So, you are done investing in a commercial property. While you may feel proud for adding a new asset to your portfolio, it is not the time to pop the champagne yet. There is plenty of work for you to do. You need to find ways you can attract long-term tenants that can guarantee a stable income.
Image Source: Unsplash CC0 License
But how do you go about it? Filling up a commercial property takes much longer than a residential property. Depending on your location, your ability to attract and keep tenants for a long term may be different.
Adding to that, the rental market is very dynamic. When a new enticing offer pops up elsewhere and your tenant’s lease renewal is close, they may avoid renewing the contract and move to a different location.
So, how do you get to protect your investment?
The key to attracting new tenants is building a long-lasting relationship with them from the get-go. You need to understand your client’s priorities and invest in making the improvements. Some changes you may likely implement may regard the lease policies or even the property itself.
By knowing what your likely tenants may need, you may also design a unique marketing strategy to target them. Only when you make your tenants happy will you get to attract more business and other new tenants.
Strategies and Techniques you can use to Attract Long-term Tenants Today
Consider offering Shared Amenities
Shared amenities play an important role in attracting and keeping top-quality tenants. Tenants prefer working in an environment where they are surrounded by fun colleagues and amenities. It is these amenities that help create a sense of community.
Although tenants may appear to be their own entities, introducing amenities in a commercial building helps to facilitate the interactions between the tenants. You do not have to run the amenities.
You may choose to provide a mixed-use rental space where the service provider tenants may benefit from having regular tenants as customers, and the regular tenants may have convenient access to the services they desire. To every part involved, it becomes a win-win.
When you bring people together through amenities, they establish social roots, making them less likely to vacate.
Proactively addressing maintenance concerns
To keep your tenants for a long time, make sure they are happy. One major way is by performing routine inspections and addressing maintenance concerns immediately they occur.
A tenant may find it frustrating to work on a property that does not address maintenance requests. When you are proactive at addressing the requests, you can show them that your property is the best to open up shop. It also plays a significant role in the renewal of the contract.
By conducting regular inspections, you can stay on top of any maintenance items that you need to repair before the tenant even realizes them. It helps to prevent minor maintenance problems from turning into huge ones.
You also get to reduce the time you spend on repairs when turning over space to a new tenant. You can also choose to offer additional incentives to long-term residents such as deep cleaning services by a professional company without breaking the bank. It will make the tenants feel appreciated.
Facilitate cost-saving
As you market your commercial property, illustrate to your potential tenants that getting a space in your property will help them save money. One good way is by making improvements to your property.
Make no mistake, improvements differ from maintenance. It is making upgrades that will, later on, return the value by meeting your tenants’ expectations and making them stick for longer. For example, you can make your commercial property more eco-friendly to attract tenants that care more about the environmental impacts of their work environment. Some ways you can execute this may be through the use of solar-powered technology, enforcing a recycling habit, and saving on the use of water.
You can also improve the cell signals in your property with the help of WilsonPro commercial cell boosters. The insulation, concrete, and stonework used to make the buildings prevent cell signals from reaching inside the building. The amplifier captures the signals from outside, brings them inside, and distributes them throughout the building.
Improve the exterior of your property
By making slight improvements to the exterior of your property, you can significantly improve its appearance and value. The appearance of your building has a significant influence on whether tenants choose to stay.
Invest more time and money in cleaning up, landscaping, and beautifying the exterior of your commercial property. If necessary, give the entire building a fresh coat of paint, rebuild the walkway, upgrade the outdoor lighting, and plant several flowers around the compound.
You can also introduce artwork and indoor plants in the corridors and lobby to make the environment aesthetically pleasing to the tenants. You can employ the services of a cleaning company to keep the compound clean. The exterior and interior improvements you end up making do not need to be costly to create an impact.
Even the slight changes such as cutting the lawns and ensuring the dumpsters are away from the view of both tenants and visitors can be very significant.
Improve your visibility
The reason your commercial property is not attractive enough to tenants may be because of your poor marketing efforts. Widen your marketing reach by ensuring you are visible online and also by commercial brokers.
As you market, always consider the factors that can help you attract the right clients and maximize profit. Target urban markets more, as they have a high demand for commercial property. First, learn more about the market so you can make a compelling listing that addresses the important aspects about the space you are renting out.
Ensure you use the right tools to speak to your potential clients
You can also improve your visibility by installing roadway signs. They help by creating curiosity and interest. About 72 percent of consumers agree to enter a property because of its signage. Therefore, place road signs on the major roads close to the property.
Ensure that there are visible way-finding signs that can guide people to your property. Visitors can have a poor impression when they constantly get lost as they try to find a way to your building. When you have signs all around, you can improve your customer’s overall experience as they search for your building.
Improve the security
One of the most important considerations that tenants consider is the security of the space they intend to rent. It is especially important for tenants that may deal with highly valuable products or companies that have employees working till late or throughout the night.
The first step you can take is installing a monitored alarm system. An alarm system can secure a building by preventing security breaches and burglary. The system should have sensors that can detect any break-in from any vulnerable area, be it the windows or doors.
Once the system detects an intruder, it can automatically alert the on-site security team or even the police.
You can also add security cameras inside and outside the building. Cameras help to deter criminals from performing criminal activities near your premises. It also helps to identify the culprit if they end up breaking in without realizing there is a surveillance camera around.
Another important security component is the lighting system of your building. Install adequate lighting to the exterior of your building, especially in the dark areas where suspicious activity can take place. A good idea may be to install motion detector lights that can immediately light up when someone approaches.
Enough lighting improves the feeling of security in all your tenants.
Come up with a referral reward system
Your initial tenants can help you attract more tenants through word of mouth. However, this is only possible if they find your building to be very satisfactory.
You can turn them into your marketing assets by coming up with a reward program for referrals. It can be anything from a gift card to rent discounts or even monetary gifts. Once you get new tenants, keep speaking to them about how they can win loyalty points through referrals, and win rewards.
The result may bear fruits much faster than other forms of marketing.
Carry out a tenant satisfaction survey
What do your tenants think about the services you offer in your commercial property? You can gain critical insights from your current tenants on the areas they feel are lacking once you conduct a satisfaction survey.
Only then can you find the areas to improve on to increase your chances of getting more tenants.
Bottom Line
When marketing your commercial property, you need to speak to the right market segment if you want to find new tenants. Ensure that you are visible both offline and online. Speak to commercial brokers and get your current tenants to refer more clients. Additionally, remember to deal with the hidden fees of owning a property, such as maintenance costs in time. You can only get referrals if the current tenants find satisfaction in the property. You can only gain that satisfaction by implementing the above special measures.
