Jeff Bezos once said,
“I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’… I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ The second question is the more important of the two because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.”
Oftentimes, people are far too concerned about things that are changing and are eager to keep up with every single industry trend. While keeping up with the trends is important, many people neglect to stop and think about the things that will never change.
In order to build a successful, anti-fragile property management business, you need to think about what your customers (owners and residents) will always want and build processes that support that core, unchanging customer desire.
Let’s define what owners/investors will always want:
Trust
Owners/investors want their property manager to be reliable enough for them to feel secure stepping back and relinquishing control from their highest value asset(s).
Value
Owners/investors want to know (and be able to see and feel) that they are receiving the value that they are paying for.
Empathy
Owners/investors want their property manager to manage their property as if it were their own.
To take this a step further, let’s dive into the specifics of what owners/investors will always want from their property management company:
- On time rent payments with statements.
- High NOI and increasing value on the property.
- Assurance that the home is being well maintained.
- Assurance of a solid emergency maintenance plan.
- A responsive team that provides a sense of urgency for their needs.
Creating a successful, anti-fragile property management business doesn’t solely rely on the owners’/investors’ core wants. We need to also focus on the residents’ wants in order to increase tenant retention and maintain an overall positive reputation.
So, what will residents always want?
Better quality service levels:
According to a recent study, 68% of renters decide to leave because of poor customer service and only 9% leave for competitive pricing in other communities. That same study found that residents who are happy with property management are three times more likely to renew their lease. Providing positive experiences for residents is something that will always be important and crucial for success.
The biggest area where residents have a poor experience is maintenance, so you can’t create a good resident experience without creating a good maintenance experience. To achieve better quality service levels here, it’s more about speed of response and active communication than it is about the speed of completing any given maintenance request. Both are important, but hard to achieve without the right systems in place. This is why we created a software to empower property managers to be able to deliver this
Convenience and Lifestyle & Financial Perks:
In addition to better quality service levels, residents will always want convenience. They want access to:
- Online resident portal. Residents don’t want to write a check and walk into a leasing office to pay their rent every single month.
- 24/7 maintenance. Companies like Amazon, Disney, and Starbucks have set the bar high for good customer service and this is now becoming an expectation for every asset – maintenance included.
- Video troubleshooting. People want to protect their privacy and don’t want others entering their home when they don’t need to. Video troubleshooting helps with that and helps resolve or de-escalate issues faster.
- Response-time guaranteed. No one likes waiting on hold to get issues resolved. Latchel has a 60-second response time, guaranteed.
- Easy utility setup. The less hands-on for residents, the better.
- Air filter delivery. This is something residents don’t always think about but is necessary for routine maintenance. Having an air filter subscription in place is a convenient way for residents to keep up with this monthly task without even having to leave their house.
- Smart home add-ons. This is becoming widely asked for by residents.
Residents also want access to lifestyle and financial perks. This includes:
- Resident-caused damage reimbursements
- Cash back on insurance policies
- Rewards for rent payment
- Security deposit alternatives
- Access to financial/investment advice
- Credit Boosting for On-Time Rent Payment
These are the most in-demand lifestyle and financial perks that residents want and leveraging a resident experience platform like Latchel offers just that.
At Latchel, we offer a turnkey, fully customizable resident benefits hub that property managers can provide to their residents that includes dozens of convenient, lifestyle, and financial perks like the ones listed above. These benefits not only help improve the resident experience, but it also creates a new revenue stream for property managers.
If you’re ready to learn more about how Latchel can help you improve your quality service levels while making more money, click here to request a life demo.
And if you want to learn more about how you can create an antifragile property management business that can thrive through uncertainty, click here to download our free ebook.
