Client Communication Excellence
This is the maximum number of hours you should wait before sending an initial response to a client inquiry, even if you don't have the full answer yet.
What is same business day or ideally 2 hours?
When writing variance comments in a financial report, you should always include this metric with the commentary to give clients proper context for the significance of the variance.
What is the dollar amount?
Before sending any client email, you should use this built-in Microsoft Outlook feature that catches basic spelling errors, typos, and common grammar mistakes with a simple click or F7 keystroke.
What is spell check (or spelling and grammar check)?
This simple project management practice—writing down all deadlines in one calendar with reminder alerts set 2-3 days in advance—is the foundation for never missing a client deliverable.
What is using a centralized calendar (or deadline tracking system/master calendar)?
When preparing annual budgets, you should always start by pulling this financial document from the current year, which shows actual year-to-date spending patterns and serves as your baseline for next year's projections.
What is Budget Comparison Report?
When emailing a client about a problem, you should always include this alongside the issue description to demonstrate proactive mangaement.
What is a solution or recommendation?
In accounts receivable updates, strong report writers don't just list outstanding balances - they also include this information about collection efforts, tenant communication, and expected resolutions timelines.
What is the status of collection actions (or risk assessment/aging analysis with follow-up steps taken)?
To ensure error-free client communications, best practice is to use this three-step quality control process: run spell check, use JLL GPT or Grammarly for grammar and tone review, and complete this final critical human step that technology cannot replace.
What is read it out loud (or have another person review it/print and proofread on paper)?
When you receive a new assignment with a Friday deadline, best practice is to set your personal internal deadline for this day of the week, building in buffer time for unexpected issues or revisions.
What is Wednesday (or Thursday/two days early)?
Instead of budgeting the full $36,000 property tax bill in the month it's due, best practice uses this method to allocate $3,000 to each month, creating predictable monthly comparisons and avoiding misleading variances.
What is straight-lining (or straight-line allocation/monthly distribution)?
This communication technique involves stating your specific request or needed decision clearly at the beginning of an email, before providing background details.
What is front-ending the ask (or leading with the ask)?
When utilities show a $12k unfavorable variance, an effective variance comment explains the dollar difference, identifies this root cause category, and includes this forward-looking element to demonstrate you're managing the situation.
What are the specific reasons for the variance and corrective action or future expectation?
Instead of starting from a blank email, you can use JLL GPT Outlook Assistant to generate a draft response to client inquiries by clicking the assistant icon and selecting this option that creates a contextually relevant reply based on the email thread.
What is "Generate Reply" (or draft response/create reply/AI-generated response)?
To manage multiple property deadlines effectively, successful property managers use this technique: breaking large deliverables like monthly reports into smaller tasks—data collection by Monday, draft by Wednesday, review by Thursday—rather than treating it as one big deadline.
What is backwards planning (or reverse scheduling/milestone mapping/task breakdown)?
When calculating the NNNs for a budget it is best to check what document(s) to ensure 100% of the expenses can be recaptured?
When presenting three HVAC repair options to a client (e.g. $5k patch, $15k partial replacement, or $30k full system) you should include these two critical elements beyond just cost to help them make an informed decision.
What are pros/cons of each option and your professional recommendation (with rationale)?
This accounting principle requires you to record expenses in the period they are incurred rather than when they are paid, which is why property managers must estimate and book certain costs even before receiving invoices.
What is accrual?
In executive summaries, poor grammar appears when writers shift perspective—starting with "The property performed well" then switching to "We recommend" and "You should consider"—failing to maintain consistency in this grammatical element.
What is point of view (or narrative perspective/pronoun consistency)?
What time is End of Day?
5:00 p.m. of the time zone of the client (e.g. East Coast client 2 p.m. PST)
When creating your 5 year CapEx budget what documents should you research before presenting to the client?
What are the lease agreement(s), PCA report, bids, and roof assessment?
On client calls, strong presenters use this verbal technique when moving between properties - clearly stating "That concludes the update on Building A. Any questions before we move to Building B?" - to create natural breaks and ensure client engagement throughout the presentation.
What are transition statements with explicit question prompts (or signposting with built-in pause points for Q&A)?
Before issuing midyear financial reports to clients, thorough property managers complete this account-by-account cleanup process to catch accrual errors, clear stale entries, verify account balances, and ensure the integrity of financial statements.
What is a GL scrub (or general ledger scrub)?
Professional client reports should avoid these informal expressions like "ballpark figure," "in the weeds," "deep dive," or "move the needle," which are too casual for formal business documentation and may confuse international clients.
What are colloquialisms (or informal expressions/slang)?
This deadline management strategy involves identifying your major recurring deliverables, calculating how long each truly takes, and then scheduling that exact amount of time in your calendar days before the due date—color-coding the blocks and declining conflicting meeting requests.
What is time blocking (or calendar blocking/blocking calendar time)?
At midyear, your repair and maintenance account shows $85,000 spent with $60,000 budgeted for the full year. To properly clean up your forecast, you must do these three things: calculate the overage, identify whether costs were one-time or recurring, and take this action that adjusts expectations.
What is reforecast the year-end projection (or update the annual forecast/revise the budget)?