Tenant satisfaction surveys help you spot problem areas with your properties and services, but some facility managers put off creating and administering them because of time restraints. But it only takes a few minutes to create an effective tenant questionnaire if you follow these steps.
Download Free Survey Template
Building a tenant survey should only take around 15 mins max, and it’s free if you use Google Forms. Here’s a free survey template 7Nox designed specifically for commercial property owners. It contains questions around maintenance, property condition and customer service. But you can customize the template to suit your needs. Here’s how to use it:
Click the link above.
Choose to “Make a copy” of the template.
Open the template copy from your Google Drive (you will need a Google account).
Add your property name and photo (optional) in the heading.
Change, add or remove questions to fit your needs.
Voila! You’re ready to email your customized opinion poll to your tenants and gain some powerful feedback. Here’s a getting started guide if you’re new to Google Forms.
Survey Tips
The more participation, the more accurate your picture of your properties. As with most surveys, people who actually take the time to fill one out are usually either big fans or disgruntled. But getting only 5 stars and 1 star reviews is less constructive than a healthy chunk of middle-of-the-road opinions. So, follow these guidelines to raise the participation rate of your tenant satisfaction survey.
Brevity Helps
Few people enjoy filling out satisfaction surveys, but keeping your survey short increases participation. Add as many questions as you need to get the info you want, but stop there. Combine multiple ideas into one question. For example, ask one question about all your amenities, don’t draft a question for each. If you’re interested in getting feedback on a single amenity (e.g., workout room), then draft a separate survey.
Offer a Carrot
Offering free gift cards or other enticements increases tenant participation. It may seem like bribery, but at some point the value of more tenant input outweighs the cost. That is, if identifying problems and making tenants happy results in at least one re-sign, it will likely be worth the outlay.
Optimize Timing
Schedules vary, but try and survey tenants when they have a little extra time, maybe before a holiday or Friday afternoon. More people will fill it out if they have a moment. Aim for one survey a year, and send it out near the beginning. Also, avoid surveying new tenants and those about to leave. Newcomers have too little experience to be valuable, while those leaving have little stake in the outcome and are less likely to fill one out anyway. Finally, get someone to take your survey before you send it out to tenants.
Whether you’re leasing a small two-bedroom or multi-level high-rise, tenant satisfaction is critical to your bottom line. When tenants are happy, they tend to lease longer. This maintains consistency in your properties and lowers your exit costs. But what really makes a happy tenant? It can be more complicated than you think. Savvy property managers and owners use tenant satisfaction studies, along with their own surveys, to zero in on what’s important to their tenants. Here are three ways to start improving your overall tenant satisfaction straight away.
1. Help Them Become More Sustainable
Interest in green working spaces is growing in tenants all around the world. Surveys show that building sustainability advice is as high a priority for tenants as advice on health and safety. Your renters want to do their part to conserve energy while providing a safe workspace for their employees. Plus, everyone saves money in the process. Here are some things to try:
Keep your tenants informed about new construction and invite their input.
Create a forum on your portal for regular contributions on sustainability.
Make sustainability a regular part of your building meetings with tenants.
Use an automated billing app to give them more control over their energy consumption.
Email them guides on building sustainable office spaces.
Regularly post recycling program reminders to your social media sites.
2. Update Your Tenant Communication Plan
Experts recommend you review and update your tenant communications program every 12 months to ensure it’s meeting your tenants’ needs. To effectively evaluate your plan, ask questions like:
Is the right person in charge of managing the plan?
Is your plan easily accessible by you and your tenants?
Are you updating your plan regularly?
Do you have all the components you need?
Can you measure the effectiveness?
Regular evaluation ensures your tenant communication plan is up-to-date. Take advantage of technology by employing a multi-channel approach that includes email, phone, text and social media. Unprecedented events like COVID-19 have pushed the emergency component of comms plans to the forefront, as property managers work with governments to ensure public safety. Annual plan audits will ensure you’re prepared.
3. Sort Maintenance Requests Fast
Resolving maintenance issues quickly isn’t just good building management, it also makes your tenants happy. Nothing is more frustrating than working around a faulty light, broken door or unreliable internet. While most renters understand that things happen beyond the landlord’s control, that doesn’t absolve you from doing your due diligence.
Even if it’s a small issue, get to the problem as soon as possible—it may not be a “small” problem for your renter. Today, it’s easier than ever to locate one-off contractors and handyman services from online services like Angie’s List or MyGuy. In the long run, hiring a contractor will likely be worth the cost if it results in a satisfied tenant.
These three suggestions highlight two key aspects of tenant satisfaction: information and control. Remember, your tenants have to factor your building management, administration and technology into their own business decisions. Unreliable internet service, late notices about lift outages or a confusing tenant payment process all affect their ability to plan and respond as an organization. Keep better information and more control as end goals in your decision making, and you’ll always ensure that your tenant satisfaction improves.
