An average shopping mall has anywhere between 50 to 100 stores. In addition, mall sizes can range from a few hundred thousand square feet to millions. In order to deal with so many tenants spread across this vast area, shopping malls need to have a communication plan in place.
Without it, the mall management would find it difficult to manage so many tenants to ensure the smooth operation of the premises. This is critical because the shopping experience is decided by how the mall operates. If your mall visitors don’t receive a pleasant shopping experience, they’ll not be inclined to revisit your mall.
Similarly, if you don’t deal with your tenants well, they may decide to move to another mall. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, here are some ways through which you can improve communication with tenants.
1. Keep An Open Door Policy
To keep your tenants happy, you must keep an open door policy. This means that you’ll always be approachable whenever they need you. You must always be ready to respond to their questions whether it a simple one like lease extension or a major one like an issue with your mall’s wiring.
This sort of approach can help you make your tenants feel “at-home” and valued. When you’re open to listening to their problems and solving them, it’ll increase their trust in you as well. In addition, it helps you provide the finest of repair and maintenance services to them.
2. Respond Quickly
Being a mall owner or manager can be a challenging and demanding task that may leave you with hardly any time. However, you must keep in mind that your tenants are your mall’s lifeline. If you don’t provide them with quality assistance, they may not remain there for too long. In a worst case, they may even end up taking their business from your mall meaning a loss of revenue for you and a vacancy you need to fill.
This is why you must pay immediate attention to their requests and try to respond to them as quickly as possible. Even if you’re not able to solve them instantly, at least communicate with them acknowledging their concerns. This will make them feel that you’re taking initiatives to solve their troubles.
3. Have a Communication System in Place
It’s essential to have a system in place through which you can communicate with your tenants easily. One of the best ways of doing this is through a mass notification system. Using this system, you can seamlessly send out alerts and notifications to your tenants in seconds.
Whether there’s something you wish to discuss with them or there’s an emergency, this system can be used for everything. In addition, many mass notification systems allow two-way chats, which can help you communicate with your tenants easily.
You should consider using a multi-channel mass notification system that can help you reach them through all possible communication channels. These include SMS, emails, and voice. This can be very helpful in emergencies when you need to ensure that everyone receives your alerts.
4. Allow Them To Reach You Through Multiple Channels
Just like you can reach your tenants through multiple channels, you should give them the chance to contact you through the channel of their liking. For instance, one tenant may prefer to reach you via SMS through a two-way chat capability using a mass notification system, but others may just want to talk to you face-to-face.
You should give information to them on the different ways they can contact you. It’s also necessary to clarify the channels that you prefer so they can decide which way they must use to reach you.
Doing so helps you set their expectations and also gives them the flexibility to reach you through the modes they prefer. It also gives them an idea about your responsiveness on different channels.
5. Be Honest and Truthful
One of the most important things that you should keep in mind while establishing your tenant communications is your relationship with them. Right from the moment they decide to evaluate your property, you should start building a positive relationship with them.
Be honest about the conditions of their space, rent, and amenities. Whenever they come to you with any issue, be open about it and discuss these with them with in a completely honest way.
If there’s some mistake on your part, you must be truthful and own up to it. Remember, honesty and truth will help you build a solid relationship with your tenants. The stronger the relationship, the better will their chances be of sticking to your shopping mall.
You must communicate every single detail in an honest and timely manner. Be as transparent in your communications as possible, and it’ll help you establish a great relationship with all your tenants.
Remember, whether it’s the good news or the bad one, you must communicate it all.
6. Keep The Communication Simple
Lastly, the communication between your shopping mall and tenants need not be complex at all. You need to keep your messages engaging and light. There’s no need to write long messages as well.
Be crisp and clear in your communication and state things as they are. Don’t shy away from using different media in your messages, as well. You could use images, videos, and more to make your interactions more engaging especially through a mass notification system that allows you to send attachments.
Also, be respectful of their preferences and keep a friendly tone throughout. Be courteous and sign off with a “Warm Regards” or “Have a wonderful day.”
Final Thoughts
It’s crucial for all shopping malls to have a plan in place to communicate with their tenants. set up a notification system through which you can interact with them. In addition, keep an open-door policy and always be approachable. Make it possible for your tenants to reach out to you directly electronically and respond to their questions as quickly as possible. Lastly, keep your communications simple and always be honest.
What are the other ways through which you can improve your tenant communications? Let me know in the comments.
