Apartmentalize 2022: What your teams are saying about the resident experience
Apartmentalize 2022, where over 10,000 attendees were enjoying sunny San Diego, and we had to do it the Zego way - with a bit of creativity and a lot of fun.
Fun manifested in Zon Zurgundy, our favorite San Diego anchorman, who joined us in the exhibit hall. Listen in as Zon asks attendees what resident experience means to them, why resident retention is classy, what property technology they were excited about, and why he’s the best interviewer on the planet.
In-Person connections are hot
One common theme that Apartmentalize attendees said repeatedly is that they were incredibly excited to connect in person with others. How do you think your residents feel if you are excited about this? Probably happy to connect and go out and enjoy activities. How can you capitalize on this and provide avenues for them to connect IRL - in real life - but keep safety and personal preferences in mind?
Are you providing fun, in-person ways to connect? At the same time, are you conscious of residents who are not comfortable in close contact with groups and providing quality ways to connect too? And do you know at the property level what the breakdown is?
Regularly take the pulse of your residents
One fast and easy way to take the pulse is to do short, single-question surveys. Ask, “Next month, we want to host an activity. Let us know which one you prefer.” And provide 3 options. Boom. You have the idea created, and now you can execute it.
After talking with so many people at Apartmentalize, one theme was consistency is critical.
- Consistently take the pulse of your residents.
- Consistently provide avenues for them to connect and have fun.
- And consistently provide customer service excellence.
You do that, and you’ll find a consistent way to win the resident retention game.
As the great Ron, errrr, Zon Zurgundy says - stay classy, multifamily!
ZEGO NEWS ANCHORMAN
Zon Zurgundy
Zon Zurgundy, our favorite San Diego anchorman, joined us in the exhibit hall for Apartmentalize 2022. He’s kind of a big deal. People know him.
For those who don’t watch early aught movies, Google “Anchorman” with Will Ferrell to understand Ron, I mean, Zon - newsman extraordinaire.
As always, stay classy San Diego!
2022 State of Resident Experience Management Report
Learn the newest trends in resident experience and how companies are using them to attract and retain more renters. Based on survey data from over 600 property management companies, this free report details what it takes to thrive in this new era.
Episode Transcript
Zon Zurgundy:
The news is hot on a hot Friday morning in San Diego. The crowd is buzzing, the floor is brimming and overflowing with excitement. People keep asking, "Resident Experience Management: what is this, and why do we need technology?" The answer's short. When you're not having a little scotch in the morning, residents can be a little much to handle. So why not outsource that to technology, let that do it?
Okay. Molly. Pleasure to meet you. Where's home?
Molly:
Louisiana.
Zon Zurgundy:
Louisiana. Okay. Welcome to the West Coast.
Molly:
Yeah.
Zon Zurgundy:
So we're asking people about Resident Experience and Resident Experience Management. When I say Resident Experience, what comes to mind?
Molly:
Happy residents, great property. If your residents are happy, then your job goes much easier, smoother.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
And we're on the marketing side of things.
Molly:
Yes.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
So for us, the experience really starts with that first touch online and where they find us. Really honing in that excellent experience, the great customer service from first touch all the way to move in. That's [crosstalk 00:01:48] good stuff.
Zon Zurgundy:
Lovely, lovely. I want to ask you a couple questions.
Molly:
Okay.
Zon Zurgundy:
And I want you to tell me which one's classier,
Molly:
Which one is classier?
Zon Zurgundy:
Which one is classier. Zego beer, or regular beer?
Molly:
I'm going to go Zego beer.
Zon Zurgundy:
Good answer, good answer.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
You're doing good so far.
Zon Zurgundy:
An app or a phone call?
Molly:
Ooh. Which one is classier? I'm going to say a phone call.
Zon Zurgundy:
Phone call. We're going with a phone call. Okay. Got it. Employee retention or employee turnover?
Molly:
Retention.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
Always classy.
Molly:
Yes.
Zon Zurgundy:
You want to keep your coworker. Resident acquisition or resident retention?
Molly:
Retention. I think retention.
Zon Zurgundy:
I'm going to ask you why on that one.
