At the beginning of September, as partner and regional vice president Kristen Rutledge sat on the plane headed to Denver, she was thinking about how she could best support the market, especially her service teams. Denver techs were behind on turns and work orders and it was impacting customer service.
To get to the root of the problem, she got all of the techs together in one room to come up with a solution.
“I wanted the techs to own the problem and come up with their own plan so we could get to the right solution,” Kristen said.
To ensure her techs took initiative, Kristen walked out of the room. That’s when lead tech Micah Glinski stepped up.
Micah, along with the other techs in the Denver market, came up with a plan to get each property caught up turns, work orders and customer service scores at 3.80 or higher – a metric that directly impacts resident satisfaction and trust.
“We all jumped in and said we’d be happy to help and support,” Micah said.
The techs got to work right away. Once techs made progress at their own properties, they stepped in to help other properties in the market. This teamwork between turn techs and lead techs not only drove progress on work orders and turns, but also reinforced their commitment to supporting each other.
“Before this, we had all gone to meetings and trainings together, but this was the first time some of us really spent time working with each other,” Micah said. “I feel like this just helped to bring everyone closer together.”
By mid-month, the service teams needed an extra push to stay on target, so Micah asked the techs to come in on a Saturday.
“We ended up getting a decent team together,” Micah said. “We have a great team in Denver. We all want everyone to succeed. We don’t want any properties to get behind.”
At the end of a hard day’s work, the techs got together to celebrate with pizza and beer, solidifying their bond.
“We all get along really well,” Micah said. “It makes it easier to communicate and get on the same page. We all want each other to succeed as much as possible.”
Over the last 90 days, all properties in the Denver market averaged 4.29 customer survey score. In September alone, techs knocked out at least 39 turns and 883 work orders. All four properties also earned gold medals in The Connor Olympics in September.
“The hardest part was the accountability piece,” Micah said. “We had to keep everyone on track and keep following up to make sure we were on the same page and focused on where we needed to go.”
“It’s great to see them taking ownership, holding each other accountable and finding solutions, even when I’m not there,” Kristen added. “It shows they’re all one big team.”
Micah was the one to break the news to Kristen when all properties were caught up.
“It makes you so proud as a leader,” Kristen said. “Every single property was above a 3.80 for customer service, which is a big freaking deal.”
“Kristen was super happy and proud we all came together and got it done,” Micah added.
With strong connections and accountability, the Denver team now has a solid foundation for the long-term.
“The right people make all the difference,” Micah said. “Now we’re set up to keep this momentum going and achieve even bigger things together.”