Tips for Property Managers
Who gives out baskets of fruit, tickets to Minnesota Vikings games, and one-week passes to a Ft. Myers, Florida, condominium — for free? (Santa Claus is a good guess, but he gives presents only one day a year.)
The correct answer for many is your commercial property manager. These days managers aren’t just the people who receive rent and make office repairs; they’re also customer-relationship gurus that understand a well-treated — even occasionally pampered — tenant may be less likely to throw up a big fuss when something’s gone awry.
Goodies, in other words, can grease the wheels of civility in what is often a high-tension industry.
“It makes it so much easier to deal with people,” says Tamey Reynolds, office administrator for JGM Properties, the Bloomington-based commercial real estate property management firm that offers the aforementioned perks. “There’s going to be times when the heat’s out, or the roof’s leaking, or the power goes down. Normally you’d probably be getting screamed at, but instead,” tenants are “just a little bit more willing to work with you.”
To be sure, tickets and tasty treats alone aren’t the glue that makes a tenant stick around, say property managers. They don’t keep hard numbers or take surveys to track whether these niceties lead to tenant retention.
Old-fashioned flexibility and accountability on both sides are still necessary for a successful, amicable relationship, they say. But especially now — in a competitive tenant’s market, where high vacancy rates and sweetened lease packages abound — it’s the little perks that can make a big difference.
“You need to make even the smallest tenant understand that they are valued, and that their tenancy is very much appreciated,” says Jill Mikkelson, senior property manager for Pentagon Park in Edina, which is owned by Wayzata-based Wayzata Properties.
Must be current
Many property managers write off perks as an expense, so tenants need not worry that the cost is factored into their rent. In most cases, the only requirement is that a tenant company be current with its rent.
Freebies sometimes come in the form of tickets to sports events, concerts and plays. A single tenant can’t swoop in and take everything; the typical limit is two per company. Tenants are alerted of the availability through newsletters and e-mails.
For tenants who really have their eyes on an item, but end up empty-handed, “we’ll work something out for them for something different,” says Reynolds of JGM Properties.
Zeller Properties, a Minneapolis-based property manangement firm, has a concierge to handle the requests, which are doled out on a first-come first-served basis. During the 2005 holiday season, Sara-ann Kasner, director of concierge services, offered tickets to “A Christmas Carol,” Mannheim Steamroller and the Radio City Rockettes Holiday Show, among others, to tenants at Bloomington-based Wells Fargo Plaza, according to that property’s newsletter.
Her duties also include assisting with tenants’ private company parties, and personal events and getaways.
Tenant anniversaries at JGM are acknowledged with organic fruit baskets bought through a tenant. And in recent years, Mikkelson and her team at Pentagon Park have celebrated the first day of spring by delivering tulips or daffodils.
Property managers also provide special services. Zeller Properties offered a complimentary chair massage to tenants at St. Paul-based Wells Fargo Place during the holidays. Pentagon Park runs a vehicle start-up program from December to March. When tenants run into car trouble, they call a number and a local garage sends out a truck to help free of charge.
On the extreme end, JGM Properties owner Jay Mutschler lends his family’s oceanside Fort Myers, Florida-based condo to a lucky tenant one week out of the year, usually during the nonpeak travel season.
In return, the tenant is expected to pay for cleaning during the visit.Many property managers host parties to show tenants their appreciation. The old standard is the holiday party, but there are lots of creative exceptions.
At Edina-based Pentagon Park’s annual ice cream social, an actual bell-ringing truck arrives with frozen novelties and goes door-to-door among the complex’s 16 buildings. In August, management hosts a picnic with catered food, live music and prizes. Items handed out have included coffee cups, tote bags, flashlights and fanny packs. At JGM Properties’ summer barbecue, Mutschler even helms the grill, serving up brats and hamburgers.
“People get a kick out of it,” says Reynolds. “You just don’t expect to see a business owner doing that.”
Networking value, tooTenants who are business owners can also find some networking value in events hosted by property managers.
Though employees make up the majority of attendees, informal gatherings such as picnics and barbecues are also frequently attended by tenants’ high-ranking officers.
Reynolds says she sees a higher turnout from owners of small companies than larger ones. For these kinds of functions, large companies often send an appropriate representative — especially someone who has a direct role in office maintenance and upkeep — to make an appearance on their behalf, says Tom Musil, director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate Education in the College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.
Some events are planned specifically for business-owner tenants to mix and mingle — and maybe generate a few business leads.
Pixie Cohen, owner of Interior Fabrications Inc., a Plymouth-based custom interiors and upholstery shop, attended a February 2006 networking party at O’Donovan’s Irish Pub, where she received a drapery-repair referral. It’s a line of work she rarely performs, but she says she’s always willing to do something out of the ordinary to help a prospect. Her property manager, JGM Properties, hosted the event.
Bruce Warner, owner and president of Accompany Software Corp., an eight-employee company based in Bloomington, says he’s looked around at other options whenever his lease is up, but he still hasn’t found an alternative worth moving for. He’s been a tenant of JGM for almost 15 years, with 10 of those spent at his current Lyndale Avenue building.
“Value for the dollar” is the main reason he’s remained for so long, he says.
As for the perks? “They’re nice,” Warner says. “They help maintain the relationship, and I think for some companies that does keep them there. For me, I’d be here without them…[my landlord] could drop all those perks and I’d say O.K.
“But you don’t have to tell him that.”
[contact] Pixie Cohen, Interior Fabrications Inc.: 763.545.0220. Jill Mikkelson, Wayzata Properties: 952.345.1002; jmikkelson@wayzataproperties.com; www.wayzataproperties.com. Tom Musil, University of St. Thomas: 651.962.4289; tamusil@stthomas.edu; www.stthomas.edu. Jay Mutschler, Tamey Reynolds, JGM Properties: 952.884.8088; jaym@jgmproperties.com;tameyr@jgmproperties.com; www.jgmproperties.com. Bruce Warner, Accompany Software Corp.: 952.888.6878; information@accompanysoftware.com; www.accompany.com.
