VOICES
get to know each other outside of their normal relationship of dealing with some problem or repairs. This
serves to “humanize” them to each other and view each
other in a new light. A resident will form stronger
bonds with a community where they trust and like a
staff that they have gotten to know and had fun with.
Develop a Strong,
Dependable Team
“The best part of my job is
seeing a resident satisfied
with a good move in or a
complete work order. That’s
the satisfaction that I want
myself and my staff to have.”
DAVID GABRIEL, Arabella
“The best part of my job is
basically taking care of the
needs of our residents and
friends.”
CC CLEMONS, Palomino Park
It seems common in the our industry
that often times staff members, no matter how well they work together, see
maintenance and office staff as two
separate functioning entities. While both
teams truly are part of one, more cohesive
team, the staff at any given site knows
that office staff and maintenance staff go
about their own tasks and responsibilities
daily and approach those tasks different
than the other team might.
“Maintenance professionals are at their
best when they get to know residents
by learning their names, welcoming
them home for the day and listening to
how things are going.”
Residents do not see the staff in this way, though.
They feel comfortable approaching members of their
maintenance teams to ask questions about renewals,
pricing, and other work order related questions. Often,
these are questions the office staff would handle, but a
strong maintenance team welcomes resident conversation, and will speak with the residents with respect, and
not dismiss their questions by saying something such
as, “You will need to call the office for that.”
A strong maintenance staff supports their office
staff, and vice versa. Without that solid relationship
between the two sides of the same coin, staff morale
can suffer, employee turnover can rise, and resident
retention can fall off. Therefore, it is very important
that our maintenance teams understand their value
toward retaining residents.
Understand the Value of Your
Community’s Curb Appeal
The first impression that prospects who turn into
our residents have of a site is most times a visual impression. As our customer base changes the way they
shop for apartments, by researching their options online
before calling or coming to the site for a tour, they are
viewing pictures of communities, sometimes from
other states and countries.
“As a maintenance man, you
really make a difference in a
resident’s life.
DAVID SARABIA, Spyglass Hill
14 | TRENDS • MARCH 2016
Maintenance teams are almost always the people
who are working daily to strive for perfect curb appeal.
Something as “simple” as the work our groundskeepers
do to ensure our sites look clean, fresh, bright, and safe,
is imperative to the prospect coming to visit for a site
tour. We often overhear prospects going out on tour
state that they looked at apartments online before
visiting locations, and if they drive into a property and
the location looks nothing like the pictures they viewed
online, they will turn around and drive away without
even stopping to take a tour.
Make Preventative Maintenance
a Priority
While the city of Denver is currently experiencing
a massive development boom, the majority of communities in our city are much older than 5 years old.
The importance of preventative maintenance is key
for new build communities, as such maintenance work
impacts a community from the first move-in the day
the property is open for business. Those communities
in our city that are more than five years old know that
preventative maintenance, as well as the repetitive,
daily work the maintenance staff undertakes has longterm, tangible benefits.
If maintenance is done well, day in and day out,
over years, it is very helpful to resident retention. A
community that has been well cared for and maintained
over twenty years creates a place to call home for hundreds of residents. The daily work orders that maintenance members take care of lead to long-term care for
a community and property that translate directly to
resident retention.
If a community has not been cared for, a resident
is very unlikely to renew, given the choice. If it has,
and the work has been done exceptionally well, an
older community can easily compete with a newer one
if the homes are not maintained well. Each and every
maintenance member, from the groundskeeper, to the
housekeeper, to the techs and supervisors, puts in
daily work that, over years, creates a solid home, and
thus leads to strong resident retention. Their daily work
is very important for long term benefits.
Chris Abernathy is the
community manager at
1600 Glenarm Place
(Redpeak), and Amy
Gillaspie is the Leasing
Manager at The Vintage
at Hyland Hills (Legacy
Partners). They serve on
AAMD’s Communication Committee
www.aamdhq.org