Tis the Season… Make Sure Your Package Handling is Smooth and Efficient

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No doubt your high-rise building will be extra- busy with family and friends visiting residents, and with lots of packages being delivered! Online shopping is bigger than ever. Few things are easier than finding the perfect gift for a loved one while still in your pajamas and snuggled on the couch – no fighting mall traffic or bad weather, and deals abound. That said, holiday package delivery does have its own caveat: Will it arrive on time and safely?

People living in single family homes, town homes and who otherwise have doorstep are able to watch for packages being delivered, especially with so many companies offering delivery updates by text. But living in a high-rise condominium, residents depend on an efficient and professional front desk team, management staff or concierge to accept and safely stow packages that don’t fit in the (often tiny) mailbox until they can pick them up.  So it’s important that your high-rise have the right systems in place to properly handle deliveries and notifying residents of when and how to pick them up.

Buildings vary in their package delivery systems. For some, simply putting a delivery notice on the mailbox is sufficient. Residents get the notice when they get their mail and can pick up the package when it’s convenient and staff is available. Other buildings prefer an electronic system to communicate. Some buildings have the ability to have someone personally deliver a package to the unit; others require pick up in person with identification. Whatever system your high-rise uses, it is important that the management team respond quickly, politely and professionally to residents when dealing with packages. Communication is critical to this process, as is being organized in both handling packages as they arrive and storing them securely, especially during the extra-busy holiday season. A quality management company has the right tools and standard operating procedures in place to handle resident deliveries throughout the year, especially during the busy holiday season.

FirstService Residential Connect, a customizable web-based software that is propriety to FirstService Residential, offers package tracking as a feature. This value-added service for communities managed by FirstService Residential is an excellent communication resource. From community websites to resident alerts to amenity tracking tools, and more, this fully-integrated property management software program is available from any computer, smartphone or tablet at any time – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For more information on how working with a professional community association management company can help improve your overall communication, reduce costs, and enhance the lifestyle of the residents in your building, contact FirstService Residential, Virginia’s leading community association management company..