MAINTENANCE
IS FROM MARS,
THE OFFICE IS
FROM VENUS.
A LONG TIME AGO,
IN A CITY FAR FAR
AWAY……
QUESTION #1:
WHY ARE WE
HERE?
MISSION OBJECTIVES:
1. How to communicate between maintenance and the office
2. How the office can impact the level of customer service provided
by the maintenance team
3. Critical information that needs to be on service requests
4. What questions to ask the residents about the service request
that they are submitting
5. The steps that actually go into completing a service request and
make ready
CAN THERE BE….....
QUESTION #2:
WHAT WOULD YOUR
SERVICE TEAMS LIKE FOR
YOU TO TAKE AWAY FROM
THIS CLASS?
COMMUNICATION
• Communicate with your entire team
• Communicate property issues through your Maintenance
Supervisor
• Say what you mean, don’t mean what you say
• Don’t make promises to residents that someone else will
have to keep
• Do not TELL someone to do something, You can ASK them
to do anything
CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPACT
• Getting good, accurate and in-depth information from the
residents about their service request on the initial call
• Stay calm with residents when handling emergency
situations
• Watch move-in dates and move-out dates
• Sometimes the office can handle a service request before
it is ever written up
• Inform maintenance as priority service requests come in
GATHER ALL THE DATA……..
Your service teams will have a
higher efficiency rate with
complete & accurate
information!!!!
INCOMPLETE INFORMATION……
It is very challenging (but not
impossible) to do a very specific
task with incomplete or
inaccurate information!
Terry called
about an
apartment.
405- 555-569
Please call back
A.S.A.P!
INFORMATION ON SERVICE REQUESTS
Name
Address with Apartment number
Phone number
Service request issue
Permission to enter
INFORMATION ON SERVICE REQUESTS
E-mail address
Pet information
Alarm information
Specific information about the
maintenance issue
WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN
TAKING A SERVICE REQUEST???
AIR CONDITIONING
• Is it blowing any air?
• Do you hear any unusual noises?
• Is your thermostat set to auto?
• Have you checked your breaker?
• Do you know when your filter was last
changed?
Request that they turn their a/c off!!!
PLUMBING – SINK LEAKS
• Is it a continuous leak or does it leak
only when the water is running?
• Which sink is leaking?
• Kitchen, master or guest bath, right or
left sink?
• Is it leaking underneath or on top at the
handles?
• Is it leaking hot or cold water?
• Did they just run the dishwasher?
PLUMBING – SINK CLOGGED
• Which sink is clogged? (Bedroom or
Bathroom)
• Is it just one side of the sink or both
sides?
• If the kitchen sink is clogged advise
them to not use their dishwasher or
garbage disposal.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL
• Is it clogged?
• Does it hum when you turn it on?
• Have you tried the reset button on
the underside of the disposal?
• Is there anything sharp in the
disposal?
PLUMBING – TOILET
• Is it clogged?
• Does it fill up with water?
• Is the handle broken?
• Does it run continually?
• Is it leaking from the tank?
• Is it leaking only when flushed?
PLUMBING – NO HOT WATER
• Is there hot water in any part of the apartment?
• How long did they run the water?
• Did they run any appliances that use hot water
prior to or during the time they discovered that
they had no hot water?
• If they don’t have enough hot water, how long
does it take to run out?
• If there is a leak, is it leaking from the top or
bottom? Is the carpet wet?
APPLIANCES – DISHWASHER
• Did they check the breaker? Is it
plugged in?
• Did they latch or lock the door?
• If it is leaking, did the leak just show up?
• Is the dishwasher full of water?
• What type of soap did they use?
• If it is not working properly, what exactly
is it not doing?
APPLIANCES – REFRIGERATOR
• Is it cooling at all?
• Is it freezing everything?
• What do they have it set on? The middle
should be the optimal setting.
• Is the freezer cold and the fresh food warm?
• Is the freezer iced over?
• Is it jammed pack full of food?
• Is it leaking?
• Does it have electricity?
APPLIANCES – DRYER
• Did they check the breaker?
• Is it getting hot but clothes are still wet?
• Will the clothes dry if ran through multiple
cycles?
• Is the dryer turning on but not getting hot?
• Are they jamming too much in the dryer?
• Is the lint trap clean?
APPLIANCES – WASHER
• Did they check the breaker? Is it plugged
in?
• Is it running? Does it get to a certain cycle
and stop?
• Does it fill with water?
• Does the water drain out?
• If it leaks, is it leaking from the bottom, top
or back?
• Does it leak only when ran?
ELECTRICAL
• Which room, which outlet on which wall?
• Did they check the switch on the wall?
• Bathroom outlet, did they reset the GFCI?
• Partial power outage, did they check the
breaker?
• Were they running a lot of things at once?
Hair dryer, iron, curling iron, etc.?
• Do they notice any unusual smells?
DOOR LOCKS
• Which door, which lock? Deadbolt or knob?
• Does the key go in the lock or is it difficult to get in?
• Do you have to push or pull on the door to get it to lock?
• If it is a privacy lock (bedroom or bathroom) is there a key
above the door frame?
• Mailbox lock issues may need to be scheduled with the
post office.
• If they request a lock change are they in the apartment or
will they be able to pick up new keys before closing time?
Also do you charge the resident for this?
WINDOWS
• Is the window hard to lock? Can they
lock it?
• Is the window difficult to open or
close?
• If window is broken, how did it
happen?
• Is the inside pane broken? Is the
outside pane broken? Are they both
broken?
WHAT DOES MAINTENANCE DO
WITH THIS INFORMATION?
• It saves us time.
• It helps us do the job right the first time.
• It helps us by not having to call the resident
again.
• It helps prioritize service requests.
THE SERVICE REQUEST PROCESS
1. Get service request and pull keys
2. Prioritize and organize service requests
3. Get the supplies you will need from the shop
4. Perform required maintenance for service
request
5. Fill out service request
6. Return service request to the office and put up
keys
THE MAKE READY PROCESS
1. Walk the vacant
2. Order any special or big ticket items
that are needed
3. Schedule maintenance and vendors
4. Walk apartment after completed
(sometimes after each item)
5. Walk apartment with Manager /
Leasing Professional
6. Take care of any additional items
found
QUESTION #3:
WHERE IS THE
DISCONNECT ON
YOUR PROPERTY?
WHERE TO START ???
HAVE A MEETING…..
• Just by simply having a meeting about any issues between
departments is a great start
• An open discussion where everyone’s concerns and ideas
are heard
• Work together to find solutions, try more than one idea
WHEN CONDUCTING A TEAM
MEETING THINK ABOUT……
• Starting and ending with a positive topic
• If you have to correct an issue do it with the group that
needs the improvement
• Switch up the meeting agenda
IDEAS TO CONSIDER
• Cross-Training
• Job Swap
• Floating trophy with a small prize
OPEN DISCUSSION
QUESTION #4:
OUT OF ALL THE THINGS THAT
YOU HEARD HERE TODAY,
WHICH DO YOU THINK COULD
HELP YOUR PROPERTY AND
STAFF RIGHT AWAY???
QUESTIONS???
We want to get to the same place…….
We just have different ways of getting there!
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING TODAY!!!