Pub. 1 2016 Issue 5

14 www.ctaahq.org 䌀吀䄀䄀 吀䠀䔀䌀伀一一䔀䌀吀䤀䌀唀吀䄀倀䄀刀吀䴀䔀一吀䄀匀匀伀䌀䤀䄀吀䤀伀一  Residents expect the latest entertainment and communications technology in their lives. When you partner with Cox, you provide your residents with the most advanced products and services available in your area, with local support whenever you need it. And since Cox owns and maintains one of the nation’s largest hybrid fiber-optic networks, you get the bandwidth needed to support advanced connectivity demands. Become a Cox Signature Community, and make sure your residents get the services they want, today and in the future. Give your residents the riGht connections. Gigablast SM | Contour® TV | Cox Homelife SM | Digital Telephone Gerry Quarm MDU Sales Manager Gerry.Quarm@Cox.com 401-615-1299 Call Today Saying you are sorry does not mean the problem is your fault. You are apologizing as the representative of the company, not as a person. What an apology communicates is that you have heard the tenant and you are sorry for the pain being experienced. Just hearing an acknowledgement of someone’s frustration can do wonders when it comes to helping people calm down. Other apology options you could try might include the following: • “I’m sorry you are unhappy with your apartment. I want to work with you to x the problems.” • “I’m sorry the repairs haven’t been made yet. Let me nd a way to make that up to you.” • “I’m so sorry about your frustration. I would feel the same way, and I will do what I can to help you.” A Focus on Solutions e next step to handling a problem is to stay focused on solutions instead of on blame. You don’t want to come across as being either dismissive or callous. If something is an issue for a tenant, it needs to be an issue for you as well. Equally, if you don’t have all the information about a situation, you need to do what you can to get that information. Anything less feels disrespectful from the tenant’s point of view. What you do need to be talking about are ways to resolve any issue that has developed. It’s not your business to be thinking about whether it really is a problem or not, because the tenant is the person who gets to decide that point. Your business is to look for peaceful resolutions. Tell the tenant that you understand there is a problem and then tell them what you, or someone else, will do to x it. Following Through Following through actually has two parts. • e rst part is doing what you said you were going to do, and then making sure it gets done. • e second part is guring out how to prevent that problem from ever occurring again. When you think about it, the issue here is not just maintenance, or parking, or what have you. e underlying issue is whether your tenants are getting the kind of service from management that they have a right to expect. Part of that service consists of anticipating problems and then being proactive about preventing them. Another idea to consider is giving the tenant a gift of some kind, such as a certi cate to an expensive restaurant as an apology. e gift won’t work if the problem hasn’t been solved, but if you did x whatever needed to be xed, or there are rm plans for a solution in place, then the tenant will probably be delighted by your thoughtful gesture. Resident Problems | Continued from page 13