There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our way of life, both in the U.S. and abroad. We face an unprecedented challenge as governments, businesses and everyday citizens take drastic measures to stop the spread of this potentially deadly disease.

Similar to other industries, real estate has felt the impact of COVID-19 as potential buyers are encouraged, and sometimes ordered, to “shelter in place” or practice social distancing as a means to minimize risk. For REALTORS® who are able to conduct home showings, there are some steps you can take with the lockbox to help provide a safer environment for yourself, your clients and for homeowners.

Best Practices for Using a SentriLock Lockbox During COVID-19

If you use a SentriLock lockbox, there is a key step you should take to reduce the possibility of viral contamination through the use of the lockbox. That step involves thoroughly cleaning the lockbox. If you are a listing agent, you should clean the lockbox each time you exit the property, as a courtesy to others entering your listing. If you are a showing agent, you should clean the lockbox before entering the property. Regardless of which model of SentriLock lockbox you own or you encounter during a showing, the process is generally the same.

You will need:

Antibacterial wipes, or antibacterial spray with a clean cloth

Note: During this crisis, you should keep a supply of rubber gloves and antibacterial wipes in your vehicle at all times. This is key to helping to protect yourself, your family, and your clients.

Here’s how to properly clean the lockbox:

1. Put on rubber gloves for this process.

2. Remove an antibacterial wipe from its container and use it to thoroughly clean the lockbox keypad, sides, rear, and bottom.

3. Use a second wipe to clean the doorknob, the lockbox shackle, and the keyhole on the entry door.

4. Use your SentriKey® Real Estate mobile app to open the key compartment and thoroughly wipe the door key. While holding the key in one hand, use the wipe to clean the key compartment before placing the key back into the storage bin.

Follow Best Practices for Surfaces

The COVID-19 virus can survive on plastic and stainless steel surfaces up to 70 hours.

Make sure to wash your hands after any contact with surfaces such as lockboxes and door handles.

Supporting Our Clients

In today’s uncertain times because of COVID-19, SentriLock remains committed to serving you, with minimal disruption, while still providing the world-class customer experience to which you’ve become accustomed.

Thank you for understanding. We hope that you and your members remain safe and healthy during these challenging times.

Associations:

From an Association, Board, or MLS customer standpoint, you and your staff can reach a Customer Relationship Manager as you normally would. Your members will also be able to contact our Support Department as they normally would.

We understand that this situation is constantly changing, so we’ll provide updates as needed. Please notify your SentriLock Customer Success Manager if anything changes with your specific situation, and we can work together to make any necessary adjustments.

Agents:

Our Customer Support team is working remotely and can be reached as it normally would. You can reach us at 513-618-5800 (877-736-8745 in Canada or toll-free), seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to midnight ET. We’re dedicated to serving you.

Supporting Our Employees

In accordance with Ohio Governor DeWine’s “stay at home” order on Sunday, March 22, our SentriLock employees located in our Cincinnati corporate office began working from home – and will continue to do so until the statewide stay at home order has been lifted.

We have successfully transitioned 93 percent of our employees to working from home, including our Customer Support team members. A few key employees are continuing customer order fulfillment, shipping and receiving from the SentriLock office during this stay at home order period, as order fulfillment is an essential business activity. Should that activity need to change, we will provide an update.

Emotional well-being is a priority, and as such, SentriLock continues to make health and wellness resources available, including EAP sessions that are part of our comprehensive benefits package. We’ve also launched “Work From Home 2020” – activities in which we share personal and work successes, home workspaces, virtual coffee breaks, and more.

This is an unprecedented time, and one thing we know is that we at SentriLock are much stronger when we live our core values, which are: customer focused, passionate, intelligent, trust, innovation, and most essential of all during this time, being resilient.