Molly:
I think if you have a resident that you've worked so hard to get and you want them to stay, you want them to feel that sense of community and have a home and a family and continue that relationship and that experience. It's always great to get new residents and the acquisition side of things with the money, I guess.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
If you're keeping them around, you're doing something right, I feel like.
Zon Zurgundy:
We've seen around the industry that resident turnover is costing more and more. Have you experienced that?
Molly:
I think so. Yes. We sold quite a few of our properties recently, so I, kind of that transition and seeing residents kind of get shaken up by that and just different things like that. It's quite a tumultuous experience sometimes.
Speaker (Molly colleague):
Yes.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Pleasure to meet you. What's your name?
Stephanie:
Stephanie.
Zon Zurgundy:
Stephanie. Where are you from? Stephanie
Stephanie:
Covina.
Zon Zurgundy:
Covita? Is that here in California? Okay.
Zon Zurgundy:
So I want to ask you a couple questions on what you think is classier. You think you can, which one? Which option do you think is classier? Do you think you can help me answer these?
Stephanie:
Okay.
Zon Zurgundy:
So which is classier, an app or a phone call?
Stephanie:
A phone call.
Zon Zurgundy:
A phone call. Okay. Which is classier online payments or in person payments.
Stephanie:
Online payments.
Zon Zurgundy:
Online payments. Okay. And then virtual resident events or in person, resident events.
Stephanie:
In person, resident events!!
Zon Zurgundy:
Are we zoomed out? Are we, are we over the zoom meetings? Yeah. I feel like we're all on that boat.
Stephanie:
That's correct.
Zon Zurgundy:
What do you do for, what company do you work for?
Stephanie:
Cameron Properties.
Zon Zurgundy:
Cameron Properties. What do you do for Cameron Properties?
Speaker 5:
I am the assistant vice president of multifamily operations.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. Lovely.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Excuse me, folks. Do you mind if I ask you a couple questions? For Zego news.
Becky:
Okay.
Zon Zurgundy:
I'm Zon Zurgundy, Zego news. San Diego's favorite anchorman.
Becky:
Got it. Larry, get over here please.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yes. Larry, Zon Zurgundy. What was your name?
Becky:
Becky.
Zon Zurgundy:
Becky, pleasure to meet you both. Where are you from?
Larry:
Arizona. Tucson.
Zon Zurgundy:
Tucson. Arizona. Has it gotten hot out there yet?
Larry:
It's gotten really hot out there, but where used to it?
Zon Zurgundy:
Are you Wildcats?
Becky:
Dallas, Texas. So no.
Larry:
Yeah Wildcats.
Zon Zurgundy:
Lovely.
Zon Zurgundy:
So we're asking people about resident experience management, obviously Zego being the resident experience management company. So when I say resident experience, what comes to mind? What thoughts?
Becky:
First thing from stepping in, moving in, and how they experience it. Right as they enter the property.
Zon Zurgundy:
First impressions, it sounds like. Yeah. I'd like to ask you a couple questions on which one's classier when I name two things. Resident retention or resident acquisition?
Becky:
Resident retention.
Zon Zurgundy:
An app message or phone call?
Becky:
Depends on the property and the profile.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. Complex. You got to go deeper on that one. Okay. We'll we'll keep moving. Online payments or in person payments?
Becky:
Online payments. Still depends on the profile of the property. Because if you have senior communities, they struggle with that.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. Lovely. And then last one here. Virtual resident events or in person events?
Becky:
Moving back toward in person. Absolutely.
Zon Zurgundy:
Are, are we all zoomed out?
Becky:
Oh yeah. God, yeah. We're sick of meetings about meetings, about another meeting to have an email available meeting, so yeah.
Zon Zurgundy:
Alright. One last question. As an anchorman, I have great online reviews. I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal. How important are online reviews to the success of your properties?
Becky:
Absolutely. It's huge. Huge, important.
Larry:
Everyone looks at your online review today, so there's got to be some management there.
Becky:
Yeah.
Zon Zurgundy:
What are you doing to help out in that space?
Larry:
As far as managing it?
