Maintenance troubleshooting is the process of identifying and resolving maintenance issues. It involves diagnosing the problem, determining the cause, and properly repairing it. Maintenance troubleshooting is essential to the success of your property maintenance department for many reasons.
Troubleshooting maintenance can help you identify simple requests that your resident can fix. With AI as the hot trend of the century, it’s common to hear that this is the only solution to improve efficiency. However, with dedicated maintenance software, you can set up automatic, user-defined troubleshooting instructions to gain more insight into a maintenance issue before dispatching a vendor or maintenance technician. Once you have taken the necessary time to set up a troubleshooting template based on your company’s messaging and voice, you can set it and forget it (until you decide to make additional updates). For example, if there are maintenance issues that your residents are responsible for, you can create customized messaging, including a step-by-step video, that sends to them when the work order is submitted and advising them that they are responsible for fixing the issue. So, why should you prioritize pre-configuring customized troubleshooting processes for your property management company?
1. Saves Time
Creating automated troubleshooting instructions saves property managers and maintenance technicians time. For example, you will sometimes receive a maintenance request with little to no information. When you assign a vendor to fix the problem, they don’t always have the tools or parts needed. This can require additional trip charges and working with the resident to find another time they are available to schedule the work. Not only is this a waste of time for your vendor, but it is also frustrating for a resident because the issue is not fixed promptly.
On the other hand, a resident can fix many simple maintenance tasks such as; dead batteries in a smoke detector, clogged drains, or a power outlet needing reset. Sending a vendor to do these things is an extreme waste of time. With maintenance software, like Property Meld, you can set up auto-triaging instructions when specific keywords are used in a work order request. When a resident submits a work order with pre-configured keywords, they are automatically sent a message with instructions on fixing the problem. For a list of standard maintenance troubleshooting instructions, download the guide below. This guide contains instructions you can send to residents to help them troubleshoot common maintenance issues.
2. Saves Money
In addition to saving time, maintenance troubleshooting will save you money. Whenever you dispatch a vendor or a maintenance technician to a residence, you will pay them for their time. If a vendor goes to a home and only needs to reset a breaker, you can waste money on an unnecessary trip charge. Troubleshooting helps you determine which work orders require a vendor or maintenance technician and which requests can be fixed by the resident.
In addition to saving money on unnecessary trip charges, troubleshooting can help you gather more information about a repair before sending your technician. Many of our customers have implemented an automatic workflow to request residents to attach a photo to their work order after submitting every request. This solution provides additional visuals and detail for technicians to ensure they have the right tools and parts for the job. Vendors will be happier knowing they will have the right parts and equipment ahead of time to finish the job.
If you can lower your monthly maintenance costs, you will create better relationships with your property owners and have better retention.
3. Increases Efficiency
You can eliminate sending your technicians out to fix simple issues by troubleshooting, allowing them more time to focus on significant maintenance issues. Freeing up more time on your team’s calendar allows maintenance requests to be completed sooner, increasing productivity and increasing resident satisfaction. The quicker a repair is completed, the happier your resident will be.
Download the Troubleshooting Guide for 10 Common Maintenance Requests
