World Trade Center West, Boston
From downtown Boston to Cambridge, from Route 128 to Interstate 495, more and more office space is being put back on the market. As vacancy rates climb to near record highs, retaining and renewing existing tenants is a top priority for real estate asset and property management firms.
But in the current environment, offering better deals and basic amenities is no longer enough. Today, successful tenant retention strategies must include strong tenant relationships that allow asset management firms to not only address current tenant needs, but also to anticipate needs in the future.
Property and asset managers have long recognized the need for solid tenant relationships, but in a market that continues to struggle with excess space, they are both more difficult to establish and more essential than ever.
Many property management firms, in an effort to reduce costs, have relocated staff members to centralized locations, thus reducing face-to-face contact with customers. And, while maintenance requests and other transactions are still completed, there is often little personal interaction. These changes are all to the detriment of the tenant-property management relationship.
Firms need a distinctive tenant services philosophy and an on-site staffing structure designed to provide efficient, personalized services to tenants. Property management staff should work closely with tenants on a daily basis. And look to anticipate their needs and, whenever possible, create new services and amenities which offer added value to tenants. This interaction provides the groundwork for lasting relationships and long-term tenant satisfaction.
Every Need
Establishing relationships means not only meeting and greeting tenants, guests and visitors, but also going the extra mile to ensure that tenants receive additional benefits from their landlords. For example, the hotel-quality office concierge at the World Trade Center complex in Boston, has developed into one of the most valuable tenant assets. The concierge service was designed to forge these special customer/tenant relationships. The concierges promptly respond to a myriad of tenant requests, ranging from making last-minute ticket purchases and travel arrangements to hotel and dinner reservations, flowers and gift orders, and car rentals, among others.
Providing world-class amenities is another critical point in establishing relationships with tenants. It’s no longer acceptable to only offer the essentials that tenants need to get their jobs done; providing the latest accessible technologies is important. World Trade Center Boston, for example, recently introduced new Wireless LAN connectivity and it will soon be installed in public areas of World Trade Centers East and West, as well as Eastport and Westport parks. This allows guests, visitors or attendees high-speed access with the ability to move their laptops around freely.
Other key amenities include complimentary shuttle service to various points in Boston, water shuttle accessibility, lunch time delivery service and “vendor days,” allowing local vendors to set up tables to display and sell goods to tenants.
This unique combination of customer service and valued amenities consistently results in high tenant satisfaction, as well as strengthened tenant/customer relationships. While this is a challenging time for the real estate industry, it also presents a tremendous opportunity to create strengthened relationships and loyalty with tenants.
