Reflections: Allow Your Customers to be Self-Sufficient
Our customers are smarter than we think they are. Multifamily operators need to arm them with information and let them solve their own problems.
Yesterday I placed a large work from home furniture order online at a well-known retailer and ordered two items by mistake (the downside of multitasking). I immediately tried to go into my account and modify or cancel the order, but alas there was no function that allowed me to do it even within minutes of clicking “Place Order.” I then called customer service and was on hold for 1.5 hours (!!). So I resumed multitasking with an incessantly irritating “we’re experiencing a large call volume, an agent will be with you as soon as possible” in the background. Why didn’t they have a call back feature in their call center! I finally gave up and looked for other ways to contact them. They had a text number which I texted only to receive a “we’re extremely busy and will respond to this text within 24 hours.” No other follow-up. I mean why use text if there’s no ability to respond immediately! It is day two and my issue remains unresolved and I remain extremely dissatisfied with the process.
This entire saga could have been avoided if the company invested in tech-enabled features that allowed me, the customer, to be self-sufficient. I could have modified my order on my own and achieved immediate gratification. Plus, the company would have avoided having yet another customer clog their overburdened call center.
This issue is so prevalent amongst the multifamily industry. We wonder why 30–50% of calls are unanswered and why our leasing agents just do not pick up the phone. I had the painful experience of conducting some empirical research as I observed my brother remotely lease a Class A apartment during COVID. He called the office several times during the week asking simple questions about parking spots, ancillary fees, and availability. He also requested videos of each apartment type he was interested in because the 2D floor plans were not sufficient to narrow down his choices.
Most of the time the leasing agent was not available to immediately answer my brother’s questions. This left him anxious while he waited for his call to be returned. Alternatively, the leasing agent had to find 15 minutes in his day to call my brother back to answer trivial questions, all of which could have been located in a prospect portal.
The truth is many of the questions that prospects ask during the search process are related to the digital attributes of a product. The product in multifamily is predominately the apartment unit. Digital attributes include price, size, location, views, photos, videos, and other features which can easily be conveyed through digital channels. For example, when someone is attempting to lease an apartment, they want the exact specs of the product not a close approximation. How big is the closet, can I fit my couch in the living room? Would you buy a table online that was a representation of a similar looking table? No because you need to know if it fits in your space. Therefore, operators should invest a significant amount of their marketing dollars in illustrating the product’s digital attributes online to allow the customer to be more sufficient. This includes basics such as interactive videos and zoomable photos of each unit type, amongst numerous other attributes.
Furthermore, it is imperative to provide prospects with contextual and relevant information during the sales process and give them the ability to make modifications to their account before moving in. Tesla has mastered this by reinventing the car buying experience through empowering the customer during the sales process. Operators can take initial steps by providing information transparency and AI tools that are responsive and accurate. Then they should invest in developing a meaningful prospect account that allows customers to access the information they want immediately and serve themselves. If done right, operators and customers alike will be the beneficiaries of this model of self-sufficiency.