“We have less money, but we’re no less impatient.”

The title of this blog is a quote from Mike Snider, a writer at USA Today. He was referring to the service that has kept NetFlix’s profits positive; their ability to provide near instant delivery of films streamed to subscribers’ TV sets via Xbox 360 game systems, some Bluray Disc players, Net-enabled TV sets and set top boxes. A smart move for a company who service has always relied on the use of a physical mailbox. NetFlix is quickly updating their business model to incorporate the preferred method of receiving something you buy. We now want it instantly. Even things sent priority overnight from Federal Express might take too long for many of us. Makes me wonder what FedEx might do to work within this trend.

So many of us are trying to find the balance between what the market will allow us to charge for our apartments and our operating costs. Many companies are looking for the best things to re-engineer during these challenging times. My suggestion to you is to think about what is still very important to your residents…time. Many people would give anything to have more time in their day. Only 16% of your residents actually use the pool but 100% of your residents benefit from good service. They see value in things that make their lives easier such as organizing help during holidays, personal items such as dry cleaning delivered to their home, babysitting at night so they can run errands, walking packages to their home and a commuter breakfast one morning when they are rushing off to work.

We are in a “want it now, need it now” type of society. This is because the world caters to the “Age of the Never Satisfied Customer.” Be memorable and personal with services so that you create meaning in residents’ lives by respecting their time. This could mean returning an email to a resident quickly or completing a service request within 2 hours of their call rather than the standard 24 hours. Everything is possible when you give your team the tools and the time to give instant service to a rent paying customer. You are the creator of value.