In many ways, geography doesn’t restrict how MPG does business. Take our resident manager coordinator, Benilda Valladares (aka Beni), who lives in El Salvador. Beni joined MPG in October 2023 and just celebrated her first anniversary.
Empathy Has No Borders
Despite Beni’s geographic location in Central America, she calmly and empathetically connects with our Southside Chicago residents, usually those behind on their rent. She also interacts directly with property owners to give them updates on getting rent caught up.
During her interactions with both parties, Beni relies on the skills she learned from a decade spent working in the call center industry. She knows that tenants and owners in difficult situations require different styles of interaction.
“Every time I receive a call, I try to put myself in the person’s position,” Beni said. “Over the years, I’ve learned how to handle calls where people get angry and shout. Or when I have to call tenants, and they know I’m calling about their rent money. I know the way you start these conversations can sometimes make a difference in their willingness to cooperate.”
Finding Someone’s Why
Beni said that too many resident coordinators in other companies only take the owner’s mindset when calling about delinquent payments. Those tenants know they’re just calling to try to shake them down for money.
But she takes a different approach. Beni knows what’s generally best for everyone involved is to get tenants caught up on their rent. This avoids the cost, reputation damage, and time wasted on a complicated eviction process.
Instead, Beni listens to the tenant’s story and determines the best way to solve the problem. The majority of the time, she’ll get the tenant on a payment plan that stops the eviction process and gets them back on track.
“I appreciate that Marblestone has left me on my own to figure out how to handle tenants,” Beni said. “They don’t push me to get a certain amount by a certain date. I know that may not be reasonable for the tenant, so I can ask them what’s going to work for them.”
Making Hard Decisions While Always Improving
Sometimes, even with Beni’s soothing personality and tenant promises, things don’t work out. Beni will always give someone an opportunity to make things right, but if it becomes a habit, she has to make hard decisions.
When Beni first started, others at Marblestone warned her she’d start seeing the same names on the delinquency list. And she has. With them, Beni takes a firmer approach to get them on the right track. And when to recommend moving forward with the eviction process.
Despite these difficult conversations, Beni knows that she’s doing something that positively impacts the company, the tenants, and the owners.
But she’s also learned how to improve communications with both those tenants and the concerned owners. She’s learned how to communicate with repeatedly delinquent tenants and how to keep the owners of those properties updated. That includes posting updates in the owner portal system so that owners don’t need to contact her for the latest developments.
Why Marblestone?
As a single mother with two school-aged children, Beni has a financial responsibility to provide for them. But more importantly, she loves being able to work from home and be available for her children when they need her.
She hopes that working right in front of them indirectly instills a strong work ethic in her 12-year-old son Julio and 15-year-old daughter Gabby. Beni said if she went to an office, they’d never see her stretching beyond her comfort zone to do better. In addition, they regularly hear her speaking English in their native Spanish-language home.
Beni and her daughter Gabby and son Julio
Beni also loves the way Marblestone treats its team members.
“We have a daily huddle, and I love and thank the company for doing these,” she said. “The majority of the time, we speak about our mental health or how we can destress. Every week, Jared and Erika ask us, ‘What’s your goal, professional or personal?’ You can see they really care.”
MPG also hosts a private Facebook group for health goals. The group’s positive reinforcement and accountability have led to her return to the gym. This dedication to the overall wellness of team members makes Beni want to do her very best every single day.