In this Inside the Funnel conversation, Nikki Hand, Chief Product Officer + Chief Customer Officer, at Funnel, breaks down why the old generalist model cracks at scale, how “centralization” has evolved into true specialization, and where AI fits when you’re trying to build faster service without losing the human touch.
After joining Funnel as its first remote hire during the height of COVID in 2020, Hand has had a front-row seat to one of the industry’s most consequential transformations: the shift from fragmented, site-based operations to specialized, centralized, and increasingly AI-enabled systems.
That evolution, she says, is redefining how operators serve renters, support employees, and compete in a rapidly changing digital landscape. Hand worked closely with centralization pioneers including Cortland, Camden, Essex, and BH, to name a few. Together, they changed our industry.
She now leads both our product team and the teams that partner with our clients.
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From crisis response to operating model
When Hand joined Funnel in early 2020, the pandemic was forcing operators to rethink nearly every workflow overnight. Leasing offices closed, teams went remote, call volumes spiked, and systems designed for in-person, site-based operations were suddenly exposed as brittle and fragmented.
What began as an emergency adaptation quickly became a proving ground for a new way of operating.
“Reflecting on the Funnel product suite and our customer projects six years ago, relative to what it is today, is a pretty fun exercise,” Hand says. “It’s pretty incredible to think about the evolution we’ve gone through, both with our customer needs and then our ability to sprint forward with our customers to solve those through our software.”
Unlike many legacy platforms, Funnel’s CRM was not designed around individual properties. It was built around the renter as the system’s source of truth, creating a unified record that spans prospecting, leasing, onboarding, residency, and renewal. “Because of that, it has really set us apart over the years and allowed our customers to envision a new way to operate their business,” says Hand.
That data architecture gave operators something they had never fully had before: persistent context. Every interaction, preference, and handoff could live in one place, accessible across roles and teams. In a moment when work was suddenly distributed, that continuity became essential.
“We were lucky enough… to work with some of our early REIT partners that believed in this vision and believed in us early on,” Hand says. “We took a very hands-on approach with them.”
Together with operators like Essex, Camden, and Cortland, Funnel co-developed centralized, specialized workflows within the CRM, including integrated contact centers, task orchestration, and coordinated scheduling. These weren’t bolt-on tools, they are embedded into the core fo the CRM.
“We just partnered with Essex to build out an integrated contact center… which ended up being kind of like the case study for how the industry started centralizing a sales team.”
The shift from “centralization” to “specialization”
In the early days of portfolio-wide operations, centralization was often framed as a financial lever. For many frontline employees, it felt like something being done to them, not with them.
“In the early days, I think there was perhaps a misperception,” Hand says. “Leasing teams… immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was purely a means for corporate to cut costs.”
That perception created resistance. Even when centralization improved consistency and coverage, it was frequently interpreted as a signal that roles would be eliminated or diminished. The result was hesitation, anxiety, and in many cases, stalled transformation.
“Sometimes, teams just weren’t bought in,” Hand notes. “They actually feared for their job.”
Over the past two years, however, she has watched that narrative fundamentally change. “Many don’t honestly sometimes even use the term centralize anymore and replace it with the term specialization,” she says. “Operators lead with the motivation of specializing to unlock both a better renter and team experience versus a means to cut costs.”
This shift is more than semantic. It reflects a deeper change in how leaders think about organizational design.
Rather than asking, “How do we do more with fewer people?” Operators are increasingly asking, “How do we help people do their best work?”
Specialization allows team members to focus on narrower scopes of responsibility, build deeper expertise, and see clearer career progression. Applications specialists, renewal strategists, centralized schedulers, and resident experience teams replace the “do-everything” onsite generalist model.
As Hand sees it, this focus on role clarity has become essential in a more complex operating environment.
“Probably what has evolved the most since COVID days is applying these role specialization principles throughout the renter journey, not just on the sales side of things.”
Early centralization efforts were often limited to inbound leasing and contact centers. Today, specialization extends across the entire lifecycle: prospect management, applications, screening, onboarding, renewals, transfers, and resident support.
This end-to-end approach delivers compounding benefits. For operators, it creates predictable workflows, measurable performance, and scalable training models. For teams, it reduces cognitive overload and burnout. And for renters, it produces faster resolution, fewer handoffs, and more consistent service.
