How to improve the way you handle difficult tenant situations

Published: 16 March 2007.

Wouldn?t it be wonderful if every tenant and landlord wore a happy smile, agreed with everything we had to say and never complained about our service? The reality in Property Management is, we are dealing with people and their emotions, and sometimes things can go wrong and sometimes people can complain about our service.

Managing clients can be frustrating and demanding on our time, sanity and stress levels. We can often become so consumed in our daily processes and take the approach of ?Clients are an interruption to our business? rather than; ?They are the reason we have a business?. They hassle us about maintenance, they get irate over small niggly issues, we have to constantly explain ourselves, they interrupt us when we are trying to work and they can be rude.

So how do we manage these difficult and demanding clients?

When dealing with difficult clients, it is important that we do not get defensive and put on our hat of authority and control. We are working in a ?people? business and need to learn how to manage the relationship when things go wrong. If a client is upset, it is for a reason. It doesn?t matter if you agree with their reason. What does matter is how you handle your responses to their concerns and issues raised.

It is not a contest of who is right, who is wrong or who the winner is! If they lose, we generally lose! Think about it?
Your objective is to make the client feel as though they are right.

NEVER GET DEFENSIVE? Defuse the situation

Tips on how to defuse a difficult client

Put yourself in their shoes
How would you feel if it was you contacting your managing agent with the complaint or issue?

Change your behaviour pattern to avoid getting defensive
Always think before you act or react. Your sole objective should be to turn the situation around to make the client happy. Don?t focus on what has gone wrong. Focus on what you can do to make it better. The cause can often be forgotten, if you delight them with your prompt solution.

Moderate your voice
Be as calm and patient as possible. Don?t come across as condescending, bossy, mechanical or scripted with your words.

Give total attention and listen, listen and listen some more
When a client is voicing their concerns, don?t appear to be distracted. Don?t interrupt them - let them finish what they have to say. Often the key to defusing the situation can be a simple act of listening. Interrupting the client can also inflame the situation.

Don?t make excuses, provide solutions
The client does not want to hear excuses. The client does not want to be told, ?That was Jane?s fault? or ?I was not responsible?. They want you to tell them what you are going to do to assist or resolve the situation ? ?I will look into the matter as a priority and get back to you? or ?I will solve this for you and let you know?.

Remind them that they are valued and important
If they are upset or have concerns, they probably don?t feel important at the moment. Always state ?This is an important matter?.

Thank them for drawing the issue to your attention
Courtesy and manners will work wonders to calm a difficult client. During your conversation, take the time to say, ?Thank you for drawing this to my attention?.

Empathise, reassure & apologise
Take the time to connect and let the client know that you care ? ?I would feel the same? or ?I would be annoyed as well?. Reassure the client that you understand by simply stating, ?I understand your concerns?. Apologise that the event has occurred, even if you don?t know the facts. ?I apologise that you have had to raise this matter with me?.

Follow up & keep in constant communication with the client
If you say that you are going to take action, make sure you do and follow up to ensure the client is happy with the outcome.

If all else fails?
Sometimes it doesn?t matter how polite you are or how accommodating you are to their needs - they are still difficult and demanding. Nothing you say or do makes them happy. If you have applied all of the above communication tips it is time to get their feedback on what they would like you to do to rectify the situation. Your final words should be, ?What would you like us to do, while being fair to all parties, to resolve this matter for you??

Author Debbie Palmer - Managing Director, PPM Group

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Reply from: El

12:31pm Tuesday, 14 October 2008

oh please.

stop being so weak. if you behave like this the tenant will demand more and be more rude. Talk to the tenant, get their feedback and tell them how it will go. Don't ever apologize.

this is a terrible article.

Reply from: Julie

1:37pm Tuesday, 18 August 2009

I agree with the previous reply. I've been a property manager for many years and if you are too nice the tenant will take full advantage of you and demand more. I started off in my early years as a manager trying to be nice to all my tenants. I was looked upon as weak. Now I distance myself and keep it strictly professional, I am cordial but always maintain control and force them to adhere to building rules and regulations. I don't ever apologize or admit to anything. When tenants insist on arguing with me I keep repeating the facts and refer them to their lease agreement. I have 150 tenants. 60% are decent tenants who never complain. the other 40% either whine and complain about everything or lie like the devil and never pay rent on time. You have to have thick skin to be in property management.

Reply from: Nick Buick

12:23pm Thursday, 20 August 2009

I have to say I totally agree with both of you. We get mountains of complaints and requests for legal advice from tenants here all day long – despite the gigantic notice on the top of our contact us page telling them we can’t help. The nature of complaints extend to

'how dare my landlord want to inspect his property while I'm renting it? ' to

'I moved into this house, now my agent expects ME to mow the lawn!? Surely not??' to

'I spilled ten liters of red paint all over the carpet and now they want to take it off my bond, surely this is fair wear and tear?'. 9 times out of 10, the tenants that contact us are simple minded degenerates - I find them to be arrogant, indignant, ignorant and self-entitled... and I'm not even their letting agent. Heavens knows how he/she must feel about them... apologizing or negotiating with such people would be utterly futile and probably counter-productive in my opinion.

Reply from: Bill

6:11pm Friday, 04 September 2009

El, You can maintain a strong and assertive position with Tenants - that's fine but you do owe them an apology for describing the article as "Terrible"! He was simply advocating a calm approach to achieving goals in people management.

Julie, I agree with both you and El about being rigid in your policing the terms of the lease.

I am about to take over the MR in a community in SE Qld. where there are already two such 'situations' we will have to deal with and manage.

One is a tenant alleged to be either a drug user or a pusher who attracted a police raid in the early morning, guns drawn, looking for a person of interest thought to be visiting the tenant. As the tenant had not been charged, the incumbent manager took the view that his lease could be renewed so as to avoid discriminating against him.

The other case is the wife of an immigrant worker (both recently arrived in Australia). Hubby is apparently away working on a project and has, for almost a year, been sending money back to maintain the lonely wife and pay the rent.

He used to be seen on return visits but hasn't been seen at home for almost a year and, for certain plausible reasons (that should remain private), it is feared he may be in the process of abandoning her.

What does the new Unit Manager do in a case like this. I have to protect the revenue of the owner and minimise any risk of losing money from the bond.

The tenant does not appear to be eligible for anything at Centrelink and apart from her local church, she is between a rock and a hard place and I'm not looking forward to playing the tough cop role.