Zon Zurgundy:
Managing it, helping increase online reviews.
Larry:
Well, you have to pay attention to the review and respond essentially. So if somebody posts something that maybe negative, you want spin that around and change that opinion.
Becky:
Well, we have a company that, we use Kingsley Surveys, things like that to help us manage it. I got to keep us in the loop about things and then making sure we respond prompt.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
About, have you set any resident retention goals this year?
Attendee:
Resident retention, just keeping them happy, the events and everything that just really keeps the residents and retention going. Just keeping everybody, we're just people pleasers, humanity is our best amenities. So that's how it works for us. We're the people pleasers.
Zon Zurgundy:
Lovely. Lovely. So it sounds like you run a lot of events at your communities. What's- keeping
Attendee:
Giving back to them constantly. Keeping our social media, games open, keeping gift cards going, keeping them entertained. It keeps that retention for sure.
Zon Zurgundy:
Keeps them happy. They have friends in the community.
Attendee:
Not very high increases, baby steps.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. There we go. Okay. What's been the best event you've thrown this year.
Attendee:
They like food.
Zon Zurgundy:
Well, everybody loves food.
Attendee:
We do a early bird contest every month also. So you pay your rent on, before certain days we do a drawing. So that is one of the best ones there. They like that. It's usually big gifts like Yeti coolers, the grill, the ninja grills. So big gifts.
Zon Zurgundy:
They get, everybody loves a raffle and we love this property managers to get paid on time, right?
Attendee:
Yes. Yes. Yes. And I am not a property manager though. I am a training coordinator. So my focus is training and engaging in motivating employees.
Zon Zurgundy:
I want to ask you a couple questions. You tell me which one is classier. Think we can do that.
Attendee:
Okay. Yeah.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. Resident acquisition or resident retention?
Attendee:
Resident retention.
Zon Zurgundy:
Got it. Virtual resident events or in person resident events?
Attendee:
In person.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. We,
Attendee:
Our humanity is our best amenity.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yes. There we go. It sounds like that's your slogan. Is it?
Attendee:
It is.
Zon Zurgundy:
Love it. Flexible payments or full payment?
Attendee:
We do work with flex. So yes. Flexible. You never know what your people are going through. We're human. We all have lives. So keep it flexible. Give them options. It's a third party. So it makes it easier on us. So yes. Have some flexibility.
Zon Zurgundy:
Flex is great. Flex is a fantastic company. Last one here. Online payments or in person payments?
Attendee:
Both.
Zon Zurgundy:
Both.
Attendee:
I prefer come in and let's say, hey and chat. But they also, they like it. They like that. So we use Entrada so they can make payments online or we just take it over the phone. However they want to do it.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Scotchy, scotch, scotch. I love scotch. Who has my scotch? Jess, I need a scotch.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy (09:32):
What are the big priorities right now when it comes to improving resident experience. And what are you working on?
Attendee, 1:
So brand experience I think is super important. And I know you can hone in [crosstalk 00:09:42].
Zon Zurgundy:
You want to, what does that mean? What specifically are you working on? As far as brand?
Attendee, 2:
Like creating a seamless brand experience for our residents almost in a hospitality sense. So we have properties all over the country, but when you walk into a Waterton community, we have certain features, perks where, you know it's a Waterton community and you can expect that same experience everywhere you go with Waterton.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. So standardized the Waterton experience, no matter what. The Waterton way. Love it. Love it.
Zon Zurgundy:
Do you, when it comes to you, the marketing arm resident experience day to day, that can deal with the site operations. Do you merge and bridge that gap to help when work with operations to improve that and then they help you out by getting reviews and happier, more satisfied residents.
Attendee, 1:
Yes and no. I think because the onsite team is doing so much day to day, that we all know it's not their main focus. So again, streamlining on the back end and pushing it out more from a marketing perspective, we've seen more success with.
Zon Zurgundy:
Okay. Got it. So you kind of were-
Attendee, 2:
Do like a little friendly competition because with our site team members. So at Waterton we use Podium. So you can do the automated invites, but then you can also do manual review invites to your residents. Let's say after a resident event, you can send those out to your happy residents. Who've had some wine. I don't know if Google allows that, but then we have competitions where, send out the most manual invites and you'll win a team dinner. So we try to make it fun too.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. I recommend scotch rather than wine, but that's, everybody's got their priority. Well guys, thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the rest of your day. Stay classy.
