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What is the Value of a Departing Resident?

What is the Value of a Departing Resident?

This is meant to be a conversational blog post, so please chime in with your thoughts in the comments below!

When a resident decides to turn in their notice to vacate, does that mean they suddenly don’t have any value to their community?  For most communities, once they receive that NTV, that resident isn’t really a primary concern anymore, as they fall through the cracks between the status of a prospect who needs to be sold, and a resident who needs to be retained.  But even though they are moving out, they are still a dedicated audience, and my question to you is this:  Are you getting any residual value from that relationship?

I met someone about two weeks ago who worked in the home buying sector, where his company helped home buyers get a discounted rate for their real estate agent.  Although we are not in the exact same space, our industries deal with the same clients, just at different points in their timelines.  Oftentimes, our residents become their prospects, so the question came up about whether multifamily properties, who had received a notice to vacate, could actually be a referral source.  For many of us, the idea doesn’t sound quite right – it’s like breaking up with someone and then introducing your ex to a future boyfriend/girlfriend.  Although we would like to feel we are all mature adults, the idea doesn’t necessarily sit well.  But if we could get away from that feeling and look at things in a completely logical manner, it might make a lot of sense.

When a resident gives a notice to vacate, they are essentially finished with our relationship.  Except for random circumstances, they will be leaving, so it might be beneficial to switch into another mode of monetizing that remaining relationship based upon their needs.  And in this situation, they actually have quite a few needs as they are making a big life change.  If they are looking to buy a home, maybe a referral to a real estate agent makes sense.  Since they are moving, a referral to a moving company, truck rental, or box supplier might make sense.  They will also be looking to set up new utilities and other services.  All of these processes could be helped by the leasing staff, even though we are losing that relationship.

 

So I’d like to hear from you all.  Do you have plans in place to monetize exiting resident relationships, or what do you think about that concept?

 
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Brilliant! This idea could spawn an entirely new (and lucrative) relationship with multifamily housing companies and real estate professionals. Just as the resident is held responsible for their lease until they vacate the premises, so are the providers. By letting a resident slip through the cracks during the period of time between notice and vacate, a management company is also letting valuable personal references to the community, resident feedback, and, possibly with this plan, income-producing partnerships. I love the analogy of introducing your ex to their new significant other. And why not? They might do the same for you.

  Christian Lauter
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Thanks, Christian!

  Brent Williams
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The value to me is the Referral. When you receive the NTV, I hope it is not coming as a surprise to the management team. There is that opportunity to expand the relationship. After all, someone may not actually close on the house or condo. The inspection may turn up items that delays a closing. Your residents are still your residents until the day the keys are returned, so you may have an opportunity to positively impact their move out experience. I once had a resident whose movers failed to show up on the Saturday they were scheduled to move. She was frantic, not from our area and had taken one 12-month lease. Since I have a lot of experience with moving companies, I used my contact to locate movers (from a neighboring state) who agreed to load her on another booked long distance move and for a bit more than the original movers. I gained nothing from helping her, except that she was relieved, happy, still pretty much on schedule to start her new university position and the moving company was happy since they made some money and I knew in the long run I could feel good about it.
You want the move out experience to generate opportunity - for a referral for the community - and to offer bridges to services the resident may need. We are all in this together.

  Mindy Sharp
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Hi Mindy,
I think it can definitely go hand in hand, Mindy. Providing help in their next move, like you said, is going to bring goodwill, and I think it also brings opportunities for monetization at the same time. And if it is done right, I think it could not only not hurt potential referrals, but improve them. Thanks for the reply!

  Brent Williams

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