Just as importantly, specialization expanded access to centralized models beyond a narrow subset of owners.
“You don’t really need that super high density for it to work,” Hand explains. “You can effectively centralize at the portfolio level, the regional level, or even the local level.”
Remote, hybrid, and hub-and-spoke structures have further broadened what’s possible. Smaller and mid-sized operators can now adopt many of the same principles once reserved for national portfolios.
The result is a more flexible, human-centered approach to scale.
Why AI will reshape multifamily marketing
“How operators primarily market their communities… is going to be flipped on its head,” she predicts.
For decades, multifamily marketing has revolved around a relatively stable ecosystem: search engines, paid keywords, and Internet Listing Services (ILSs). Traffic flowed through predictable channels. Attribution models were built around clicks and impressions. Operators optimized toward listing placement and lead volume.
That stability is eroding.
“I think ‘Google it’ is going to have less and less meaning over time,” Hand says. “It’s already being replaced by ChatGPT and the other AI search platforms available.”
The implication is profound. When renters no longer browse ten blue links or scroll through dozens of listings, but instead ask a conversational AI for “the best two-bedroom near my office under $2,500 with good reviews,” visibility becomes algorithmic and contextual rather than purely transactional.
For operators, this forces a fundamental rethink of marketing strategy.
Structured data, accurate amenity tagging, reputation signals, response speed, and even the tone of renter reviews may play a larger role in AI-generated results than traditional paid placements.
Preparation, in this context, means more than testing a chatbot on a website. It means investing in systems that unify marketing, leasing, and operational data so that information surfaced to AI platforms is accurate, current, and reflective of the real renter experience.
It also means rethinking attribution. If a renter’s first touchpoint is an AI summary rather than a paid listing click, how is credit assigned? If the “brand” is experienced through a conversational interface, what does differentiation look like?
And this is where Hand sees marketing and operations converging.
If AI search tools summarize renter reviews, highlight response times, or compare renewal incentives across portfolios, then operational excellence becomes marketing strategy. Service quality becomes visibility. Centralization and specialization become growth drivers.
In that world, the boundaries between marketing, technology, and operations blur. The operators who adapt early won’t just capture traffic. They’ll shape how AI understands and presents their communities in the first place.
Loyalty in a low-loyalty industry
Multifamily has never been an industry known for brand devotion. Housing is deeply personal, and financially weighty. As a result, most renters make decisions based on circumstance, not allegiance.
“Brand loyalty is hard to come by in multifamily,” Hand says. “Consumers are price sensitive, and they move around a lot.”
Historically, that reality has led many operators to focus more on acquisition than retention. Marketing dollars flow toward filling vacant units. Renewals are treated as transactional moments rather than relationship milestones. And once a renter moves out, the relationship effectively ends.
Hand believes that mindset is shifting.
“But she sees opportunity for operators willing to think more holistically.”
“It’s only natural… to explore other ways to further promote their network of communities and keep that renter within their ecosystem,” she says.
At scale, portfolios increasingly resemble distributed brands rather than isolated properties. Operators may manage dozens or hundreds of communities across markets, price points, and lifestyle segments. When supported by unified systems, those portfolios can function as connected networks rather than disconnected sites.
In that model, a renter moving doesn’t have to mean losing a resident. It can mean transferring them to a new in-portfolio community.
With the right data and workflows, those transitions can be guided rather than left to chance. “You ultimately want them to stay with your brand for as long as they rent,” Hand says.
Doing that requires sustained engagement across the lifecycle: personalized communications, proactive outreach, seamless transfers, and incentives that reward long-term relationships rather than short-term occupancy.
It also requires operational alignment.
If leasing teams, renewal specialists, and resident services teams operate in silos, portfolio-level loyalty is nearly impossible to execute. But when specialization is paired with shared systems, operators can recognize patterns, anticipate moves, and intervene at the right moments.
For example, data may reveal that a renter toured multiple sister properties before choosing one. That context can inform renewal conversations, service history may suggest dissatisfaction that needs to be addressed before lease expiration and life-stage indicators may signal when alternative communities should be introduced.
