As Sartre said , hell is other people . And having to repeatedly field those kinds of mindless queries is a sure pathway to employee burnout .
Bots against burnout
But there are bots that can remove that mundanity from staff ’ s plates .
One popular example , named Lisa , will actually answer incoming calls in a personable voice explaining she can ’ t come to the phone at the moment , but will follow up with a text . The subsequent , automated text then opens a dialogue with the prospect , asking for questions about the unit . When the prospect requests info that ’ s already in the ad , Lisa happily responds , without descending into a personal hell .
Bots like this also alleviate other brain damage among leasing agents who , in a competitive market , often field numerous calls for advertised units that have already been filled . Following the same workflow described above , they respond to say the unit has been rented , and then present any alternative units available in the same area .
It ’ s not just on the leasing front , either Other robots help maintenance staff perform routine cleaning – an area that saw a huge workload increase early in the pandemic – so that they can respond to more customer-facing issues , such as maintenance requests .
Smart locks & Self-tours
Self-tours , made possible when buildings ’ smart locks are tied back to an online leasing management system , allow prospects to look at an apartment without the presence of a sales rep – an approach that ’ s actually preferred by an increasing cohort of renters . They simultaneously free up time for leasing agents to pursue additional leads , effectively helping them sell two prospects at the same time .
A smarter sales funnel
Other , even more sophisticated applications can help narrow the sales funnel at the front end . Hence , agents respond first to the hottest leads – those
Turnover Since 2020
POSITION 2022 RATE 2020 RATE CHANGE Property Manager 33 % 31 % + 2 % points Assistant Manager 39 % 37 % + 2 % points Leasing Professional 49 % 38 % + 11 % points Maintenance Supervisor 30 % 48 % -18 % points Maintenance Technician 47 % 52 % -5 % points Housekeeper 24 % 37 % -13 % points Groundskeeper 48 % 17 % + 31 % points Regional Manager 11 % 16 % -5 % points VP / Executive 8 % 2 % + 6 % points
prospects who are most likely to lease , based on results from a predictive real estate tech algorithm . Doing so not only helps increase lead-to-lease conversions , it provides more affirmation for commercial real estate agents by increasing the chances of them hearing “ Yes ” at the end of the sales process .
Application vetting & fraud prevention
After a prospect applies , proptech can take one more of those brain bruising aspects of property management off employees ’ plates : leasing application vetting .
Today , due to a steep rise in apartment application fraud that ’ s been enabled by the wide availability of fake financial documents online – think bogus paystubs and bank statements – leasing agents often have to play detective to figure out if an applicant ’ s supporting paperwork is actually legit . But these documents are hard to spot with the naked eye – staff end up doing Google and Facebook searches to confirm a person is who they say they are .
Fraud detection software , which looks at the digital DNA of financial statements to confirm their veracity , helps take that detective work off leasing agents ’ plates . It either accepts or rejects the application , giving leasing agents an easy , non-confrontational out when there ’ s an issue .
2022-2023 Metro Denver Multifamily Industry Compensation Report
Perhaps even more importantly from a staff retention perspective , it provides further affirmation for their efforts , giving them peace of mind that they ’ re moving forward with a legitimate resident that isn ’ t going to end up being a waste of their time in the end .
Stemming the turnover tide
Today ’ s multifamily staff turnover numbers are troubling , and property management firms are doing the right thing – for their business , residents and remaining staff – when they put steps in place to hold back the exodus .
By giving employees the respect they deserve , “ real job ” compensation and benefits , and proptech tools that help them limit the brain damage they encounter on any given day , forwardthinking property management firms can stem that tide , and bring down the high cost of unchecked employee turnover .
Daniel Berlind , is CEO at Snappt , and President of Berlind Properties
26 | TRENDS JANUARY 2023 www . aamdhq . org