Tenant relationship management is about much more than just making sure tenants get the services they expect, delivered in a fast, efficient, and courteous manner. It’s about building strong, long-lasting relationships!

And one of the easiest ways to build stronger tenant relationships is to create additional opportunities for your property team to get to know tenants outside of regular day-to-day service requests.

Something like a property event!

Things to Consider When Throwing a Property Event

Property events are a good way to bring together tenants in your building to participate in something outside their normal routine. Think of it as a way for them to break free (temporarily) from their responsibilities and get to know each other in a fun, lighthearted way.

But for your event to be a success, there are some things to consider:

1. What is your budget?

   Knowing your budget is the first step towards making your event happen. Once you know how much you can allocate, you can frame what is and isn’t possible!

2. When do you want to hold your event?

   Consider the availability of your tenants and tenant employees. If a major holiday is coming up, it might not be the best time to throw your event!

   It is also important to think about the day of the week, and time of the event. Every organization has different hours and needs, and you want to try to reach the broadest group possible.

3. Why are you holding the event?

   This is a big one. You want to know exactly why you’re holding the event, and think about it constantly through the organization process.

   In more ways than not, you’re trying to network. Don’t try to sell your event as something it isn’t! You want to build trust among your tenants.

4. How will you promote the event?

   If you have a tenant portal, tenant mobile app, or some other channel of regularly communicating to tenants – communicate the event details early, regularly, and often.

   Most of the property events that fail do so because no one knew they were taking place.

5. How will you gauge the event’s success?

   What is your basis for making the time, money, and effort of throwing the event worthwhile? Once you know that (and pair it with #3), you’ll be able to focus on making your event a huge success!

If you’re able to keep these things in mind, your property event should have every opportunity to be a great tool for building tenant trust, satisfaction, and relationships!

Exciting Ideas for a Property Event

Now that you’ve got the right things in mind for hosting your property event from a logistical standpoint, it’s time to consider how to make it fun!

Here are a few of the many (and there are many!) exciting ideas for an event:

1. Host a BBQ

   When it comes to attracting people to an event, food is king. And if the weather is nice, and you have the right property amenities for it, hosting an outdoor barbeque is the right way to go.

   Check your local directories for caterers that specialize in outdoor barbeques. Your tenants will appreciate the change of pace and the effort made for selecting a local business, and the caterer will appreciate the extra promotion.

   It might also be good to think about roof coverage in the event that inclement weather occurs.

2. Food Truck Festival

   If food is king, having a festival of food trucks is the most royal of celebrations. Your tenants will love the opportunity to get up and get out of the office, and try something a little different in terms of food.

   And if you really want to make it special, consider making outdoor games and music available so that everyone can really get into it. Bonus points for hosting a karaoke competition.

3. Cocktail Hour

   This one is not for every property! But one of the best – and fastest – ways to get your tenants (or anyone, really) in on a social event is to offer adult beverages, food, and conversation.

   If you decide to do a cocktail hour, consider offering live music, and fancy hors d’oeuvres to help make socialization more fun and comfortable. It replicates “networking” events that are common at industry tradeshows and events.

4. Bowling Outing

   A little friendly competition goes a long way. Bowling outings can be a fun post-work event, bringing tenants and tenant employees together in one place to meet, socialize, and compete amongst each other.

   To add more excitement, consider making it a tournament or a competition in which participants could win prizes

5. Food/Clothing/Toy Drive

   Some of the more common commercial property events run by property management teams are humble food/clothing/toy drives.

   Designed to bring the tenants and staff of a property together for a common (good) cause, these drives are a great way to help those less fortunate and create a positive atmosphere of goodwill in the property.

   To inspire greater participation, property management teams could add in a competitive element where the tenants that bring in the most donations wins a prize. (Like a hosted pizza party!)

Do you have other ideas for running exciting property events?

Let us know, by tweeting @BuildingEngines with the hashtag #propertyevent!