Why Using a Property Management Answering Service is Essential

As a property manager, you’re relied on by so many people. The building owner, your current tenants, prospective tenants, and your staff.

Your job is to grow your business while being the interface between the owner and your tenants. That’s a tough gig.

And, you also have your phone that’s ringing. Now, you have to answer that too... right?

How do you not stretch yourself thin? Sure, you could hire more staff to work around the clock to answer your phone which would cost a lot. But you may be better off using a property management answering service.

We’re Ambs Call Center and we’ve been taking property managers calls all over the US for decades now. Your work as a property manager is a unique one but one of the duties you don’t have to be burdened by is answering your phones.  We’ve helped many property managers take back their time and grow their business because of the model of an answering service. We want you to experience the same.

In this blog, we’re going to cover a few things so that you can be better informed to decide if a property management answering service is right for you.

1. What is a Property Management Answering Service?
2. How Does a Property Management Answering Service Work?
3. The 4 Benefits to a Property Management Answering Service.

What is a Property Management Answering Service?

A property management answering service provides a professional and reliable phone presence that is always available to serve the needs of both prospective and existing tenants. 

A professional answering service can do this whenever someone feels the need to call. This establishes a strong customer service foundation on which you, as a property manager, can build your services—and your reputation.

How does a property management answering service work?

A property management answering service works by providing a dedicated team of professionals to handle incoming calls, messages, and inquiries on behalf of property owners or managers. 

These answering services are typically available 24/7 to ensure that tenants, prospective renters, and other stakeholders can reach someone at any time.

Step 1: Call handling protocol is set-up and loaded into the answering service software. A unique call forwarding telephone number is assigned to your property management company. You can use this to route calls 24/7 according to your needs.

Step 2: Calls that come into your property management office are forwarded and answered by the answering service in your name. Your scripts (questions you want asked to your callers) are used to gather information for showings, general questions, maintenance calls, and more. The information is delivered to your desired staff member according to your instructions.

Step 3: Urgent calls follow your escalation steps to ensure that your team is ready to respond to clients.

Your answering services may also be able to integrate with your property management CRM!
Streamline your processes and make your business more efficient!

The 4 Benefits to a Property Management Answering Service

Now that you know what is a property management answering service, let’s look at what its benefits are:

1. You Have More Time to Manage and Improve Your Property.
2. You Receive Only True Maintenance Emergencies After-Hours.
3. A Property Management Answering Service Is Available 24/7.
4. Your After-Hours Phone Calls Are Always Covered.
5. Increase Your Occupancy and Grow Your Revenue.

1. You Have More Time to Manage and Improve Your Property.

You already know that property managers wear many hats. Sales consultants, maintenance coordinators, collections department, or even just by being a listening ear. 

But, these tasks often pile onto one another at the same time. While you’re handling one task, four others pop up, each demanding attention right away!

More tasks = lower quality of work. 

A property management answering service restores this balance.

However, when you have a property management answering service to back you up, you automatically lighten your load in the following ways:

As you attend to one pressing need, your answering service can take the next call—or the next five calls—that come in.

Let them help you keep business running while you're tending to other matters. They can give out information to potential tenants, schedule showings for you, and even dispatch maintenance personnel.

Most importantly, they'll do all of the above according to your instructions. So, all of your processes are being followed while you get back to the real work as a property manager.

2. You Receive Only True Maintenance Emergencies After-Hours

The maintenance issues of a property fall into two basic categories: emergency and routine:

Emergency Maintenance: Issues like no heat, no air conditioning, or a water leak. 

Routine Maintenance: Issues such as a broken light fixture, a cracked window, or a non working electrical outlet. Other issues may require more consideration.

Need help determining what constitutes emergency and maintenance calls?

An experienced answering service can help you decide!

Sometimes there may be gray areas where the line between the two is not clearly defined.  That's why it's so important to clearly communicate your criteria to your answering service when it comes to evaluating maintenance issues.

For example, a broken toilet in a one-bathroom apartment would be considered an emergency, while the same issue in a two-bathroom apartment might be more of an inconvenience and can usually wait until the next day for repair. 

Once you've determined which maintenance issues are emergencies and which are routine, your property management answering service can consistently apply your criteria and take the appropriate action.

In the case of an emergency call, they can quickly contact your preferred maintenance provider to arrange for repairs.  For routine maintenance issues, they can gather all the necessary information from your tenant and pass it on to you based on your preferences for you to address the next business day.

Not only does your answering service ensure that maintenance issues receive the right level of attention, but it also sends a strong signal to your tenants that you care about their well-being and that help is always available, regardless of the time they call. 

3. A Property Management Answering Service Is Available 24/7

Have you ever wondered what happens to your tenants' calls when you're not around? If you don’t have an answering service, they likely end up reaching voicemail. And statistically, only 20% of your callers actually do leave voicemails. 

The other 80%? Well, as a property manager, you hope that either a) they have resolved their issue or b) will call back. Those are two big IF’s. You may not want that.

With an answering service as your reliable backup, exceptional customer service will be consistently delivered, no matter the circumstances.

Whether you're out sick or taking a well-deserved vacation, your tenants will not experience any decline in the quality of service they receive. They’re prepared to efficiently handle calls from both current and prospective tenants. 

So, you can go ahead and book those vacation plans knowing that your business is in good hands with a reliable answering service.

4. Your After-Hours Phone Calls Are Always Covered

You do most of your work during regular business hours. But is this when potential tenants tend to call? Probably not.

Even for commercial properties, space availability calls and requests for leasing information often come in outside of regular business hours. And for residential properties, these types of calls typically occur after hours, often at the most surprising of times. 

When leasing and rental calls come in, there’s a good chance you won’t be in the office. That’s where your property management answering service comes in.

To start with, they can answer basic questions about your property and unit availability. Though some of this might be on your website, not all of it is—or if it is, will they bother to look or be able to find it? 

Once your answering service provides this information, the prospect then knows if they want to proceed or aren’t interested. This allows you to focus on the calls that have value and not become sidetracked by those that don’t.

5. Increase Your Occupancy and Grow Your Revenue

Apart from supporting your callers, your property management answering service is completely dedicated to going above and beyond in order to assist you in finalizing the sale. 

One way they do is to schedule showings for you. Here they take into consideration your specific availability and preferences, so that you’re never double-booked. 

But say you double booked yourself by accident or a prospective tenant lost interest, what then? Well, your answering service can also cancel showings! This ensures that you can redirect your valuable time and efforts towards more promising leads. 

“How do you know what’s on my calendar?” 

Great question! When you get an answering service for property management, they are able to integrate their service with your calendar! They receive real-time updates for your availability while you receive real-time updates about bookings and showings for your properties.

Acuity scheduling allows you to integrate your calendar with your answering service.

Is a Property Management Answering Service Right For You?

A professional property management answering service can do these four key things to assist you. This way, you can be more present in the work you do and in attending to the needs of your current tenants and prospective tenants. 

“Is a property management answering service right for me?”. If your properties are growing and you’re struggling with answering all your calls, a property management answering service may very well be for you. 

Now, if you’re still not certain a property management answering service is right for you, you may want to know what the pros and cons of hiring an answering service are. Or, you may be thinking “how long does it take to get my answering service started?”.

But, if you’re already certain a property management answering service is right for you, feel free to fill out the form below now and we’ll get back to you soon about how we can help your business grow! Alternatively, you can visit our property management answering service page for more information.