When you enter a commercial property, you may encounter different people to welcome you. These include security guards, the concierge, or the front reception.
These staff members are the first faces that visitors and tenants see when they enter the property, and the last when they leave. As such, they are the point of contact when people are looking for information on various topics and play an important role in engaging with different people on the property.
In this article, we explain the importance of making this front facing team an integral part of your tenant announcement structure. We’ll also look at the kinds of announcements they can get involved in and a channel that supports their participation.
As mentioned, receptionists are an important touchpoint for users of your building. They provide information when required and act as a go-between with the property manager when clients need it.
They can also help address urgent issues. For example, if a tenant has a plumbing issue, the receptionist can contact the building’s maintenance crew or a trusted plumber.
This makes them an active player in the communication between property managers and tenants, as well as areas like service provision, maintenance, organisation, and more. It is this multifaceted role of reception services that makes them valuable for tenant announcements.
Reception can help you identify pertinent issues to address in announcements. This is because receptionists will have a more hands-on understanding of what your tenants experience and have problems with. They’re also often the ones in communication with other property actors like maintenance teams and other services. As such, they’re generally in the know about announcements that matter.
Reception services can also act as a reminder to tenants about where they can access information - e.g. “you can find out about that on the latest announcement through the tenant portal.”
Your receptionists need to have a communication channel that supports them in information distribution and update-sharing.
Having receptionists share information through word of mouth is not an efficient or sustainable system, especially with large properties. You need a convenient and consistent channel that is easy to access.
The first thing you want to do is define the things you want to get out of the channel. You need to know what functionalities your platform must be able to complete. With this in mind, you can make the right choice about which channel would best suit your announcements.
For example, do you want to make updates easy to access and track? Are you trying to have tenants engage directly with announcements? Do you need receptionists to have the ability to create and share new announcements, too?
From these goals, you can create a list of must-have features for your channel, including:
These are just some of the functionalities to consider.
Once you know your goals, you also need to define accessibility. Who needs to have access to the platform? Who will have control over the sharing of new announcements?
A few actors that you may want to give access to include:
With your goals and actor list in hand, you can now start researching suitable platforms. Narrow down the available tenant announcement channels to ones that help you meet your goals and allow you to create the access you need. You can then choose the best option from this shortlist.
Doing research will also help you understand why more traditional announcement techniques like email may not suit modern tenant management. Instead, it could introduce you to more efficient, convenient and functional tenant portals that are mobile-first.
When you've chosen your channel, you have to provide training to all the people who will use it. If the reception will handle some of the announcements, you'll have to train them on how to use the platform.
Tenants also need some kind of guidance on how to use the channel. You can do this through an announcement or your channel may have included beginner training as most apps do for new users.
Once you've introduced the channel, you don’t just ditch it and let it do its thing. You need to plan upcoming announcements and newsletters. You want to use the channel consistently so tenants and staff become accustomed to using it.
From there, you need to continuously observe engagement on the platform and its effectiveness. Are tenants still asking you or the receptionists questions that they can find the answers to via the channel? Do announcements receive any engagement at all? Has the platform helped improve communication challenges and speed up your facility management?
Reflect on the goals you set in the beginning and see whether your chosen platform helps you meet them. You can then revise your approach in using it or consider switching to a more suitable solution.
Tenant announcements are an important communication tool for property managers. You can share updates, new information, maintenance notifications and more. You can also use the announcements as a forum to address building community issues and address complaints. Receptionists have a parallel role in tenant communication and support.
By bringing the role of reception services together with tenant announcements, you can really improve the running of your building. You can enhance communication, service provision, and overall tenant satisfaction and wellbeing. This approach brings a friendly and familiar face to tenant communications because when you get information from someone you trust, you'll generally trust what they share.
If your organisation is looking for a tool to involve all tenants in property management for better decision-making on workplace and property strategies, have a look at Falcony | Observe.
We are building the world's first operational involvement platform. Our mission is to make the process of finding, sharing, fixing and learning from issues and observations as easy as thinking about them and as rewarding as being remembered for them.
By doing this, we are making work more meaningful for all parties involved.
More information at falcony.io.