Transforming Customer Support to Customer Success for Multifamily Operators

As a multifamily operator, you have done your best at optimizing the occupancy of your building. You may even be improving the tenancy stock at the property and investing dollars to attract a new demographic. You have found your product-market fit and moved in the right pipeline of the tenant. You are now looking towards your next acquisition or even the next move-in cycle.

But at the property, the phone is ringing. The emails are getting clogged and you feel like the team in always recruiting.

The long tail problem

ADAM’s data from over 30,000 conversations help us identify the challenge for operations. Property management has a long tail problem. There are many low volumes, hard-to-find topics of support which are come in at varying demand cycles, creating backlogs for support. But, your customers live in a world where Amazon and Apple set the standards for customer attention. As a result, the relationship between the customer and the operator is often fraught with friction.

In any industry, as companies scale, they implement processes and try to adopt automation. Property Management is no different. Most reputable operators have at least a basic resident portal. The valued customer signs a lease and becomes a resident. They pick up their keys and some information about using technology to set up payments and the resident is now put on autopilot. At least that is the hope. The resident’s experience is now restricted within the confines of the buttons of a resident app or the unanswered calls of the onsite office.

Dissatisfaction is feedback

Most property operators are missing the big picture. The key to understanding your product, its performance, and also its success is to not avoid customer dissatisfaction and think of it as an item of reactive support, but to engage in the ‘long-tail interactions to bring customer success.

Relying on call centers and portals removes all feedback loops which is the true intellectual property and learning of your business. The key to building a scalable and profitable product is to understand what your customer wants. Customer support should not be treated as the unwanted consequence of having a client. It is a window into an opportunity to be better and gain a competitive advantage. In all industries that have engaged in customer success strategies, the rewards have been great. They have seen increased profitability due to both additional revenue and cost reductions. It also creates happier and more engaged employees while organically building a brand.

Frontline Intelligence without the effort

A professional property operator will invest in creating a solid infrastructure that allows customers to get more from interacting with you. The challenge is always the quality of data, interaction, and the cost associated. The adoption of a conversational machine learning platform is the first step towards bringing front-line intelligence into your board rooms. The insight can then help create opportunities for both additional offerings and savings and delivered in a natural conversation. The adoption of the right technology can help create a real relationship with your customer without throwing more bodies at the problem.