From a Top Student Housing Manager: Why Service is Everything

In the student housing industry, customer service plays a significant role in influencing a resident’s perception of the property and their likelihood to not only renew their lease but refer your property to someone else. Your student housing property management company’s ability to engage and make connections with residents can also directly impact the perception of your property. That’s why it’s imperative that your company have a proactive, focused learning and development program that will help your staff to deliver a consistent, positive resident experience time after time.

At Campus Advantage, we know that we exist because of our residents. And as a top student housing manager, it’s our priority to not only deliver a great experience to, and for, the resident, but to also build a relationship with them by  treating them as our most important asset.

In an effort to build upon that dedication and to continually push the bar in providing exceptional customer service to both our residents and our staff, as well as go above and beyond what is expected in the industry, our Students First® Experience Department recently introduced the e³ Service Standards to our employees —  an improved set of service standards for all of our properties. These three standards along with their subsequent set of expectations are built on the foundation of our Core Values (Integrity, Intelligence, Passion and MOJO) and provide a consistent model that will ensure each property is giving residents and staff the best living, learning and career experience possible.

Currently being rolled out to our entire staff via online training, the three actionable standards describe what we as a company think and believe:  We believe that Everyone Is Important, Every Team Members is Responsible, and Everything Speaks. Accompanying each standard are expectations; this is what we actually do. Here are the three standards which outline the expectations we have for our employees in delivering great service:

• Everyone Is Important: When it comes to providing the Campus Advantage Experience, everyone who comes in contact with an employee or community is important! These standards ensure consistent delivery of the experience to everyone.
• Every Team Member Is Responsible: Every member of the Campus Advantage team is responsible for delivering the Campus Advantage Experience. This requires shared ownership and team communication to ensure the highest possible level of service.
• Everything Speaks: If you can see it, hear it, smell it, touch it, taste it, or feel it, it speaks to the experience. Every aspect of what we do speaks into the overall Campus Advantage Experience.

In the end, we are not selling a bed space, we are selling an experience — and a consistent one amongst all of our properties. We’re hopeful that these standards will ensure that every person who interacts with Campus Advantage feels important and valued. We are confident that the e³ Service Standards will continue to propel our success as a top student housing manager and resident experience leader, and raise the bar in our residents’ experience and within the industry itself.