Gartner has predicted, by 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be managed without a human. That can be both a scary and exciting statistic for the multifamily industry. Based on LeaseHawk CRM user data in 2017, more than 75% of all communications to properties were handled via telephone call. With phone calls being such a personal form of 1-to-1 communication it can feel uncomfortable with the thought of a robot making a personal connection with a prospective renter on the other line.

However, with the insurgence of voice assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, the general population is getting more comfortable with talking to voice assistants. This has led to the growing trend of people expecting an instant response when they shop or search for an apartment.  Today’s renter is accustomed to having information available on-demand, at their fingertips.

Property Owners and Managers are already preparing their customer service workflows to integrate automated assistants to help alleviate these challenges. And, they’re starting to see real benefits and savings for doing so. Here are 3 ways automated assistants are making properties more productive.

1. Answering After Hours

Leasing offices are missing calls after-hours. On average, multifamily professionals miss 49% of all calls to their properties. Many times, this is happening when the leasing agent isn’t available, or the office is closed. Have you ever asked yourself: What is happening to all those missed leads? Zillow reports that 52% of callers, especially night-owls like Millennial and Generation Z renters, will never call again if they missed you the first time.

Automated assistants are always available around the clock—24/7. They offer a more modern approach to handling incoming calls after hours, compared to a traditional call center. Additionally, the likelihood of hang-ups decreases with the ability to answer renter questions on-demand versus forcing callers to listen to complicated calling-trees or voicemail routing.

2. Staying Consistent

Automated assistants have some unique abilities compared to their human leasing professional counterparts. One of these abilities is being able to program exact responses to renter inquiries using integrated data sources. This key ability eliminates inconsistent answers that may be given by a third-party call center.

By connecting data sources, such as your PMS (Property Management System) or CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, the automated assistant can answer inquiries such as real-time unit pricing and availability, amenities and benefits, and collect lead information.

3. Setting Appointments

Data reported in the Q1-2018 Telephone Performance Analysis Industry Report Card (IRC), top leasing professionals convert 60% of qualified telephone traffic to appointments, compared to 43% as an industry. What the report does not include is how well professionals convert missed calls to appointments. Sound impossible? That’s because it is. Missed calls are missed conversion opportunities. At least, that’s what it traditionally has been before automated assistants started to take root in a property’s call process.

For properties without an automated assistant, missed calls would have a 0% conversion rate to appointments. According to user data in 2018 with ACE™ Virtual Leasing Assistant, a total of 30% of qualified calls answered by the assistant resulted in a guest card being collected. Without the assistant, these opportunities would have otherwise been missed.

Is your property considering an automated assistant to help answer calls? Automated assistants offer a modern approach to the traditional call center for apartment hunters. They pleasantly interact with perspective renters and can answer any questions after hours or when staff is unavailable. And most of all, they make properties more productive with 24/7 availability, superior consistency, and convert on otherwise missed opportunities.

Experience an automated conversational assistant for yourself. Call 888-219-5981 to demo the ACE Conversational Assistant powered by LeaseHawk. (Tip: Ask her to lease a 2-bedroom apartment!)

References

1. https://www.gartner.com/imagesrv/summits/docs/na/customer-360/C360_2011_brochure_FINAL.pdf

2. https://www.zillow.com/report/2017/