Tenant retention is a cornerstone of profitability and long-term success, and tenants expect quick, efficient solutions when problems arise. That means your property’s maintenance team is one of your most valuable assets and can be the difference between a tenant who renews a lease and one who moves on. Ultimately, a well-trained maintenance team increases efficiency and helps you control costs.
The Direct Link Between Maintenance Training and Tenant Retention
Tenant satisfaction hinges not just on the property’s appearance but on how quickly and effectively maintenance issues are resolved. Appliances inevitably break, drains get clogged, and faucets drip. Tenants want a prompt, effective fix when maintenance issues arise—whether it’s a broken HVAC system in the summer or a malfunctioning garbage disposal. A maintenance technician’s ability to respond quickly and fix a problem the first time is essential to minimizing tenant frustration.
Other benefits of well-trained technicians include:
- Long-Term Savings: A well-maintained property saves money in the long run by prolonging the useful life of equipment and minimizing the need for major repairs. Plus, tenants are more likely to renew their lease when upkeep and repairs are timely and effective, eliminating costly vacancies that can be time-consuming to fill.
- Seasonal Solutions: Skilled technicians can perform seasonal inspections to identify potential issues before they become significant problems, such as inspecting heating systems, gutters, and roofing to prepare for winter weather, winterizing pipes as cold weather hits, cleaning HVAC systems in the spring, and servicing pools as temperatures warm up.
- Fewer Emergency Repairs: Emergencies like burst pipes or HVAC failures can be incredibly disruptive and costly. By focusing on proactive inspections and upkeep, technicians can use preventive practices rather than simply reacting to breakdowns, reducing the risk of disruptive emergencies and preventing costly repairs. Eliminating emergency repairs also means technicians and tenants don’t have to deal with after-hour maintenance.
- Reduced Downtime and Less Rework: Skilled technicians minimize downtime for repairs, improving overall building operations and tenant satisfaction. They are also less likely to make costly mistakes or rework, which saves time and resources.
- Tenant Trust: Trust is crucial in any landlord-tenant relationship, and tenants want to feel safe and cared for in their space. A well-trained maintenance team that demonstrates professionalism and competence and can communicate respectfully and professionally helps build trust among tenants.
Well-Trained Technicians are the Key to Efficiency and Growth
Well-trained technicians are an often-overlooked asset that can impact efficiency, tenant satisfaction, and overall profitability. Training can ensure:
- Streamlined Processes: Training helps technicians work more efficiently by standardizing best practices and encouraging the use of the right tools and techniques. Technicians with proper training can quickly and accurately diagnose and resolve issues, reducing downtime for essential services, lowering the number of repeat calls, and saving resources.
- Proactive Preventive Maintenance: Well-trained technicians are equipped to identify potential problems early, leading to proactive repairs and maintenance, reducing the likelihood of major repairs in the future. They also have the expertise to assess when an appliance can be repaired rather than replaced, cutting costs and extending the life of appliances.
- Improved Tenant Retention and Higher Revenue: Tenant retention directly impacts an organization’s bottom line, especially when considering the cost of tenant turnover. High-quality maintenance attracts long-term tenants, boosting occupancy rates and rental income. Properties with consistently good service and maintenance can often justify higher rents, increasing the overall revenue potential.
- Employee Satisfaction and Retention: A trained and knowledgeable team is more engaged, less likely to turnover, and more capable of delivering high-quality service. Reducing turnover leads to greater stability and helps avoid costs associated with recruiting and onboarding techs. A study by the University of Phoenix found that 69% of employees said they would be more likely to stay with an employer throughout their career if the company provided opportunities for applying new skills.
- A Competitive Advantage: A property with an efficient, well-trained maintenance team can market itself as a place with superior service, making it more attractive to potential tenants. Additionally, happy tenants are more likely to recommend the property to others, reducing marketing costs and attracting quality tenants. More importantly, effective maintenance processes enable management to focus on strategic growth rather than constantly troubleshooting problems.
- Long-Term Growth: Maintenance affects long-term growth in several ways. Properly maintained units are less costly over time, with fewer emergency repairs and better asset preservation. Investing in technician training ensures a high-quality rental experience that supports sustainable growth. Tenant retention also enables long-term relationships, reducing vacancy rates and boosting property value over time.
Best Practices for Training Your Maintenance Team
Training is critical, but not all training is created equal. Best practices to build a skilled and reliable maintenance team include:
- Onboarding: Onboarding new hires sets the stage for their employment. It is the ideal time to ensure new maintenance team members understand your company’s standards, expectations, and core policies. It is also the ideal time to assess technician’s knowledge to see where they already excel and where they can benefit from training. Interplay provides learning paths for onboarding and a comprehensive assessment that can be used when bringing new technicians on board.
- Ongoing Training: The core of maintenance work requires technical skills that vary from plumbing and electrical work to HVAC. Ongoing training helps technicians expand their skills, enable cross-training, and keep them current on new technology or approaches.
- Career Advancement: Interplay helps companies establish skill and knowledge standards for different role levels, and managers can use Interplay’s platform to ensure employees achieve the necessary proficiency at each role. This enables transparent career progression paths, helping employees understand the skills needed for advancement while ensuring consistent competency at every role level.
- Certifications and Specializations: Providing your team with certifications in areas like HVAC, plumbing, or electrical work can improve the team’s ability to handle more complex tasks efficiently. It also shows your employees that you care about their development and ensures you’re meeting regulatory requirements. Interplay offers training to support employees as they pursue certifications. These include:
- Certified Pool Operator (CPO): CPO training equips technicians with the skills needed for safe and effective pool management. Interplay’s Curriculum covers all 18 chapters from the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) Pool & Spa Operator™ Handbook as well as local and state codes
- OSHA Certifications: Health and safety are critical for all employees, especially technicians working with complex equipment, electricity, and refrigerants. Interplay offers OSHA 10 Construction, OSHA 10 General Industry, and OSHA 30 Construction safety training in English and Spanish.
- EPA 608 Certification: While every technician is required to pass the Core Section of the exam, there are four different types of the 608 certification that correspond with the specific kinds of appliances that will be serviced. Interplay offers online training courses to help technicians earn their EPA 608 Universal Certification.
Gain a Competitive Advantage
Well-trained maintenance teams are integral to tenant satisfaction, retention, and the overall success of any property management operation, but they don’t just happen. It takes a comprehensive approach with well-defined training objectives, the ability to track progress, and a proactive feedback loop.
Unfortunately, 80% of all businesses experience challenges related to training their maintenance teams. Interplay can take the burden out of training with its structured, immersive training for technicians, helping you eliminate skills gaps, minimize downtime, and improve the bottom line.
Interplay’s Learning Paths assign expertly curated roadmaps to help technicians develop fundamental skills in the right order to create the fastest and most complete journey to achieve their training goals. Learning Paths also boost retention by helping your team visualize career development and growth.
Our career development platform helps you build a more skilled, reliable, and productive maintenance team with more than 500 hours of expert-led HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and safety video courses and immersive hands-on 3D simulations.
Interested in taking your training program to the next level? Reach out to sales@interplaylearning.com to learn more.