Attendee, 1:
Appreciate it.
Zon Zurgundy:
Have a good one. Thank you.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Zon Zurgundy brother. Zego news.
Attendee:
That sounds familiar. It sounds familiar.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. Many people confuse me with my cousin, Ron. He's, yeah. After his incident, he's, we don't like him here in San Diego anymore.
Attendee:
No.
Zon Zurgundy:
I'm San Diego's true favorite anchorman.
Attendee:
You're taking over.
Zon Zurgundy:
What does resident experience mean to you?
Attendee:
It means, our slogan, live happy and making, coming home the best part of our day.
Zon Zurgundy:
And there you have it, you stay classy, NAA and thanks for stopping by, but mostly stay classy.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
What is the secret to keeping residents in their units and reducing turnover?
Attendee:
I would say just good old fashioned customer service. It doesn't really exist anymore. So as long as you're yeah, you just keep interacting with them and positive. And in this world and day and age, resident events, all that good stuff.
Zon Zurgundy:
And what part does technology play in that for you?
Attendee:
Huge. Every everything's online, everybody's glued to their phones. So I think as long as you make everything streamlined, kind of a one stop shop. A best idea. You know what? There's a couple. There was, I like to meet the staff, the QR code in each building, like the maintenance and the cleaners. They said that, I think it's a resident satisfaction increases 22% when people actually can put a face and a name to who serves them daily. So I liked that idea. I really liked a day. It was called a day one pass. So it's something that's exclusive. It's like a one, kind of like a golden ticket for each new resident that moves in and it could be, for us it could be a resident, a free resident clubhouse rental, where you rent. Yeah. Or it could be a specific parking spot, special parking spot for a month or maybe a club partner. You get a free coffee or free pizza on move in day and that sort of thing. So yeah.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Why is Zego?
Speaker 14:
Why is Zego? Because you must go with Ze – Go
Zon Zurgundy:
Because you must go with Zego.
__________________________________________________________
Attendee:
When I think of resident experience, I think of on, right now, the big trends are going to be outdoor amenities. So outdoor gyms and anything. It's going to sound really silly. That's like TikTok. We really run a lot of our marketing and our new construction off of TikTok trends. Just because it seems to bring in that younger generation that isn't wanting to buy a home.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
What's your name? Where are you from?
Ashley:
Ashley.
Zon Zurgundy:
Ashley. From?
Ashley:
The Dallas area.
Zon Zurgundy:
Dallas area. Okay. Good to be in San Diego. What has you excited about the event this year?
Ashley:
Just meeting all the different vendors and the education sessions and not being in Texas.
Zon Zurgundy:
Love it. Love it. What, any big takeaways?
Ashley:
Lot of great technology out there that can help support our onsite teams. So looking to help improve their processes and provide better customer experience.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah, love it. Okay. So Zego, we're the resident experience management company, helping people out with the resident satisfaction, resident retention. Have you set any resident retention goals this year?
Ashley:
Not specifically, but Zon. We do use Zego. So you will help us in our platform to meet those or exceed those benchmarks.
Zon Zurgundy:
Love it. Love it. Glad to hear it. Anything else? Any technology that you're excited about that you're pulling, other than of course Zego, but you're, you're looking to take away and maybe implement.
Ashley:
Yeah. We're looking into AI's. So that's a real big component for us to bring to our teams.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. Robots scare me, but understandable. They help out.
Ashley:
Have you ever seen iRobot?
Zon Zurgundy:
No. That's a little bit past my time there in the seventies, but I heard it's good movie.
Ashley:
It is a great movie.
Zon Zurgundy:
Yeah. Lovely. Well Ashley, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Stay classy.
Ashley:
You too.
__________________________________________________________
Zon Zurgundy:
Well that does it for us here at Zego news, for everyone on this team, you stay classy San Diego. I'm Zon Zurgundy.