Why Good PM Is Good PR

You probably take pretty good care of your rental properties, keep them in excellent repair, keep common areas looking great, make the exteriors shine, and have a regular preventive maintenance schedule.

You know what the only problem is? Nobody knows about it. Good landlord do lots of PM (Preventive Maintenance), but they rarely use the PM to generate good PR (Public Relations). Your tenants don't know what a great job you're doing unless you tell them. You could have the best preventive maintenance program in the world, but if you keep it a secret, you are losing out on a great opportunity– the opportunity of keeping great tenants.

Great tenants are like gold. You never want them to move. Here you've done a terrific job making sure that only good tenants live in your rental properties, but you may not be doing everything you can to ensure that they stay. Since it's seven times more expensive to get a new customer than to keep the old one, doing good PR can pay big dividends. Letting your good tenants know what a terrific job you are doing for them will let them know what an outstanding landlord you are and keep them out of the notion of moving just because they don't know how much you care.

The best part–it doesn't require much effort to toot your own horn. Here are some things you can do:
1. Tell them about your Preventive Maintenance Program. Just send a letter to all your tenants describing what you do to keep their homes looking the way they'll be proud to live in them.

2. Send out a questionnaire asking for their wish list for making their homes even better. Be prepared, though. When you get the replies, you need to take action not only to correct the problems your tenants are concerned about, but to let them know the time frame in which you will do it. Otherwise the good PR you worked for goes in the tank.

3. Publish the results of the questionnaire for all your tenants to see. It doesn't have to be specific, only a general discussion of what your tenants said they would like to see happen.

4. Do interior inspections two or three times a year and exterior inspections once or twice a month. Always use a checklist when you do the inspections. Then tell your tenants what you are going to do and when.

Remember, being even a little bit better puts you head and shoulders above your competition in the minds of your customers. Doing good PR about your PM program is one of those ways to get your head a little higher than other landlords'.