Peer Insights: How Wood Residential Sways Gen Z Renters

by | Mar 18, 2022 | Blogs, Events, Featured, Multifamily

The fastest growing segment in the U.S. renter market, Gen Z renters now lead multifamily market trends — particularly as their habits and priorities differ sharply from earlier generations. How do you sway these modern renters to click, interact, book a tour, and lease a multifamily unit?

Brian Ericson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, and Kira Brown, Senior Marketing Manager at Phoenix-based Wood Residential recently shared the trends they’re seeing and how they’re attracting today’s generation of renters.

Following are some highlights of our discussion, and you can catch the full Sofa Seminar presentation at the bottom of this post.

Instant gratification, just a tapor click away

Instant Image | PERQ AI Leasing Assistant

Gen Z craves instant answers, expecting the sameease, immediacy, and anytime/anywhere access theyenjoy from online retailers, media platforms, and AI assistants like Siri or Alexa. Fail to provide thatlickety-split experience at fleeting moments when you have their attention and they’ll jump ship to a competing website that can satisfy their need for ease and speed.

“Either a leasing agent or automated tool needs to get back to them really fast, because if we don’t, we’ll lose them,” cautions Kira. “If someone else answers their questions right away and we respond 24-36 hours later, that prospect may very well have made their decision by then, even if they’re not planning to move in for a while.”

“The bar we’re being held to isn’t just the competitors down the street. It’s the Amazons of the world,” Brian adds.

Longer, self-led searches

Based on their data, Brian and Kira note younger renters are beginning their search months in advance. The tendency is for prospects to do heavy research as “stealth shoppers,” then narrow top choices before they’re comfortable interacting with a leasing agent.

That’s also true for folks moving to new markets, says Kira. Out-of-towners might come check the neighborhood and location, then return home to complete their leasing decision online. When they’re ready to talk, decisions tend to be quick, leaving agents with a short window to respond.

Altogether, those behaviors require multifamily marketers to ensure the right technologies are in place to empower prospects in their research, and deliver lightning-fast support when prospects are ready to engage.

Automations as experience enhancers and staff relief

Aside from delivering the anytime/anywhere support Gen Z renters crave, automations also free up staff time to focus on what they do best and what delivers the greatest impact, such as hosting a high-intent prospect tour versus answering the same question about pet policy 30 times a week, for example.

Using the PERQ AI leasing agent on their websites, Wood Residential’s chatbot (aptly called “Woody”) has answered 1,800 prospect questions in just three months. “That’s 1,800 straightforward questions that prospects got real-time answers to. They didn’t have to pick up the phone or send an email,” says Brian.

Staff, in turn, gets more time and headspace to devote to higher-impact activities and things they actually enjoy like getting creative, building relationships, and refining strategies. “Automation can make our jobs more interesting and compelling because we’re freeing our teams to focus on what’s hopefully the fun stuff,” shares Brian. “We’re taking a lot of the boring routine stuff like sending copy-paste emails on basic inquiries.”

Optimizing cross-channel experiences

Optimizing user experiences on website and mobile, using data to fine-tune what’s working (or isn’t), and leveraging captured data to personalize interactions are some of the ways Wood Residential is evolving their marketing efforts.

We invite you to learn from our full discussion below and check out the PERQ AI Lead Management Platform that’s generated great results for Wood Residential.

CEO Andy Medley Reflects on PERQ’s Development and Focus on Culture

by | Mar 15, 2021 | News

perq fam | PERQ AI Leasing Assistant

PERQ’s co-founders Andy Medley and Scott Hill didn’t have backgrounds in tech or in multifamily when they decided to create their first company in 2001. In 20 years, Andy and Scott have seen so much growth and have entered new markets that they didn’t originally plan to go into. Andy sat down with Rachel Smith at Elevate Ventures and reflected on PERQ’s development and talked about how he has helped create an award winning company culture.

