Christmas Gifts for Tenants

[CarrieKoch]

We would like to provide our tenants with a gift or gift certificate for Christmas....what do you do ?

 

[AndyLuchies]

QUOTE (CarrieKoch @ Nov 19 2009, 07:53 PM)
We would like to provide our tenants with a gift or gift certificate for Christmas....what do you do ?






Good question, I look forward to answers. I was thinking of some kinda basket to each of mine since I think if I give a gift card, it doesn't leave as big of an impression on my tenants...kinda like giving money to someone for a birthday, no one remembers later on.

 

[GaryMcGowan]

We do Shopper Gift Cards. anywhere from 20 to 50 bucks, depending on the unit.

 

[Nir]

Gary`s idea is good. You want to be "on the safe side": almost everyone likes Tim Hortons! $25 card and they buy what THEY want there. put yourself in their shoes. let`s be brutally honest what they really want is.. MONEY! a Tim Hortons gift card is as close you can get as possible to paying them money because so many buy there anyway.
Spend on something they would have spent on otherwise, and you`ve just answered a real need.
would you prefer a $100 Tim Hortons card from me in the mail or a unique flower from Japan that lasts a month with some special care? of course a card! ha ha.
just answer their need and that`s what they`ll remember and appreciate!

 

[Dan_Eisenhauer]

I am considering gift cards from The Keg.... $75.00 for good tenants, $50.00 for not so good, and nothing for problem ones.

 

[invst4profit]

Personally I have too many tenants to give gifts. Luckily for me though none have complained yet.

 

[jcab256]

While a gift card allows them to get what they want, I think it`s far less memorable.

I personally give small gift baskets to my good tenants, containing coffee, jams, cookies. - remembering to ensure that items are nut free... (just in case)

 

[vandriani]

Dan,

I`m wondering if you could using your system to help the "problem ones" change. Maybe a suttle hint that other tenant are getting gist certs. I know...someone going to say that you can`t change problem tenants and others will say to get rid of problem tenant but...you may not be able to for various reasons. But...what if you could change the mindset of a problem tenant and convert them to a good or great tenant. Wouldn`t that be great...alittle giving back...alittle win/win. Of course you would have to be very careful on your approach.

 

[AndyLuchies]

I was also going to give something to my current boss because he`s been flexible letting me take time off to meet with lawyers and stuff. He goes to Timmy`s every day..on the business account, so a gift card to him means little.

Similarly (just my $0.02 of course) I can`t help but think that tenants view money differently than RE investors do. Of WE would prefer money, but would they? Some of them just want something that says we`re their friend. And lets be honest, we`re not here to give them money, or we`d let them rent for free, we`re here to send the message "I`m more than just a landlord, I care about YOU." Now I just have to find out how to find a generic, meaningful gift that can be duplicated for each tenant, haha.

Any ideas besides a gift basket?

 

[CorinneWestcott]

In the past we have used the "Little Helpers" who make wonderful gift baskets. Last year we were a little too late for that so we decided on gift cards for a grocery store with a note that we hope they will use it to enjoy a special holiday meal. Who wouldn`t appreciate some free groceries?!

We have also used Tim Hortons cards for "Christmas in July" which we sent as a bonus to our tenants that had paid their rent on the first of every month.

Corinne

 

[JoeRagona]

Holidays are especially important for customer service and respecting our clients.

Depending on the client, I may choose to give a Sobeys or Walmart gift card to help them buy their groceries or some gifts for the kids. Sometimes I may go out and have a holiday dinner-in-a-box delivered to them...it depends on the client.

And Greg, I even sent a $100 Keg certificate to `problem tenants` last holiday whom

a) hadn`t paid rent in 3 months
b) I was evicting

I admit that I don`t have as many tenants as you, but feel the thought and kindness comes back to me in other ways. I have built many companies based around customer service and even though you can`t change everyone, the good ones make up for the rest. That`s my feeling.

Here is another thing we do when possible...when a tenant moves out, grab their forwarding address and send them a house warming gift in the new house. Again, it`s just a good gesture and they may refer someone to you years later.

 

[NeilUttamsingh]

QUOTE (JoeRagona @ Nov 20 2009, 08:34 PM)
Here is another thing we do when possible...when a tenant moves out, grab their forwarding address and send them a house warming gift in the new house. Again, it's just a good gesture and they may refer someone to you years later.




Great Idea Joey. Sending a housewarming gift to their new address truly sets you apart. I am going to use your idea. (Thanks!)



Related to this thread, I have always opted to send gift baskets. I have never sent gift cards. There is obviously no right and wrong answer here.



I have always opted to go with gift baskets, because I wanted to leave a lasting impression on the customers. With this my strategy has been to show them that I care about them, by selecting a nice gift basket. I have found that it always seems to work, as the level of respect towards me has always increased.



Gift cards I find are not as personal.



Just my opinion...

 

[larysa002]

QUOTE (JoeRagona @ Nov 20 2009, 07:34 PM)
Holidays are especially important for customer service and respecting our clients.



