5 Ways Automation Helps Propel On-Site Team Performance

On-site teams are the foundation of thriving multifamily properties. At the same time, today’s market environment is a tough one for teams. Keeping skilled workers engaged and productive amidst growing burnout and economic unrest requires new approaches.

Multifamily marketing leaders already know automation is the way forward. And yet, some might be surprised to learn how significant automation platforms are to the employee experience, and how platforms can differ in terms of magnifying the efficacy of teams.

In this post, we’ll focus on feedback we’ve received from leading multifamily marketers following their adoption of PERQ to automate lead capture and nurture outreach to prospective renters. In all, PERQ users have reported that benefits to their on-site teams fall into five broad themes.

1. Encouraging creative work by automating routine tasks

What if your leasing agents could focus more time on engaging high-intent prospects? And what might be possible if each team member could operate in their area of genius – those personal strengths that really move the needle toward your marketing goals – most of the time?

At a minimum, you’d expect automation to free up time so employees can redirect their energy to more profitable work, instead of repetitive, low-impact tasks like responding to FAQs or playing phone tag with unqualified leads.

Multifamily marketers who partner with PERQ report they’ve freed up their leasing agents’ time significantly, up to 100+ hours a month. That’s possible because the AI leasing automation tackles 90% of routine inquiries. PERQ also captures 3-5X more prospect data points and integrates seamlessly with the CRM and connected marketing channels, saving agents from having to manually enter prospect data into the CRM.

Altogether, those capabilities mean teams get more time and headspace to devote to more fulfilling activities like getting creative, building relationships, and refining strategies.

2. Helping on-site teams convert more leads, 24/7

Imagine a prospect is browsing your website at 2 a.m. when a question arises that can sway their renting decision. Or maybe the same happens when agents are out to lunch or wrapped up in an assignment. Though your team isn’t available to assist at that moment, your AI assistant is, delivering instant answers and capturing prospect information for your agents.

More than creating a good experience for your website visitor, your ability to deliver instant support also enables you to capture leads when their interest is highest, versus making prospects wait to reach an agent and hoping they won’t forget, lost interest, or get their questions answered by a competitor first. For agents, better win rates also translate into improved satisfaction, making them feel better about the impact of their contributions and the progress they’re making in their work.

One added benefit to agents using PERQ is that the AI engine continues to “warm up” leads with personalized nurture messaging, nudging prospects to the next step, scheduling tours and answering routine questions while agents focus their attention elsewhere. Uniquely, PERQ can nurture across SMS and email (managing the opt-ins as well) and each prospective renter gets a nurture cadence and content that is unique to their preferences, move-in window, and more.

Once leads are primed and closer to a “yes,” your agents can step in. Armed with insights the AI platform has captured about each prospect’s interests, agents are able to fine-tune their approach and guide the prospect toward a leasing decision.

3. Enabling better forecasts and decisions with data

When you integrate marketing channels and systems, a few things happen to alleviate workload and uncertainty for on-site teams:

• Your visibility into marketing performance and prospect behavior trends become clearer and more complete.
• Data capture can be automated, replacing manual tasks and reducing the chance of human error.
• Your team can more easily pinpoint gaps, opportunities, and tripping points sabotaging their goals.

Traditionally, marketing decisions have hinged largely on hunches, past experiences, bias or even personal preferences — all of which can be wrong. By contrast, high-conversion multifamily marketing programs let data guide decisions leading to revenue.

If your on-site team is operating on instinct or incomplete data today, chances are high that much of their efforts aren’t making a significant difference, or might even be working against their goals. There’s a better way: Integrating marketing technologies (and their data) to help you identify what campaigns, tactics or lead sources are truly worth your time and dollars.

4. Mitigating burnout by nixing tedious tasks

Research by J. Turner Research reveals the average tenure of today’s apartment community manager stands at just 19.2 months. That’s a problem.

One common cause of employee burnout is losing a sense of purpose and fulfillment at work: too much work and too little impact, as the Harvard Business Review puts it. Multifamily leaders can counter that by eliminating mundane tasks like copy/pasting FAQ answers to make room for more creative work, such as building relationships with strategic partners, strategizing new campaigns, getting more involved in the community, studying data trends for new ideas, and more.

Increasingly, industry leaders are finding that AI marketing automation for multifamily is invaluable for creating work conditions that compel skilled workers to stay engaged. Research by Deloitte supports that notion. The research firm reports that AI can be highly effective in removing monotonous tasks and enabling teams to undertake meaningful work instead —particularly work that requires uniquely human capabilities like interpretation, communication, judgment, and empathy. In striking the right balance between humans and automation, your organization benefits from better results and better quality of life for our teams.

5. Delivering always-on support without exhausting team members

Today’s consumers are used to instant answers, often aided by Siri, Alexa, or some other AI-powered assistant. They’re also in a hurry, not happy to wait for answers or jump through hoops to get the support they need. Though you’re not Amazon, Netflix or Apple, those expectations don’t go away when prospects are browsing your property website.

Multifamily marketers who’ve adopted PERQ tell us their AI chatbot is able to answer nearly all questions a web visitor throws at them — we’re talking about hundreds of questions, often asked outside of office hours. That support doesn’t stop there. When prospects interact with a PERQ-enabled website, the AI engine records prospect data into the CRM, then nurtures those leads with automated email and SMS outreaches, personalizing the message content, cadence and channel to match individual preferences.

Agents benefit in a few ways:

• Not having to manually populate the CRM with prospect data.
• Having a cleaner CRM that’s not gummed up with leads that aren’t agent-ready.
• Having actionable insight into individual interests/preferences when reaching out to a prospect.

Prospects benefit too: It’s a win to receive instant answers at their fingertips, without having to call the leasing office before they’re ready.

As marketing professionals, we’re only successful when we evolve alongside consumer behaviors and expectations. Just as important, we also need to evolve to match the needs and demands of today’s skilled workers. Walking in your customers’ and employee’s shoes is a far smoother journey when aided by the right automation.

👉🏽  PERQ integrates with your existing website and lead sources to engage, nurture and convert leads, improving the multifamily leasing journey for everyone. Learn how our multifamily solutions work or request a demo.