Increase lifetime customer value (LTV) and reward loyalty with a multifamily CRM

Multifamily CRM saves time and money, delights renters, and gives teams their time back

Building a strong relationship with renters was important before, but between dropping demand, and fewer leads, it’s non-negotiable for property management companies today. With fewer prospective renters inquiring at communities, they are leasing up more slowly. This slower lead-to-lease rate leaves apartments empty longer between renters causing operators to lose money as they turn around apartments. 

That’s why nurturing each prospective renter to help them find their next home, and then extending that positive renter relationship while they live in your community is table stakes for property management companies.

A multifamily CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can help you do just that. 

It costs far more to win a new customer than to keep an old one happy. In fact, many operators see costs around $4,000 per unit, for a turned-over unit. Plus with rents dipping, renewals in some markets are more profitable for your margins, than signing a new lease. 

Build and nurture relationships with renters and residents

By centralizing information about your renters and providing a platform for communication and engagement, a multifamily CRM can help you increase lifetime customer value and loyalty. It’s able to do this by enabling you to personalize interactions with prospective renters and current residents at scale. Basically, by tracking their preferences, habits, and behaviors, you can tailor your outreach and communication efforts to meet their specific needs and wants through AI and marketing automation. This not only improves the renter experience, but it also helps to build a stronger relationship with them, increasing the likelihood that they will continue to renew their lease and even recommend your property to others.

Specifically how this works: An AI solution that is part of your multifamily CRM can parse and record renter preferences directly to the renter guest card. No information is lost, AND operators can use AI and marketing automation to ensure that you send the right message, to the right renter, at the right time. As operators you know your business best. If there is a nurturing best practice or a key moment in the renter journey with specific communities or a specific moment for renters with specific preferences, then a multifamily CRM with marketing automation and AI built in can ensure those specific moments happen, no exceptions. 

CRM + automation = teams finally have time to focus on what matters

The ability to automate tasks and processes can help streamline your workflow. This frees up time and resources that can be better spent on building relationships with renters. For example, an AI solution can instantly answer prospective renter’s questions about your community, the pet policy, and scheduling a tour. This frees onsite leasing team members to focus on providing exceptional customer service during valuable interactions like answering very specific nuanced questions and touring new residents through the community. Onsite leasing teams are no longer tethered to their computer, because the software solutions your company leverages frees them to focus on what computers can’t do well: build authentic relationships with renters and residents. Plus after a prospective renter has signed a lease, you can enroll them into an automated email campaign to welcome new renters, and keep them informed about events and promotions. 

For residents who already live in your community, a renter-centric multifamily CRM and the AI and automation built into its solution scope can help you increase lifetime customer value. A renter-centric CRM is architected with one guest card for one renter, no matter what community in your portfolio they’ve inquired about. This is significant because most multifamily CRMs are architected around the renter as the source of truth, which leads to duplicate guest cards and duplicate information. This fundamental flaw inhibits property management companies’ ability to centralize the information that they know about the renter. Did Rachel Renter in 403B renter at a different community in your portfolio in the past? Without a renter-centric CRM…you’ll never know. With a single record of Rachel renter, your team will be able to tell if a particular prospective renter has been a resident at one of your communities in the past, and then reward them for this loyalty. Loyalty programs are table stakes in hotels, and airlines, and there is a huge first-mover advantage to the company that brings this business practice to multifamily. As hotels and airlines have proven, when you reward customers’ loyalty, they increase their lifetime customer value. All of this relies on clear data architectures that allow you to understand renter behavior and reward loyalty accordingly. 

Drive data-backed decisions

A multifamily CRM also provides valuable insights into renter behavior, allowing you to make data-driven decisions about how to best retain and attract renters. No more digging into multiple systems to understand what’s happening with your prospective renters. For example, because all communication with your renters and residents has a single source of truth (rather than layering point solutions on top of point solutions and fracturing the renter data), you’re able to understand through the data what’s working and what’s not. For example, you can track response rates to different communication styles including email, voice, sms, and chat. This can help you determine the most effective channels for reaching renters, and enable you to improve your marketing efforts over time. 

Plus, with current residents, a multifamily CRM can help you improve your ability to upsell and cross-sell services and amenities. For example, you can use the information stored in the CRM to identify opportunities to offer renters additional services, such as storage units, parking spots, or rentable items. By using the data you have about your renters you can offer them personalized and relevant upgrades to drive additional revenue. 

Improve communication, automate processes, or drive additional revenue with a multifamily CRM.

With the current macroeconomic climate facing the multifamily industry a multifamily CRM is your company’s competitive advantage and first line of defense to keeping margins healthy. 

Funnel’s multifamily CRM helped Essex Property Trust realize 35% time saving for their teams, and Camden Property Trust achieve $4-5 million in savings on a full year stabilized basis. 

Learn more about what Funnel can do for you, by requesting a demo.