Establishing and maintaining good working relationships with your commercial tenants is important to your long-term success as an owner/landlord.
How to get started
Some landlords prefer to be hands-off, while others are more involved and communicative with their tenants. There’s no right or wrong way to handle tenant relationships. However, it is important to keep communication lines open with your commercial tenants.
Let them know that you’re available to answer questions.
Your tenants should know how to contact you when they have questions about their lease or concerns about their unit. You don’t want concerns and tensions to build up and grow over time until they get out of control. Especially with hot topics like common area maintenance.
Show tenants that you care about their needs.
You can’t fulfill every tenant request, and some tenants just won’t be happy as hard as you try! However, you can still show tenants that you’re making an effort to meet your needs and that you care about their continued business.
Send out regular mass updates and/or check in individually with tenants
Email lists are a great way to stay in contact with commercial tenants. We recommend a monthly or quarterly newsletter with updates, as well as sending out an email to everyone when there are sudden changes (like repairs, construction, or changes in rules).
Staying Up to Date in Times of Crisis
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have had to instate new rules and policies to help ensure the continued health of their employees, customers, and the people around them. This leaves some landlords wondering what their role is in these unprecedented times. And, leaves many wondering exactly how to handle tenant relationships.
Commercial landlords are not obliged to take on the tasks of rule-enforcement when it comes to their tenants. It isn’t your job to screen people for symptoms or enforce stay-at-home orders. But as a landlord, it is your job to keep the lines of communication open. Make sure your tenants are aware of any changes to building cleaning or management. Let them know that you’re here to answer their questions and set their mind at ease.
You can maintain your tenant relationships by reassuring commercial tenants that their safety is your top concern. If your tenants are struggling to make ends meet, you should be willing to work with them to come up with a plan. Sure, it may be difficult to not get your full rent check on time – but if your tenant goes out of business or you’re forced to evict them, then you’re both out of luck.
The bottom line is, communication with your tenants matters – now more than ever. If you haven’t sent out an email or talked to your commercial tenants lately, now is the time to reach out.
If you need help managing your tenant information, turn to STRATAFOLIO. When integrated with QuickBooks, this powerful tool allows you to keep all your commercial real estate data and analytics in one place. No matter how many commercial tenant relationships you have to maintain, STRATAFOLIO can make it easier! Contact us today for your free demo.