Depending on the client, I may choose to give a Sobeys or Walmart gift card to help them buy their groceries or some gifts for the kids. Sometimes I may go out and have a holiday dinner-in-a-box delivered to them...it depends on the client.



And Greg, I even sent a $100 Keg certificate to 'problem tenants' last holiday whom



a) hadn't paid rent in 3 months

b) I was evicting



I admit that I don't have as many tenants as you, but feel the thought and kindness comes back to me in other ways. I have built many companies based around customer service and even though you can't change everyone, the good ones make up for the rest. That's my feeling.



Here is another thing we do when possible...when a tenant moves out, grab their forwarding address and send them a house warming gift in the new house. Again, it's just a good gesture and they may refer someone to you years later.




That's very nice. I am sure there are ways to save money with good management, so the Christmas presents would be in a budget. I also know one highrise rental in Ottawa orders cattering service for the tenants Christmas buffet in the lobby. They are known for their good management.

BTW, when we rented for many years, the LL was never in a hurry to cash the checks, though we always paid in advance. My guess is he waited for others to collect the checks and deposited them alltogether. They gave Christmas presents, too. Every year different.

 

[christineruptash]

QUOTE Here is another thing we do when possible...when a tenant moves out, grab their forwarding address and send them a house warming gift in the new house. Again, it`s just a good gesture and they may refer someone to you years later.

Great idea Joey! I am going to borrow that one too!

For our welcome/holidays we do a combonation of a re-useable gift basket with small gift items and a gift card. My PM picks up items throughout the year when she finds things on sale, so she makes our dollars stretch.
Our student tenants like the i-tunes and grocery cards in their baskets, a nice little something for them to use and something practical as well. For the holidays last year we did a movie theme.....popcorn bowl, colored popcorn and treats, and then put in a cinema gift card and a Safeway card.
The one big MUST for us is a handwritten card to the tenant. We wish them a wonderful holiday season, thank them for the previous year, and wish them a wonderful New Year. I try and personalize them as much as possible.
Not sure what theme we are going with this year, but I will keep you posted.

 

[JoeRagona]

LOL no prob Neil, Christine...

I DO ALSO use gift baskets, and related thank you gifts halfway through the year. On my rent to own, I always present them with a housewarming gift over and above the regular tenant welcome basket.

Today as a matter of fact, I sent my tenants a sleeper for their newborn. For $20, it is a small investment into keeping them as clients.

 

[dianab]

QUOTE (JoeRagona @ Nov 20 2009, 09:48 PM)
LOL no prob Neil, Christine...



I DO ALSO use gift baskets, and related thank you gifts halfway through the year. On my rent to own, I always present them with a housewarming gift over and above the regular tenant welcome basket.



Today as a matter of fact, I sent my tenants a sleeper for their newborn. For $20, it is a small investment into keeping them as clients.






Great ideas Joey- thanks. Ideally with a tenant that you see through more than 1 birthday or Christmas, you could mix it up. A gift card for birthday and a great basket for another. Keep it fresh and lets the tenant know you're thinking of them and not just buying the 'usual' gift every year. Costco has some gift baskets that are so easy to pick up and drop off.



Happy Christmas....wow did I just say that in November????

 

[markbrad]

Good ideas! We have given restaurant gift certificates, baskets, and grocery certificates. If you know your tenants on a more personal basis you can go even a step further. For example, on of my tenants is on the local volunteer fire dept. I happened to be at a house fire taking pictures (I am known to the dept, so get in a little closer than most people) and got some great pics of my tenant hosing down the fire. I chose my favorite and had it enlarged and gave that to him. He loved it!

Perhaps you know teenants are skiers...What about lift tickets? or WHL tickets, or some other things like it.

Whatever you do, you are standng out from most other landlords.

Mark

 

[writeabooknow]

You guys are stealing all my thunder from my upcoming seminar at the Durham Region of REIN members, but here are a few ideas for giving your tenants thousands of dollars of gifts not just a Christmas, but every month of the year.

First, team up with a few other REIN landlords, there is strength in numbers as you`re about to see.

Now, think of local event tickets: Sporting events (forget about NHL), plays, exhibits, movies, seminars, local high quality music concerts, retail shows. The list is almost endless, every month of the year. These events are almost never sold out, some, like local home shows, will NEVER be sold out. And the promoters know they`ll make a lot of their money selling the ancillary stuff people buy at the event. Like popcorn, or a hotdog, or a T-Shirt, or glass of wine, or books, and so on.

Once they realize they`re not going to sell out every seat in the place, (weeks in advance) they`re more than happy to give away tickets just to get people in the door so they can cash in on the ancillary sales, or just make the crowd look good.

So, for example, approach a movie house and explain to the owner, or the manager, who you are and that you`d like 20 complimentary tickets to a movie running on their slowest night of the week. Or 20 tickets to a junior hockey game that never sells out. Or the local play. Those seats are going to go empty anyway, and the lights, staff and rent have already been paid, so the owner would be out of his or her mind not to give you those tickets. It`s like advertising time in any medium. Once it`s gone, it ain`t ever coming back. So managers must do what they can to maximize the potential. It doesn`t cost them a thing. Have you purchased popcorn and a drink at a movie lately? Zounds!

