It’s a strange time to be in the multifamily industry. Occupancy and rents are sky-high, with no signs of coming down. At the same time, staffing – oh boy. We’ve been hit hard by the “great resignation” and in-person leasing offices got it bad.
Which is why the focus on AI-driven automation at last week’s AIM 2022 was timely. This year, it’s all about doing more with less. Respage Co-Founder and CEO Ellen Thompson led a roundtable session about the solutions enabling that and just what the leasing office might look like in the near future. Here’s a taste of what she spoke on…
The #1 Tech Trend Transforming The Leasing Office Today
Leasing automation.
The trends we mentioned back in 2021 have only accelerated. Management companies today are already using more sophisticated types of automation, like AI leasing assistants. It’s not hard to see why when it’s shown just how much AI can accelerate the leasing process and cut workload for the leasing team.
We’ve been using automation for decades, but the advancements have accelerated in the last five years. Today we have chatbots, automated lead nurturing, voice bots, lead scoring, and more. And the future holds even more game-changing developments centered around data-based prescriptive reporting and recommendations.
What’s The Future Of The Leasing Office?
But it’s not all about AI leasing. Thompson also had a few predictions on the topic most leaders are concerned most about right now: staffing. With intelligent automation, it’s inevitable that the leasing office will shrink as the productivity per agent soars. But it might also change in other ways. For instance…
On-Demand Leasing Agents
With the current on-site model of leasing employment, it’ll only become more difficult to secure talent. Especially with all those new remote work opportunities out there to compete against. The biggest reason agents need to be on-site are in-person tours, and the average prospect is taking fewer of them and over 10% are skipping them entirely. Thompson predicted management companies will adopt increasingly flexible policies to attract and retain great agents.
The “Uberization” Of Leasing Agents
There’s only one group of people who know what living in a community is like better than the leasing team – the residents. “Deputize” them to talk about life in their apartment, give them incentives, and all of a sudden you have an authentic representative who can naturally guide prospects to a lease.
What’s The Next Stage Of AI Leasing?
It’s in the numbers. Particularly, better data. As technology companies are able to refine their offerings through machine learning, incredible advancements become possible. Such as suggestions on where and when to spend your ad budget and who to reach out to to give a little extra TLC before their lease renewals. Essentially, management companies will soon have access to incredibly accurate projections. That means better results for management companies who take advantage of them.
If You Attended Our Roundtable…
Thank you! We appreciate you coming and hope it sparked some ideas.
For everyone who couldn’t make it, you can message us by clicking the button below. We’d love to send you the full presentation and have a discussion. We’re moving into a more automated leasing future. Make sure you’re ready for it.
