Property management is a little like parenting. You must uphold order but simultaneously create goodwill. Tenants are the lifeblood of building owners’ cash flow. The better a property manager does their job the more likely the ownership’s occupancy will remain above market averages. Property management is all about building relationships, being responsive and transparent, being as fair as possible and thinking long term because each tenant’s lease comes up for renewal in a blink of an eye. Tenants certainly remember how they were treated during the term of the lease and how the building has been managed come lease renewal time. The moment a property manager sits down with a tenant to renew their lease is not when the relationship begins it is usually when the relationship ends if the property manager has failed to establish a respectful relationship to include an in depth understanding of the tenant’s company. We have enjoyed almost 100% retention of tenants during my 12 years in commercial property management and it has been centered around relationship building, problem solving and treating tenants and their staff with dignity while marinating great vendor relationships. Where there are no tenants, there is no cash flow, and where there is no cash flow there is no building value. Proper treatment of tenants can earn you goodwill when you need it most. Typical lease renewal fees run in the range of 2%-3% of the lease value which is a nice bonus to monthly management fees.
When I left my employer 100% of our clients came with us to include all the building we managed where I developed and maintained the relationship.