TITLE: INNOVATIVE WAYS OF ATTRACTING AND RETAINING GOOD QUALITY TENANTS.

BACKGROUND The evolution of the commercial property market with trends like shorter lease lengths and competition for new tenants in the market for example, means that landlords can no longer rely on traditional ways of attracting and retaining tenants. According to Rasila, H. (2010), “the competitive environment is changing and the real estate owners are seeking new ways of differentiating themselves from competitors”. Traditionally, landlords and landlords’ agents over the years have relied on incentives such as rent-free periods, fitting out and premiums to attract and retain tenants. According to Rasila, H. (2010), “traditionally, the business logic in renting …show more content…

This view is supported by Rasila (2010) whose research suggests that creating tight and long lasting customer relationship may be one way of adding value to that relationship and through that, improve their success in business. The research went on to say that to create this lasting relationship, it is important to know the attributes that tenants value in the relationship with their landlords. It concludes by saying “building lasting and satisfactory customer relationships is ever more important for owners of business premises……competition for new tenants is fiercer than ever.” Rasila, H. (2010) reviews existing theory on relationship quality with emphasis on the 15 factors that affect customer relationship quality perception in a business-to-business environment. However, we are unaware which industries were evaluated to elicit these 15 factors. Second, we are unaware if the operational context of these industries is transferrable to the commercial market. It is dangerous to assume that relationship management is the same irrespective of industry and geographical area. Third, we are unaware the

cycles these industries were, because business decisions in a recession could impact relationship management in comparison with decisions made by the same companies during recovery or boom. The impact of time