JunkBossPro Blog — Property Managers & Commercial

Texting Property Managers: On-the-Way Alerts, Two-Way Replies and Fewer Phone Calls

Property managers live on their phones. They are juggling tenants, owners, maintenance and a dozen vendors, and the last thing they want is a phone call from the junk company asking a question that could have been a text. The vendors who communicate in short, clear texts are the ones managers like working with.

Texts Close the Loop on Estimates and Jobs

Following up on quotes is covered in Commercial Junk Removal Estimates: Quoting Offices, Stores and Multi-Unit Jobs for Online Approval. Once the job is booked, texting is how the manager knows what is happening without asking.

Two-Way Texting From the Office

JunkBossPro includes two-way texting with customers from the office. The office sends a text, and the manager's reply comes back to the office, not to a crew member's personal phone. That keeps every conversation with the account in one place. When the regular office person is out, someone else can see what was said.

Good uses for two-way texts with commercial clients:

• Confirming access: “Picking up keys for Unit 214 at the leasing office at 9 tomorrow. Still good?”
• Reporting a change: “Unit 214 is a full load, not a quarter. OK to proceed at the full-load price?”
• Reporting a problem: “Found a broken window in the back bedroom, photo on file.”
• Closing out: “Unit 214 is done. Keys returned to maintenance.”

A text thread with a yes in it is also a record. If a manager later asks why a unit cost more than expected, the approval is right there.

Automatic Alerts

Some texts do not need anyone to type them. JunkBossPro sends automated reminders and alerts by text and email. Customers can choose their alert preferences: the night before, when they are next, and when the crew arrives. The crew app sends on-the-way and arrived texts automatically as the crew works the route.

For a property manager, which alerts make sense depends on how hands-on she is:

• Night before. Useful for managers who need to tell the leasing office or maintenance that a vendor is coming.
• When they are next. Good for anyone meeting the crew on site with keys.
• When the crew arrives. Handy for managers who want to know the crew is in the unit.

Some managers with many units a month will want fewer alerts, not more. Ask, and set them the way she prefers.

Texting the Right Person

Commercial clients have more than one contact. The manager orders the work, a maintenance tech meets the crew, and someone else pays the bills. Put the right contact on the right job. The person getting the on-the-way text should be the person who opens the door. Billing reminders go to whoever pays.

Keep phone numbers and roles on the client, and put the on-site contact in the access notes on the address so the crew knows who to ask for.

Texting During the Job

The crew is the first to see a problem, but the office is the one who should text the manager. If the crew finds a flooded bathroom or a unit that is twice the load the manager described, they note it on the job in the crew app and let the office know. The office then sends one clear text to the manager with the facts and the question. That keeps the message consistent and keeps the crew working instead of negotiating from a hallway.

It also means the manager hears from one number, not five different crew members' phones. She saves your office number once and knows every text from it is about her units.

Text Allowance

Every plan includes a monthly text allowance for texts sent and received in the US and Canada: 500 on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew. Commercial accounts can use more texts than homeowners, since there are more jobs and more back-and-forth. Keep texts short and useful, and the allowance goes further. Plans are Start at $59, Pro at $89 and Crew at $199 per month.

Habits That Keep Managers Happy

• Answer fast. A same-hour reply to a move-out request beats a perfect reply tomorrow.
• Be short. One topic per text. Managers read on the go.
• Lead with the unit. “Unit 214:” at the start tells her which property you mean.
• Close every job. A one-line “done” text saves her a phone call.
• Do not text at midnight. Unless she asked you to.

Email still has its place for estimates, statements and anything she needs to forward. Texts are for the day-to-day.

Beyond Texts

Texts handle the moment. The customer app handles the rest: invoices, payments, service requests and today's route. That is the next article, What the Property Manager Sees in the Customer App: Invoices, Requests and Today's Route.

For everything else JunkBossPro does for property managers, visit the commercial junk removal software page.