3 Ways Texting Can Help Property Managers Collect Rent
Keep your business running smoothly — and don’t let constant worries about tenants paying on time live rent-free in your head.
SMS texting is the most cost-effective, efficient way to encourage prompt payment. Not only is expediting payment critical to maintaining cash flow... but a smooth process ensures that the daily needs of running a property are not disrupted.
Text messages are opened and read 134% more than email (text open rates are 98% vs. email’s 18% open rates). And 90% of texts are read within the first thirty minutes of receipt.
Thus, tenants are practically guaranteed to see your texts and be able to quickly respond to reminders about late payments.
Ideally, SMS Reminder Campaigns will keep tenants paying on time (or prompt them to quickly pay any late payments). But texting can also be of assistance for those that are serially late in their payments.
State laws, along with city and county ordinances, cover many rent-related issues — such as rent control, limits on late fees, and length of time a tenant can afford to be delinquent in payment prior to being served an eviction notice. Texting helps property managers keep track of attempts to keep accounts in proper standing.
#1
Receive Rent on Time with SMS Reminders
The simplest way to remind tenants to pay on time? Send them automatized reminders before the bill is due. Text links that bring folks directly to your website or online portal and streamline payment.
#2
Notify Residents of Overdue Rent on a Channel They’re Less Likely to Ignore
The key to getting paid on time is sending notices and reminders that will get seen. An email can be easily ignored, left unopened, or entirely forgotten. The same can be said of phone call follow-up’s.
A text can show a record of what has been opened and which links have been clicked. This can be especially useful when property managers want to maintain a record that late rent notices were sent — as well as received.
Often, a simple (and informal) text will be all that is necessary to remind tenants to pay their overdue rent (as well as any late fees that may be additionally charged).
However, should the notice continue to go ignored for so long that you need to consider eviction notices, it will be helpful to show that you’ve kept a record of times you’ve attempted to reach out to the tenant.
#3
Cost-Effectively Reduce Time Spent by Office Staff on Collections Calls
It’s one thing to forgive tenants for a little tardiness when paying rent. (After all, people are busy and may have simply forgotten.) But when you’re dealing with a serial late rent offender — or someone who’s even gone months without paying rent, then you clearly have to address the situation more seriously.
Thanks to texting’s push notification system, texts signify an urgency that emails cannot. Nor do they get lost in a crowded inbox of spam messages. Phone calls are equally likely to get ignored, sent straight to voicemail, and then become quickly forgotten.
Instead of office staff squandering time making collection calls, they can automatize the process with a few clicks.
As a best practice, include all important information (ie the amount due, amount of days payment is past due, and amount of time the tenant has before things become more serious.)
And remember that just as you can heighten your language, you can also heighten your emoji use or images. Draw attention to your texts with urgent emojis (❗🚨) or even a MMS picture, GIF, or audio file. You can also write letters in all caps when appropriate.
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