In each case, loyalty is built through relevance rather than discounts.
Rising expectations in the renter experience
Renters increasingly compare their housing experience not just to other apartment communities, but to the best digital and service experiences they have anywhere—retail, travel, banking, or food delivery.
By creating more consistent, data-driven, and responsive operations through centralization, operators have fundamentally changed what renters now consider “normal.”
“Centralization has raised the bar even further on consumer expectations,” Hand explains.
Waiting for office hours, repeating information, or navigating fragmented systems now feels outdated. Today’s renters expect flexibility and personalization.
“Consumers want brands to meet them where they are… providing them optionality… and creating a differentiated personalized service,” Hand says.
Optionality is a baseline expectation.
Renters want to choose how, when, and where they engage: online, by text, by phone, through chat, or in person. They expect seamless transitions between those channels, without losing context.
Self-service, after-hours support, and digital-first workflows are no longer “nice to have.” They are core infrastructure.
“Imagine a world where I can research an apartment, go on a self-guided tour, apply online, and submit my move-in information without ever needing to engage with a sales agent,” Hand says.
For many renters—especially digital-native cohorts—that experience is not futuristic. It is preferred.
But Hand is careful to emphasize that convenience alone is not enough.
“There’s still certainly a subset of consumers who prefer that personal touch,” she notes. Finding a home remains an emotional, high-stakes decision, and many renters want reassurance, guidance, and empathy at key moments.
The challenge for operators is not choosing between automation and human service. It is delivering both—intelligently and contextually.
What frustrates renters most is inconsistency. “There is nothing more frustrating… when you start engaging with another staff member… and they have zero context on who you are,” Hand says.
Fragmented systems create fragmented experiences.
When renters have to restate preferences, re-explain issues, or restart conversations, trust erodes quickly.
In contrast, unified platforms allow every interaction to build on the last. “I expect to be able to engage with a brand where they can appreciate and recognize my full history,” Hand explains. “I want them to be knowledgeable not just about their products… but me as the consumer.”
This expectation now extends across the entire lifecycle—from first inquiry to renewal.
A renter who toured multiple communities, experienced maintenance delays, or raised specific concerns expects those details to inform future interactions. When they do, service feels personal. When they don’t, it feels indifferent.
Centralization and specialization make this level of continuity possible.
Specialized teams can focus on resolving specific needs. Shared systems preserve context. AI surfaces insights in real time. Together, they enable proactive service rather than reactive support.
In practical terms, this can mean reaching out before a problem escalates, tailoring renewal offers based on experience, or recommending alternative communities when preferences shift.
Handled well, these moments become differentiators.
Hand sees empathy as the defining factor.
“It’s a brand that leads with empathy,” she says. “I’ll remember that experience.”
In an increasingly competitive market, those memories matter. Price and location may drive initial decisions. But responsiveness, recognition, and respect shape long-term perception.
As expectations continue to rise, the renter experience is no longer confined to leasing tours and move-in days. It is an always-on relationship, mediated by systems, teams, and culture.
Operators who understand that—and design accordingly—won’t just meet expectations. They’ll set them.
Leading teams through change
Operational transformation is rarely smooth. It disrupts routines, challenges identities, and forces people to relearn how they create value. Hand is candid about the emotional toll that comes with that reality.
“Change in general is hard,” she says. “It is natural… to have an immediate feeling of anxiety, fear, and discomfort.”
In multifamily, those emotions are often intensified by past experiences. Many frontline teams have lived through technology rollouts that promised efficiency but delivered confusion. Against that backdrop, skepticism is rational.
That is why, in Hand’s view, leadership communication is not a one-time announcement. It is an ongoing discipline.
“Having a strong upfront marketing or communication campaign internally that clearly articulates ‘the why’… is crucial,” she says.
The word campaign is intentional. Effective leaders approach transformation the same way they approach external brand launches: with consistent messaging, multiple channels, and sustained reinforcement.
The rationale behind change must be repeated in meetings, emails, town halls, training sessions, and informal conversations. It must be framed in terms that resonate with different roles: onsite teams, centralized specialists, managers, and executives.
Hand has observed that leaders who succeed in large-scale change treat internal communication as a strategic function, not an administrative one. They invest in storytelling, data, and examples that make the future tangible rather than abstract.