 

Learn more and read the full story here: CEO Andy Medley Reflects on PERQ’s Development and Focus on Culture

 

 

 

Connecting with prospects when email doesn’t work

by | Aug 27, 2020 | Blogs, COVID-19 Resources, General Communication, Marketing Team, Multifamily, Onsite Team, Social Media

Email fatigue. We have all experienced this once or twice in our lives. The state of being so burnt out on receiving emails that we simply ignore, delete or send unwanted emails to the spam folder. Since going digital back in early March, email fatigue is a problem that most consumers seem to be facing at an alarmingly high rate. From retail to newsletters we unknowingly subscribed to when we checked off a box on website to just general spam, inboxes everywhere are cluttered more than ever.

 

This requires businesses to have to be creative in how they reach their audiences. Sometimes an email, which might have been used in the past, simply won’t cut it these days. So how do you standout in a sea of people vying for the same person’s attention? 

 

Know your audience

 

It is easy to get stuck in a rut when prospecting via email. Knowing your audience and how to respond to emails is an easy way to begin seeing traction with your outreach. In a recent lunch and learn, Liv Gabrielsen, Director of Marketing for Bainbridge said that the biggest downfall with email marketing is we have become so accustomed to automation. Liv says “We treat leads as a lead and fail to recognize where they are in their buying journey.” Liv goes on to explain that a lead with a 30 day close time versus a lead with a 120 day close time should be communicated with differently and not receive the same response.

The age of renters may not have changed but the generations have. The oldest of Gen Z have entered the age of renting and adulthood. This generation expects automation and instant gratification that comes from AI technology. They also are experts at using social media, specifically Instagram and TikTok, to look up their next purchases and financial commitments. Later in this article we’ll get into Instagram for apartment communities and some apartment social media post ideas.

 

Pick up the phone and call the prospect! 

 

Another great way to stand out from the crowd is by simply not sending an email at all. Instead, pick up the phone and call your prospect. Especially now, everyone is so used to staring at their screens all day. Talking with someone over the phone and allowing them to put a voice to the name can be a great change of pace. However, having a Caller ID would be a good idea. We live in an era of flooded inboxes and also an era of relentless spam calls. Having a Caller ID set up will help get more prospects to answer the phone instead of decline the call. They’ll know it’s from you and not some spam robot.

 

Lean into other forms of media 

 

Lastly, when email isn’t working, check out other forms of media to get in front of your contacts.  Exploring new avenues such as social media marketing for apartments is an easy way to connect with prospects and current renters. When you are trying to engage your communities, some apartment social media ideas. you can do are using things like interactive social features including: instagram polls, swipe ups on social media, hashtags to engage audience, TikTok videos and contests! For prospective renters, make the tone of your emails and outreach more conversational. The less you are trying to “sell” to them and the more “human” your interactions seem, the higher the engagement there will be.

When it comes to Instagram and TikTok, short form videos have really taken off. You can do tours of floor plans, how to put in a maintenance request, move-in tips, and decorating tips that are renter friendly. Apartment videos on these platforms have billions of views. Putting your property in those categories is great for visibility and subtly promoting your property to the new generation of renters.

We also have a few blog posts that cover outreach marketing ideas for apartments that explore more ways social media, email marketing, and local businesses can all intersect for prospecting and resident giveaway ideas.

 

Learn more about PERQ and schedule a demo.

Back to the Basics: Training Your Leasing Team

by | Jul 13, 2020 | Client Education, COVID-19 Resources, Events, General Communication, Multifamily, Onsite Team, Ops/Executive, Webinars

Our EVP of Marketing, Muhammad Yasin, had a chance to hang out with Katrina Greene (CAM, Senior Regional Property Manager, and NALP Instructor) in a virtual chat on leasing agent training to find out why she views training as an ongoing process, not a one-time event. She had strong opinions on how training itself serves as an introduction or launch of behavior that will then require practice. She also stressed that you must be brave to succeed as a leasing agent, understand your value, and appreciate having a conversation, rather than taking orders.

