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Apr 06
2011
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According to the 2010 SatisFacts Index, when asked what can be done to improve the community, residents ranked “Social Activities” #29 out of 30. All this hype about being 29th?
Consider this scenario: Ms. Jones is going on Day 3 of being without A/C during a week-long heat wave. She has submitted her service request online and has also called the office. As she looks out her open window, desperately trying to catch a breeze, she sees the property manager directing a couple of maintenance techs on the set up of chairs and tables for this afternoon’s resident pool party. How thrilled do you think Ms. Jones is about the upcoming pool party?
Not very. She wonders, “Why is the maintenance team gathered ‘round the pool when there is an HVAC emergency at hand?” An intended perk has now become a slap in the face. Ouch.
Social activities should never be the meat and potatoes of a retention strategy. Think of them as gravy. On its own, it tastes good but is not ultimately satisfying. You miss the meat and potatoes when they are not there. In fact, you wonder where they are.
Meat and potatoes consist of the residents’ ability to a.) Communicate with your team quickly and easily, and b.) Get service requests resolved promptly the first time they report it. In fact, there is a direct correlation between residents’ outstanding maintenance issues and their likelihood to renew their lease. The more outstanding issues on a property, the less likely the residents are to renew their lease.
Idea: As we enter the lease expiration season, more vacant apartments mean more man hours for turnovers. The leasing team is running at top speed and is therefore pressuring the maintenance teams to hand over rent-ready apartments. This pressure means the focus is on turns, and yet the service requests from rent-paying residents don’t slow down. In fact, this is right when A/C season hits, resulting in even more work orders to compete for attention. The compounding effect means it takes even longer to get to the service requests. And then, just as the service is declining in the eyes of the residents who are waiting for their issue to be resolved, their lease renewal letter arrives in the mail. Not good. It is critical that perceived value by existing residents be at its highest level when a rent increase awaits them in their mailbox.
Look at your resident activity budget. Take a look at how much you are willing to spend on the second-to-last item on your residents' wish list. What if you re-allocated those budgeted dollars to bring on a part time maintenance tech for those heavy turnover months, with the sole purpose of ensuring that service request resolution is not impacted by the increased focus on make-readies? This allows service to remain at an all-important high, which has a significant impact when the resident gets that lease renewal letter.
Once you are confident your basic service delivery is performing at the highest level, then by all means bring on the gravy! Until then, let’s serve up those meat and potatoes.
Jen Piccotti is the VP Consulting Services for SatisFacts Research, a leading authority on resident feedback and retention programs. www.SatisFacts.com
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What I'm trying to say is that yes, social events should NEVER come before quality customer service, maintenance, and other essentials. But do I think a quality social program would normally be ranked 29th out of 30th? No. I think instead, that ranking is actually more of a "score" on how well we are currently doing with creating compelling events and a sense of community overall in our industry (on average), not the potential benefit of those elements.
Great blog as always, Jen!
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I think so much money is wasted on resident events because the team doesn't know WHY they are doing them, or how to even make them effective. I personally believe a resident event is a nice touch if you express to residents that it is there to show your appreciation. Also if the staff is there to take work order requests or help in other ways. It can be a great touch point for residents you never see after they move in.
Howeve, if you have a service or dedicated staff member that can provide more regular events, that's where you can see the greater potential for people to make new friends. It's really the relationships being built that make people want to stay longer, not a fun event. But I don't know ANYONE who makes a friend after one conversation at a party. In fact, I know few people who remember all of the names of those they met at a bbq. It takes multiple conversations and time spent together to really call someone a friend.
Also, too often residents come and go without talking to anyone or anyone besides the other person they brought along. You have to get them talking to each other. They won't introduce themselves. I have seen people sit across from each other at a very small table and not say a word to each other until I walk up and get them talking. One particular example that comes to mind ended up with a family and two older single ladies sitting and talking for another 45 minutes after they were done eating. If we hadn't gotten them talking, I can guarantee that they would have left within 10 minutes of finishing their food.
My favorite conversation starter is, "Have you all met? No? Well, you should; you're neighbors." It at least gets them started because they ask where the other person lives in the community. And notice that this question doesn't include me sharing any personal information about either resident that could get me in trouble.
I'm sorry that this comment is so long, but I've been thinking about this for awhile.
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@Kimberly - THANK YOU for sharing this important insight.The "Why" of resident events. I learned at a recent NMHC event that one company found a direct correlation between lease renewals and the number of friends a person had at the property. A resident event to "show the love" may not really accomplish much, but a resident event to "meet your neighbor" where the staff's goal is to facilitate a minimum of 5 resident-to-resident introductions (for example) creates a sense of purpose and a value-add. I love the examples you gave - they illustrate the point so well. If the "Why" for your resident event is "Retention," then it's critical to evaluate whether the service basics are in place first. If they are not, as you said, "All the resident events in the world won't help if you aren't taking care of your residents." Thanks for your comment!
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When the earthquake and tsunami hit, about twenty of us were frantically emailing from all over the world (Seattle, Texas, Dubai, Italy) to find out if our friends were safe. Thankfully they all were.
Of the friends we made at the last community we were in before we moved to our condo, we keep in contact through facebook updates. We have shared groupons that we think they would like, see pictures of the babies growing up, and even attended and helped with the food at a wedding last month. That couple told us they stayed much longer at that community because of all the friends they had made.
So can residents actually build friendships while they live in an apartment community? I always respond emphatically, "YES!". Does it take work? Another emphatic, "Yes!".
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On another note, I hold two gigantic parties at my home every year. I find I do a better job with these events than keeping up with my friends on a day to day basis. I'm not surprised it's harder to get the day to day maintenance issues right, and this article is a good reminder to focus on the everyday basics.
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