Equally important is participation.
“If teams feel like they have a seat at the table… that trust gives everyone grace to work through it together,” Hand says.
Transformation is inherently imperfect. Processes need refinement. Technology requires iteration. Early assumptions often prove incomplete. When teams are excluded from shaping those adjustments, frustration builds quickly.
Hand encourages leaders to identify “change agents” within their organizations: respected frontline employees and managers who can translate strategy into practice and relay feedback upward. These individuals serve as cultural bridges between leadership vision and daily execution.
“Creating forums so teams feel supported and their voice is heard,” Hand notes, “is rare with any change you get it 100% right the first time.”
Listening signals respect. It also surfaces operational realities that dashboards cannot capture.
Data plays a complementary role. “Using data to help tell your story and show the actual positive results the change is delivering,” she says, helps convert skepticism into confidence.
When teams can see improvements in workload balance, response times, conversion rates, or resident satisfaction, abstract strategy becomes a concrete benefit.
Over time, these practices compound. By pairing clear purpose with open dialogue and evidence-based feedback, leaders create what Hand describes as “a culture of change.”
“If you can do that well,” she says, “your teams will have the trust in their leaders to embrace vs resent your transformation.”
In an industry facing rapid technological, operational, and demographic shifts, that trust may be the ultimate differentiator.
Humans retain control
For Hand, one of the most important design principles behind Funnel’s AI strategy is simple: humans are vital to the success of operations, and AI is there to aid them.
AI is only empowering when it preserves agency for teams and prevents cognitive offloading.
In practice, this means AI is never positioned as an autonomous decision-maker operating beyond human reach. Instead, it functions as a configurable assistant—handling routine interactions, surfacing insights, and executing predefined workflows—while leaving judgment calls to trained professionals.
That structure matters psychologically as much as operationally. When teams know they can intervene, override, or redirect AI at any point, they are more willing to trust it.
It also reinforces accountability.
Rather than shifting responsibility to “the system,” Funnel’s approach keeps ownership with people. Agents remain responsible for outcomes, supported by automation rather than displaced by it.
Rather than shifting responsibility to “the system,” Funnel’s approach keeps ownership with people. Agents remain responsible for outcomes, supported by automation rather than displaced by it.
This design philosophy reflects a broader belief that technology should elevate professional identity, not erode it.
By allowing teams to fluidly move between automated and human-led interactions, operators preserve flexibility. Complex cases receive human attention. Routine requests are handled efficiently. And the transition between the two feels seamless to renters.
From the renter’s perspective, this balance is invisible, but essential. They experience responsiveness without losing empathy. Speed without sacrificing understanding.
From the team’s perspective, it is the difference between working alongside technology and working around it.
Partnership as a leadership principle
That emphasis on shared responsibility extends beyond product design into how Hand approaches leadership itself.
When navigating difficult customer conversations, she returns to one word: partnership.
“The principle of genuinely viewing each customer from a partnership mentality really helps make those moments easier to navigate.”
In an industry built on long-term contracts and deeply integrated systems, vendor relationships are rarely transactional. Operators entrust technology providers with mission-critical workflows, sensitive data, and frontline experience.
Hand believes that trust must be reciprocated. “We’re not just another vendor… we really are an actual partner that cares,” she says.
At Funnel, partnership means investing in customers’ success, understanding their business models, staffing constraints, regulatory pressures, and growth goals. It means anticipating challenges rather than reacting to them.
“Our CX teams and even our product teams really pour themselves into becoming an extension of our customers’ teams,” Hand explains.
For Hand, partnership is not a soft value; it’s core to both Funnel and our partners’ success. It shapes how products are built, how teams are trained, and how relationships are sustained. It reinforces the idea that lasting impact—whether through technology or leadership—comes not from control, but from alignment.
The New Operating Model
For Hand, the industry’s direction is clear.
Specialization over generalization. Systems over silos. Partnership over transactions. AI as infrastructure, not replacement.
“If you can create a culture of change,” she says, “your teams will have the trust in their leaders to embrace vs resent your transformation.”
In an industry facing mounting pressure on margins, talent, and experience, that trust may be the most valuable asset of all.
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