During her chat with Muhammad, Katrina conveyed the importance of: 

 

  • Human interaction in the leasing process
  • The benefit of listening to calls to identify training opportunities 
  • Using positive affirmations with prospects
  • Demonstrating knowledge to earn the right to sell 

 

She also shared tools and tips to make the communication effective and the experience memorable for prospective renters. 

 

Much of the conversation with Katrina centered on reviewing phone conversations between leasing agents and prospects. She uses these calls to reinforce what’s working and identify opportunities for improvement — not only for the leasing agents but also for the properties as a whole. She says it’s important to give your team permission to fail and permission to succeed while demonstrating ways to improve — not just telling them what to do. 

 

After listening to Katrina, it is obvious why the oath she keeps for every interaction works: 

 

“I did everything I know to do using my knowledge, personality and skills to help this person understand my community is a great place for them.”

 

Learn more about PERQ and schedule a demo.

 

RESOURCE LINKS TO HELP WITH TRAINING

 

 

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How to Create a VIP Customer Experience while Selling Remotely

by | Apr 29, 2020 | Automotive, Blogs, COVID-19 Resources, Furniture, Texting, Video Appointments, Website Optimization

In today’s reality, social distancing has become a part of normal business. Brick and mortar stores have closed storefronts or have limited business hours, forcing customers to shop online. How do you make the consumer feel important when you can only interact through a screen? 

 

Providing a personalized, top-class shopping experience should not only happen when the consumer enters through your front door. Building any kind of relationship takes time and effort. Start building that relationship online the moment the consumer visits your website. Utilizing an AI-focused website and personalized lead follow-up approach gives the online consumer an experience similar to what they would receive during an in-store visit. Here’s how your business can create a VIP customer experience. 

 

Personalize your lead follow-up while selling remotely 

 

Utilize data when it comes to personalized lead follow-up. Retailers should be relying on tools on their website, such as assessments and quizzes to collect as much information as possible from their customers. You can learn what style of furniture they like, what room they are looking to furnish, or how soon they are going to buy. You are also able to collect basic information such as name, phone number and email address. 

 

With that information, your sales team is equipped to personalize the outreach. If your customers are looking for a new bedroom set, leverage targeted content through email with a catalog of this year’s hottest bedroom trends. If you’ve already been in contact with them, send a picture through text message of the new set you just got in. This is also an easy way to send incentives or discounts of products to encourage them to buy.

 

Personalizing the marketing experience for your shoppers is an easy way to make them feel valued and continue to shop your products. 

 

Communicate with the consumer through text messaging 

 

Allowing the consumer an option to ask a question via a chat tool online, which gives your sales team the opportunity to follow-up with that customer immediately by text. From there, they are able to send pictures and videos of products in the showroom that the shopper isn’t able to see. This is an effective tool because unlike a chat box, the message is delivered directly to the customers phone as opposed to a chat bot online. 

 

Text messaging helps build the relationship with the customer before they enter the store. By being intentional and personalizing the message, shoppers will be more inclined to respond and be engaged later when they are ready to buy. 

 

Prioritize video calls over phone calls for the VIP customer experience

 

When shoppers were able to go in the store, video follow-up and video appointments were nice to have. Now, video appointments are essential and will likely be a preference for shoppers to save time in the future.

 

Instead of just a simple phone call, video calls bring an extra level of personalization to the conversation. Shoppers are able to see the face of the person they are speaking to much like they would in an in-store visit. Through video calls, you are also able to give tours of the showroom and let the consumer see the product for themselves as you are speaking about it. Tools like Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime and Zoom are all platforms you can use to host video appointments. Follow these tips to ensure you host a successful video appointment.

 

Using these tips to treat the shopper like a VIP will ensure they choose you over another brand. Making someone feel important goes a long way in building consumer trust. Good luck!

Additional Home Furnishings Resources