Forging a strong personal relationship with tenants starts from day one—and Avison Young’s Peter Leroux, who oversees the firm’s 15M SF property management portfolio in Ontario, shares his best practices.
When a tenant leases space in an office or retail building, Avison Young’s team provides them with a welcome packet, which includes the tenant manual, key contacts, rules and everything they need to know to function within the building, Peter says. This is accompanied by a light continental breakfast, and then property managers sit down with tenants personally to establish a rapport. From there, the property managers provide multiple ways to contact them, whether site visits, telephone or connecting electronically by email or the Avison Advantage contact system. “There’s definitely an age divide,” he notes. “Older tenants still gravitate to face-to-face meetings while younger tenants prefer electronic communications.” Property managers also send out newsletters and email blasts to all tenants on a regular basis—more frequently if there are renovations or upgrades happening to a building. Whatever the chosen method, Peter says it’s critical to get back to the tenant within a few hours, even if you don’t have an answer for them at the moment.
You can even make essential property management tasks more fun. For instance, if a building has a mandatory fire evacuation drill planned, some AY property managers will rent an ice cream or drink truck to keep tenants satiated while they wait for the all-clear. “We try to make it more of an event than a chore,” Peter says. Above, tenants enjoy a holiday breakfast accompanied by a live orchestral group and carolers at Toronto's 70 University Ave. And at Toronto's 180 Duncan Mill Rd, a tenant BBQ boasted an 85% attendance rate, showing that the team’s efforts in connecting with tenants was working. It’s all about making them feel special and appreciated, he says, whether it’s bringing a plant or cookies to tenants’ spaces, or even providing a small holiday gift to all their employees. The benefit of having good tenant relationships ultimately allows you to start lease renewal discussions positively, he concludes.
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