How To Increase Operating Income Through Improved Resident Services

Investing in high resident satisfaction can do a number of highly impactful things for your business. Increased resident retention can improve your operating income by reducing turnovers. Additionally, receiving an increased amount of 5-star reviews can greatly impact your online marketing efforts. This can be done at no cost to you, while also adding a new revenue stream to your bottom line. 

Home is Personal. Meeting the Needs of the Residents… 

According to a recent industry report

  •  72% of renters feel that it’s very important that their property manager is easy to get a hold of and resolves issues quickly. 
  • 60% of renters said it’s very important to them that their property manager provides great customer service and keeps things running smoothly. 
  • 74% of renters leave due to “Poor Service”. 

Residents want faster response times to maintenance calls and a general increase in the level of customer service. They want to feel a sense of trust, empathy, and urgency. 

Increased services increases retention, which also increases net operating income. Another avenue of increase net operating income comes through including very specific, high levels of service in a resident benefit Package. 

What is a Resident Benefit Package?

Multifamily Property Management companies like Grey Star, Equity Residential, or Avenue 5 have been using resident benefit packages for years because they know that tenants are ready and willing to pay for better services.

The services included are typically things like insurance protection plans, 24/7 call centers, or online tenant portals. Having a “Virtual Concierge” has been proven to greatly increase resident satisfaction, and it’s something residents are willing to pay extra for. 

Improving Resident Services Through a 24/7 Home Assistant Program

Latchel offers a type of resident benefit package via their 24/7 Home Assistant that averages a 4.7 out of 5 star rating for resident satisfaction. Latchel customers utilizing this virtual concierge program see 3 main changes in their business: 

  • Increased 5 Star Ratings on Google 
    • Latchel automatically pushes resident reviews to the PM companies website giving a huge boost in 5 star ratings on their online profiles and upping their rankings in Google.
  • Annual Revenue Increase of $48/door 
    • Residents opt in to pay a small monthly fee for the added services of their virtual concierge adding additional revenue to the PMs business. 
  • 80% less time spent on maintenance coordination. 
    • By implementing the 24/7 Home Assistant, property managers can offload their maintenance coordination to the home assistant, freeing up time to spend on other areas of the business. 

Latchel sees an 80-90% opt in rate from tenants under the existing program, showing further that most residents are willing to pay extra for added services. A few things that the resident gets under the 24/7 Home Assistant Program are: 

  • Access to their home assistant 24/7/365 via phone, SMS, or online platform. 
  • Ability to schedule things like: cleaning services, general maintenance issues, lawn care, pest control, lockouts, furniture assembly, tv mounting, and more. 
  • $50 reimbursements on tenant caused damages. 
  • Cancellation fee reimbursements for when their schedule changes last minute. 

With Latchel handling the requests coming in from residents (reimbursements, appointment scheduling, maintenance coordination, etc), Property Managers can shift their focus away from maintenance, but still keep an eye on any repairs taking place inside the home.

Latchel’s transparent software portal gives property managers a look into all the work orders in progress and handles end-to-end maintenance. Property Managers get the benefit of: 

  • Real time email notifications. 
  • Prioritization of your preferred vendors. 
  • A portal that syncs with most Property Management softwares, streamlining operational efficiency. 

To learn more about Latchel’s 24/7 Home assistant, you can visit their website, or schedule a demo of the product here