Losing 20% of Your Clients and Finding Joy in Serving



“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:41)

 

At the beginning of 2015, we (BDF Realty) lost almost 20% of our clients in a space of four months.  That’s substantial.   And fast!

 

It was for a variety of reasons: some owners wanted to sell their homes, some were unhappy, some wanted to move back into their rental houses, some were foreclosed on.  It wasn’t just one thing that we could try to correct.

 

I had just had my first child and was wondering what was going on.  I prayed to God repeatedly wondering why this was happening.  “What am I doing wrong?  What is the issue?  What are You trying to teach me through this?”

 

After about six weeks of praying with no answer, I ran into the Bible verse above.  “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”  It stuck in my craw.

 

I thought about my recent interactions with clients.  They were asking me to do things that I didn’t want to do (probably out of laziness).  I made up excuses or came up with charges for doing the work, hoping the tasks would go away.

 

I came to the realization that not only was I not going 2 miles, I was a probably pulling up a little short on the first mile too.

 

So I brainstormed and came up with a list of approximately 15 things I remembered that I had avoided doing for clients.  Note: there was a reason I didn’t want to do these 15 things- they were a big pain(!) and were non-revenue producing.  That’s a hard combination to get motivated for.

 

Fortunately/Unfortunately, when you lose so many clients, you tend to have a lot more free time at work.  So I started working to complete the list.  It took me about 3 weeks, but it begrudgingly got done.  Then I contacted the clients and told them that I took care of their issues (at no charge).

 

Our clients were very grateful.  It felt sort of good; actually, it felt really good.  It was nice to feel appreciated.

 

Property management can be a thankless job.  Most of the communication is centered on people that are unhappy that something went wrong.

 

“My toilet is broken!”

“My AC has been out for 2 days and I have a baby!  Don’t you care?”

“Why is this repair so much??”

“Where is the rent?”

 

But there also is an unmistaken joy in serving, a blissfulness for going beyond what is asked for or expected.  This experience awakened me to make me a happier (and more effective) property manager.  Work was more fun!

 

As a postscript, we didn’t lose any more customers that year (thank God!).  But I don’t think we added many either.  And even at a reduced revenue rate, my new son did continue to eat (and hasn’t stopped…).

 

But a little over a year later, the phone started ringing a lot from prospective new clients.  I was grateful, but didn’t really know why it was happening.  After a few weeks, someone was about to list their rental property with us and asked for me to send him more information before he made a decision.  Then he called back and said, “Your reviews are great.  Don’t worry about it!  Just send me the contract.”

 

This happened before the business world was “review crazy”; honestly, I didn’t even know BDF Realty had on-line reviews at that point.  Apparently, the clients who I “begrudgingly” went back to do work for a year before wound up helping me out more than I ever did for them.

 

Especially in property management, I tell this story much more from a “find joy in serving” bend than a “method to recoup 20% of your clients who found pasture elsewhere.”  The second mile can be where the real rewards lie.

 

Happy Landlording!