures like welcome baskets and birthday cards. These are actual physical gestures that show your tenant that you've given thought to their happiness. And they go a really, really long way. And I think the thing that we want you to walk away with today is that great landlords do more than collect rent. They build relationships, they provide a service. And if done right, you can create a positive living experience for your tenants. Because when tenants feel valued, they tend to stay living in your rental longer, they care more about your property, and if you use a referral system, they might recommend you to others when you have a vacancy. Customer service in rentals isn't about being perfect, you guys, it's about being responsive, respectful, and thoughtful. All right, so that's our show for today. Thank you so much for taking time outta your busy schedule to listen to what we have to say about improving customer service with your rental properties. We are very grateful and humbled to be able to share what we know to help you in your journey. Now, if you enjoy this episode and got some helpful information out of it, would you help us out by leaving a review? We would really appreciate it. Even sharing the podcast with another landlord that you know, that would be great. If you want to hear more, follow or subscribe to the podcast so that each week the episodes are downloaded right to your favorite podcast platform. And we'd love to stay in contact with you. If you have a question or want to suggest a subject for a podcast you could text us at 6 5 0 4 8 9 4 4 4 7 or email us at stacie@yourlandlordresource.com. That's Stacie with an IE or kevin@yourlandlordresource.com. We'll link those in the show notes too. I think that's about it. Thanks again, and until next time, you've got this landlords.