A key part of operating a successful rental business is to understand your demographic. This means analyzing the competition, collecting feedback, and making ongoing improvements.
Maybe your rental unit isn’t doing so well or a multi-family home is leaking money, every business will run into problems. The million-dollar question is… why?
To answer this question, you should start collecting feedback from your tenants.
Collecting unbiased feedback will open you up to a world of knowledge and empower you with actionable insights that can satisfy the needs of today’s tenants. Here are some tips on how to collect the best tenant feedback.
Ask them the Right Questions
The framing of your questions makes all the difference. To get the best answer, phrase your questions in a casual yet collected manner. This puts the tenant at ease so they won’t feel pressured into giving you comfortable answers.
Here are a few questions you can ask:
- How would you rate the property on a scale of 1 to 10?
- Are maintenance issues taken care of on time?
- Is there any feature that you would prefer to have in exchange for higher rent?
- Is it easy to pay rent each month?
- Is our property manager friendly and accommodating?
These questions will give you a sense of how tenants are receiving your rental unit. Don’t overwhelm them with questions, and try to get into the specifics. Consider a numerical rating system with 1 as ‘very bad’ and 10 as ‘very good’. Most tenants won’t choose from either end of the spectrum, choosing a number in between instead. Either way, this should serve as a good indication of how you’re doing.
Offer an Incentive in Return for Feedback
Tenants are more likely to leave feedback to the rental managers if they had a negative experience with your property. Some people don’t feel it’s worth their time to spend a few minutes going over your survey. You can make it worth their while to leave their feedback in exchange for something valuable. These incentives may include discounts on the rent, gift cards, and a free laundry day.
Monitor Your Social Media
A good way to ask tenants for feedback is by engaging them on social media. You can get a feel for how people really feel about your property. Social media provides tenants with an outlet to give their unfiltered opinion about certain things – without the risk of backlash. It could be a great way to track home improvement trends that could improve your rental business.
Use Online Surveys to Get Feedback
Calling over the phone or talking in person is a good way to collect feedback. But who has the time? Your schedules may not always be conducive to a heart-to-heart talk. This is where online surveys come in. You can use websites like SurveyMonkey to create free surveys that can be emailed to tenants.
People are more comfortable giving honest opinions behind the computer screen. This also gives you a good opportunity to ask open-ended questions to learn more about your property.
Provide Anonymity to Tenants
Some tenants don’t like providing feedback if it could offend you. For this reason, you should allow tenants to leave anonymous feedback.
If your tenants feel they’ll be singled out for giving harsh criticism, they simply won’t do it. This means you’ll miss out on valuable information that could be used to improve your business and boost your bottom line.
Never Become Offended
Rule number one of collecting unbiased feedback is to never let your emotions get in the way. You won’t always appreciate harsh criticism and constructive criticism – you may even detest your tenants for feeling a certain way – but it will serve you in the long run. Don’t take the feedback personally or respond by being offensive or defensive. Simply thank the tenant, analyze their feedback, and see if you can make improvements.
For more advice on collecting unbiased feedback – whether anonymously or otherwise, contact a property manager near you.