Updated March 13, 2023
Losing a client can be like losing part of your team. It hurts morale, and it leaves you wondering what happened.
The truth is that when clients leave, there are always reasons why they decided to move on. As property managers, you have the opportunity to use this information as a way to improve your services and make sure that you retain all of the good clients that we currently have!
How can property management business owners maintain employee morale when a client leaves and use the situation to learn and improve? Use these property management consulting insights to turn lost business into a catalyst for growth!
How Do You Respond When Losing Good Clients?
Losing clients (despite your team's best efforts to serve them well) can be a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes, poor team morale can lead to losing clients. Losing business can also damage employee attitudes and confidence.
Employees who are frustrated with their job and overworked won’t serve clients well—and you'll struggle to keep good clients long-term. Then, when clients leave, morale sinks lower, and the cycle continues.
The team members on your property management organizational chart are some of your most significant assets. So, how should a successful property manager respond when their team isn't excited to come to work every day?
It’s easy to get discouraged when a good client leaves. If you're first response is to get mad at the clients or your team, you'll soon find yourself in a pattern of losing more clients (and team members).
Instead, a healthy company takes stock of the situation and moves forward with renewed vigor to serve clients well. Turning lost business into an opportunity for growth and change is the sign of an excellent leader on the way to becoming the best property manager in their market!
When Clients Leave, Do These Things
Successful business owners know that something needs to change when clients leave to prevent it from becoming an ongoing issue. Without enough doors under your management, your property management company can't succeed!
Losing one client isn't necessarily devastating to your business or a sign that "everything" is wrong. However, it is a sign that it's time to review operations, talk with your team, and find out what went wrong (and how to prevent it from happening again).
Review Property Management Operations and Communications
Most clients don't leave for another property management company without reasons for doing so. While not every client is a good fit for your business—and sometimes clients leave despite serving them exceptionally well—when a property owner leaves, healthy companies review operations and communications to make sure they did everything they could to manage that relationship with excellence.
Ask a few questions of your team (and make sure to dive deep into the answers):
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Did you deliver what you promised (or not)? If not, what fell through the cracks or fell short of the client's expectations?
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Did your property owner feel well-served (or not)? Was there any feedback from the client or indications that they weren't happy? What did you do to respond to their concerns?
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Did your tenant feel heard and well-served (or not)? When a tenant doesn't renew their lease, did they give a reason? Could you have done more to encourage them to stay?
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What needs to change to serve property owners and tenants better? This is a tough question and can have several answers. If a property owner left because of mistakes or unmet expectations, it might be time to review processes, technology, and your employees' capabilities to make sure your company delivers the best property management services in your market.
Successful property management professionals don't often have a flawless rise to the top. Learning how to communicate as a property manager and how to recover from mistakes (and lost business) is a sign of a healthy company that can adapt services and skills to keep more clients longer and add more doors for growth.
Talk With Employees
Check in with employees and take their "morale" temperature. Whether a mistake (or series of errors) led to the client taking their business elsewhere—or they simply left despite everyone's excellent hard work—use the opportunity to build relationships with your team members and boost their morale.
During conversations, you might learn some things you weren't aware of. Team members with too many doors and not enough time in the day simply can’t serve clients well, no matter how hard they try. Clunky processes and outdated software won’t help them, either.
Sometimes, hearing directly from your team is the best way to understand where processes fall short, where more training could improve performance, and what kind of software could help them manage doors and clients more successfully.
A Healthy Work Environment Helps Retain More Clients
It takes work to get there, but creating a healthy work environment leads to better client retention. When people are happy to come to work every day and serve your tenants and property owners, you'll see happy clients, as well.
While your property management organizational chart might drive the structure of your company, business owners can't forget about the human element of building an effective team. Good property managers make conscious efforts to listen to pain points, provide solutions and support, and encourage employees (especially when they have a rough day). When team members operate in fear of making a mistake or losing their jobs, they can't serve clients well.
Turn Morale Around With a Property Management Coach!
Successful property managers know that it’s not always easy to keep your clients or team happy. When clients leave, and morale starts to suffer, you need a plan of action fast! Take time out from trying to chase new business and focus on what’s happening and improving operations to retain more clients.
Real-Time Consulting Services is here to help you experience more property management success! Sometimes discovering the underlying issues that cause real estate owners and tenants to leave requires an expert third-party review. If you're ready to keep more clients longer (and boost your team's morale), schedule a free consultation and learn more about our consulting services!
Learn more about what it takes to create a healthy company! Download our free guide, the "10-Point Inspection Checklist."
We will review your business plan and make sure you are on track.