When it comes to property management, the human element of the business should not be undervalued, says Albest International CEO Catherine Lai and Corporate Sustainability Strategies CEO Brenna Walraven, BOMA Fellow, who delivered an educational session on world-class customer service this morning at the BOMA International Conference & Expo.

You might feel stuck in the middle of keeping a tight ship between building owners and tenants, which is a stressful place to be, especially in more difficult economic times, they say. But being a property management Superman doesn’t necessarily need extra budget expenditure—only your time. So how do you get there?

World-class asset management is the next level of best practices, Catherine and Brenna say—it gives you a product that is globally acceptable, but retains the critical ingredients of your local operating market. “You don’t have to be the most expensive model to be tuned to perfection,” Catherine notes, especially since our industry comprises many different types of buildings and sizes.

There are three critical ingredients to success, they point out: seamless service provision, exceeding customer expectations and creativity.

The first is needed as the foundation and gives you the time to focus on your customer’s expectations and being creative. Seamless service means support, empowerment, communication, connection and proactivity through a whole-team approach.

Now that you have the time, you can identify the customer’s needs, whether a shareholder, asset manager or tenant. Engage them and understand they have different drivers—for some it could be income, for others, value. Check in, stay connected and surprise and delight them.

Lastly, be creative and come up with ideas of how you can create opportunities to engage with clients and build value, which helps create a community and a fantastic brand profile for your building.