What Property Managers Can Learn From the Abysmal Mariah Carey NYE Performance

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m sure you were all out partying on New Year’s Eve. Champagne, parties and kisses at midnight, right? Well, I don’t mean to brag, but my night was pretty wild, too—I watched “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on my couch, in my pajamas, and managed to stay up until 12:30. Jealous?

Well, because I was watching, I did get to see Mariah Carey’s “performance.” Have you heard about it? Well, I don’t mean to be snarky, but damn, girl! That was bad! (Clearly as someone who doesn’t like her genre of music and can’t even carry a tune, I have earned the right to criticize someone who has been in the industry for decades and is considered one of the best in her field.) Her audio wasn’t working and she couldn’t hear her backing tracks or something. It was pretty much a mess.

Now, it might not have been her fault. But we can still look to that performance for “What not to do” when it comes to mistakes at work, especially in the multifamily industry. Let’s look at some examples.

Don’t draw attention to your mistakes. In the middle of her act, Mariah Carey stood there and said there hadn’t been a sound check. Would the audience have noticed if something was wrong if she hadn’t said that? Well, yes. As I mentioned, the whole thing was a mess. But this drew even more attention to the problem. If you give a resident something, contact them quickly and tell them the correction. Don’t just throw your hands up in the air and say, well, this is all screwed up now.

Don’t play the blame game. Carey’s camp said that Dick Clark Productions, the company that put on the show, was trying to sabotage her. That didn’t get anyone to take her side. It just made her look like a crazy person. (And this is a singer known for being crazy. Ahem, TRL meltdown, ahem.) So, don’t blame the maintenance team or the leasing agents when something goes wrong. Definitely don’t blame the residents. As property manager, you are in charge of the goings on at the community. Take responsibility, and deal with it.

Remember that even the pros have missteps. Mariah Carey has been around forever. She has about a billion Grammys. She has a Christmas song that does the impossible—it doesn’t make people want to claw their ears off after listening to it a million times every December. And she royally screwed up. Hey, it happens. And if it can happen to her, than don’t beat yourself up about your own mistakes.

Get people talking. When was the last time you cared about Mariah Carey? 1997? 2002? Never? And suddenly we’re all talking about her again. So, OK, maybe most of it isn’t flattering, but any press is good press, right? If you bungle something at your community, use it to your advantage! If it’s a large-scale mistake that affects more than one resident, maybe announce how you’re fixing it on your community Facebook page and ask for opinions. Have “I’m sorry” muffins out at the front desk and engage your residents in conversation about the changes being made. It’s easy to forgive and forget when there is a conversation about how it’ll be fixed in the future. And when there are double chocolate chip muffins involved.

And always look fabulous. Rhinestone bodysuits, amiright? Who cares that she screwed up her set when Mariah Carey looked so amazing? I mean, obviously, everyone, but at least she looked great doing it. At your community, always strive to look professional. It won’t help you make fewer mistakes, but it will make you feel more confident and make the residents trust you more. I think we should always wear our metaphorical rhinestone bodysuits to work. Or literal. No judgments.

What else can we learn from Mariah Carey’s performance? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Post your comments on our Facebook page or send a tweet to @MHNOnline or @jfiur.