For Managing Agents, reaching out and connecting with residents can be a big challenge.
One of the biggest complaints we hear in the property management industry is that there is a lack of communication between Managing Agents and their residents says Christopher Bevan. Luckily, with everyone having to spend more time at home at the moment, there’s no better time to improve your engagement. Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all approach when it comes to building relationships and creating content that hits the mark, but the good news is that a mixed medium approach is easy to implement and sees great results.
So, what is the best way to create outbound communications that reach the highest percentage of tenants at any one time?
Keeping things traditional
There is still a time and place for good old fashioned snail mail, or through the door communications. Some people connect well with this type of comms, because they like having a physical reminder to keep hold of, a call to action on paper. However, post from Managing Agents could look like spam, and the recipient might not bother to open it. If your important announcements are ending up in the bin, you may benefit from some other options. Noticeboard updates are another traditional way to make contact, but it’s a job in itself to manage their upkeep. Does your notice stand out against all the others? Is there any space left on the board? Will you remember to take down any out-of-date notices? What’s the footfall like in the area? When you actually analyse the effectiveness of paper notices in this day and age, you may find that it isn’t the most cost efficient or environmentally friendly option for you.
A more modern approach
One of the quickest ways to reach people is by email. You can personalise it, you can use generators to send them out at ‘ideal’ times of the day, but depending on your residents security settings, there’s a high chance those emails will go straight to the junk folder, never to be seen again, not to mention the challenges of keeping an up to date email address for tenants moving in and out.
Lots of property management companies have made the move over to virtual platforms, such as an app or an online hub, to share information quickly, send out notifications pertaining to different events, or for their tenants to be informed of any issues concerning the building. However, as good as tenant portals are these days it is tough to get 100% of the building and visitors to actively engage with information a property manager needs to push out. With all these elements combined, you can expect to see engagement rates of around 50%. This is huge as a standalone, but that means there are still ways to hit the other 50% of your tenants plus visitors.
So how else can Managing Agents close the gap?
Time to Innovate
Digital Display screens are the latest in innovative communications technology, enabling Managing Agents to provide both proactive and reactive updates to their residents, as well as including information to catch the eye. The latest NHS updates, BBC news and sports results, weather, and even something so simple as what time it is, can be displayed in high definition right next to the lifts. Important reminders can be interspersed throughout your choice of filler content, meaning that while your residents are waiting for the lift to hit the ground floor, they can catch up with the news of the day for their block. It’s eye-catching, it’s engaging and it’s effortless for residents. 30Seconds Tech, a Manchester-based commercial and residential Proptech specialists, are working hard to redefine tenant communications.
They’ve seen a 300% increase in their screen usage since the pandemic hit in 2020.
Each form of communication plays a big part in Managing Agents building relationships with their tenants, but no one form alone is perfect. Using a carefully crafted, well-branded combination of all of the above will help you to reach a higher percentage of your tenants, and ensure that no matter their communication preference, no one is left in the dark.
30Seconds Tech are passionate about implementing new and innovative methods in communication between manager and tenant within the residential and commercial property sector.
Our goal is simple. We aim to redefine how you communicate with your tenant. Furthermore, we strive to increase levels of engagement and experience during the dwell time of your clients, and push the overall satisfactory levels to new heights.
Our bespoke product is built completely in-house and operates as a gateway to a user-controlled digital notice-board platform, including portals to live news feeds, weather reports and local advertising.