Once you`ve got $100 or so in tickets (actually, you can get thousands this way) move on to services. Got a dentist in yoiur neighbourhood? What`s their cheapest service? How about a free $80 examination, one only for every member of the family. Unless the dentist has more patients than she knows what to do with, she`ll quickly see the obvious advantage of this. Hey, she`s at the office anyway, she has all the equipment and the staff in place. And she has three hours of unbooked time on Friday afternoon. Some of those freebies are going to turn into long-time customers and that means tens of thousands in future revenue. Chiropractors, naturopaths, lawyers, accountants, they can all offer a high perceived value, no actual cost service to all of your tenants. (I once got the local high school band Christmas concert more than $1,000 in carpet cleaning door prizes this way. He gave away 12 prizes of one free room of carpet cleaning. Just about everyone ended up wanting their whole house cleaned!)

Want some actual gifts? Get the local restaurant to offer a buy one, get one free dinner, or the local garage to give a free oil change (cost of oil is extra). The goal is exactly the same. Give a little and get a long-term customer.

Oh, I could go on!... but I have to make dinner.

You get to give each of your tenants, including spouses and everyone over the age of 18, a gift pack with a legitimate value of more than $1,000 (or more if you want to work at it) Prices are stamped right on the tickets! Imagine how they`d feel if you gave them similar gifts with a value of more than $200 every month!! Total cost to you (actual money) zip!

Cheers,
Steve Manning

 

[thejules]

We give our Tenants Rogers video store gift cards. AND the amount depends how long they have rented from us. Usually $10.00 for new tenants and up to $35.00 for long term tenants.

 

[jwilbrin]

QUOTE (writeabooknow @ Nov 22 2009, 04:34 PM) You get to give each of your tenants, including spouses and everyone over the age of 18, a gift pack with a legitimate value of more than $1,000 (or more if you want to work at it) Prices are stamped right on the tickets! Imagine how they`d feel if you gave them similar gifts with a value of more than $200 every month!! Total cost to you (actual money) zip!

Word of caution, pricey tenant gifts can in many cases achieve the opposite of what you would like. We’d all like to believe that our tenants will be absolutely thrilled to receive a wonderful pricey gift which we hope will leave them feeling very appreciated and valued. However, all too often it can awaken feelings of envy and leave your tenants feeling disgruntled.

If you give your tenant a gift that is worth $200 a month, how do you think they will feel? Ask yourself how you would feel in their situation. Me personally, if I was still struggling month to month and renting, I’d be asking myself, “Instead of giving me these expensive gifts why can’t they give me a reduction on my rent.” “How much money are they making off of me anyway?”

I am absolutely against giving elaborate gifts to my tenants and business clients, even if you did not pay a lot for the gift, the perception can cause more damage than good. Let’s face it, as nice as the tenant may be, there will always be a feeling of resentment if they see you giving away pricey gifts when they themselves are struggling to make ends meet. Even if they are not struggling, the bottom line is most people would rather be paying less rent than getting elaborate gifts. You could be opening a really big can of worms.

I learned this lesson first hand Christmas 2007. In addition to real estate investment I also have a communications consulting business. I had one Management Consulting firm who utilized my services extensively that year; the firm was made up of a group of consultants. Anyway, as a Christmas gift, I really wanted to do something special for them. I called one of my friends who manages a high end boutique hotel to see what he could do in the way of a discount on a nice dinner at their hotel. It seemed the stars were aligned, he had just gotten a call the day before from a small o&g company that had to cancel their Christmas party and all the rooms booked – because of the short notice they lost their deposit. My friend was able to give me their dinner plus all the rooms they had booked at a fraction of the price. I was so thrilled – how impressed would my clients be when they receive an invitation to dinner and a one night stay at this fabulous hotel.

Well they were certainly thrilled and full of complements that night – in fact it seemed they could not thank me enough. The following week I received a call from one of the consultants whom I really trusted and did a lot of work with. She wanted to meet me for coffee. She wanted to caution me on doing anything so elaborate again. The Monday after my Christmas party the office was abuzz with talk on how much I must have spent and that I’m obviously making too much money off of them. In her words “Envy is a very powerful emotion.” Not two weeks later, I received a call from one of the consultants who needed some work done but he first wanted me to come in to discuss my billing rates. Apparently his client was putting pressure on him to reduce costs…mmmm… interesting timing.

I no longer do elaborate gifts for anyone including my tenants. My gift to them is being a proactive, responsible landlord ensuring they have a clean, safe and updated home to live in. I respond promptly to maintenance issue and disturbance issues. Elaborate gifts will not keep your tenants happy; proper management will.

The most I will ever give a tenant is a $25 gift certificate. In a case where a tenant or tenants have been inconvenienced due to maintenance issues such as a furnace problem in winter, then I will give them a little more. Maybe a $50 restaurant certificate so they can go out for dinner while my contractors are working in their unit.