I am a landlord and property manager. I fill my day with, resident screening, renovations, repairs, maintenance calls, lease-ups and make-ready for apartments. I love what I do and I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it. Recently, I was taught a valuable lesson about my business while going out to take a lunch break.
In my rental market there are all types of restaurants, fast food stops, Chinese buffets, and places to grab a hearty lunch on the go. Sometimes, the big event of the day is to decide where to have lunch. It gets a little boring eating the exact same thing for lunch every day so its nice once in a while to shake it up a bit. So on this particular day, we decided to go to KFC for one of their $5 dollar box meals. By the way, if you did not know, the value meals come with a cookie.
We rolled in to the lobby and got in line to place our order. All in all this was somewhat an uneventful experience in the daily routine to pick up lunch. Then something extraordinary happened. We placed our order, paid for our meal, and before the cashier even handed us back our receipt, we heard, “Number #316, your order is ready”. How was this even possible? How was I able to get my fresh hot tasty chicken meal before even sliding my credit card back into my wallet? What just happened here?
Somewhat stunned by the stellar service I had just received, I slowly walked to a nearby booth staring at my tray of food wondering how they were able to perform this task so quickly. Did they miss something? That must be it. The only way they could have done this so quickly was to have made a mistake. Nope, everything was right there, everything had been accounted for, all the way down to the cookie. It was exactly what I wanted, done right the first time, no mistakes at all, and the service was astounding. I guess its true when KFC says, “We do Chicken Right”. For more information on building your brand for your business see our previous blog post on branding called “Brand Building For Real Estate”.
Spread Your Wings for a Fresh New Perspective
Lets go back to the great service at that KFC check out counter. How many systems and operations were carefully thought out, documented, and put into practice before I decided to walk through that door, look at the menu, and make my selection, and get that level of service?
All of them!
Every detail had been preconceived and planned out long before the first brick was laid for the foundation of that franchise. From naming the company and the message that it portrays, to the colors of the logo and fonts used, all of the advertising, marketing, and the menu; every detail accounted for. This level of detail went all the way down into the decision whether to specialize in one particular type of food, or cater to the masses with a broad variety of options. It all counts.
Outstanding Service Flying out the Door
And what about the systems in place to get that fresh hot food served so fast? There was a plan for that too. Not only did they need to have perfected their recipe, selected the right equipment and ovens, and have a system for ordering and delivering the product, but they need to know in advance what type of inventory and measurement of traffic they needed to accommodate this anticipated service on any given day. Everything was measurable.
This piece of crunchy chicken was only a few notes in the composition of a well-planned out orchestrated symphony of details to be played the exact same way to perfection, every time, every day, every moment of the day, for every customer, over and over again. This is no easy task, yet they make it so seamless to the customer. All I wanted was a piece of chicken. What I received was a new perspective of a complete operational system perfected to a science.
Birds of a Feather Flocking Together
So what did I learn from the chicken? How can this affect my business? What if I sat down and documented every aspect of my business just like KFC had done. What if I were able to consider all of the details and see how the pieces all fit together in the bigger picture. What if I could deliver this same customer experience in every interaction with my customers?
Well, actually I have. I took me over three years to write and over 400+ pages to document my operations manual and business plan for Belaire Property Management. I have a system in place for every function of my business. From dealing with residents, to landlords and property owners, to contractors and third party vendors, to keep every detail running smoothly. The system is color-coded for The Blue Team, The Red Team, The Green Team, and The Gold Team.
Every detail from the colors I chose for the logo, the tag line of “A Beautiful Uplifting Experience”, our rental application forms and business procedures, our web site, social media sites, this Blog, how we maintained our rentals, how we interacted with our clients and customers, every thing. Every thing, every detail counted, had to be considered, and documented. I had to think about everything in advance to know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, to make the customer experience.
What Would it Take for You to Do the Same?
Can you identify what it is that you do in your business and how you can do it better than anyone else in your market space? Have you ever tried to sit down and step by step document what it is that your business does? Try to take an afternoon to set aside some time to do this exercise. Do this at a higher level. Do not try at your first pass to capture all of the details. Try to just make an outline at first of the basic principles. Walk through and document all of the steps in your engagement with your target market, and take notes as you go. You may not finish the entire outline in an afternoon, but it will get you thinking about your process and help you to identify your “Bigger Picture” and your unique selling proposition.
Start Thinking About Your Business
Think about what you do, day in and day out, and what it would take to create your own systems. Are you able to take a step back and look at what you do and proclaim that “We Do “Insert Your Business Here” Right”? Start to think about what it would take to plan, build, and document your operational systems to make your business model sing like a bird.
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Warmest regards,
Brian Lucier
Belaire Property Management
Regional Property Manager
(978) 448-0669
info@belaire.co
www.belaire.co
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