Highlights | 2023 AIM Conference

Navigating Customer Experience Improvement (CXI)

 

2023 AIM Conference

May 2023 | RealFoundations attended the 2023 Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference (AIM) in Huntington Beach, California to engage in three days of thought leadership discussions addressing marketing technology, automation, AI (Artificial Intelligence), innovation, ethics of data-gathering and marketing, and more.

Presented by REACH by RentCafe, the AIM conference brought together over 1,100 attendees including multifamily owners, operators, marketers and PropTech innovators. During the event, RealFoundations hosted a session focused on “The Age of Self-Service: Automated Customer Touchpoints Set the Stage for Centralization,” moderated by our Enterprise Managing Consultant Hope Dunleavy.

In addition to RealFoundations’ presence in moderating a session, sponsoring a business lounge and engaging in conversations, RealFoundations’ CXI (Customer Experience Improvement) Advisors and founding members of the CX (Customer Experience) Council hosted the first in-person meet-up for CX Council members. Established in early 2022, the CX Council was formed to create an independent, peer networking group designed exclusively for multifamily marketers and CX professionals, with the goal of empowering marketing professionals with relationships that foster growth and idea exchange thereby elevating the role of marketers in driving customer experience improvement. Following our participation at the 2023 AIM Conference and CX Council meetup, our team reflected on the most notable takeaways outlined below.

Top 5 Takeaways

#1 Automation is a key catalyst for centralization.

  • Leveraging automation and technology allows for a reduction in routine tasks for property teams and marketing teams, but fully realizing the value of this digital information requires commitment and discipline across the organization.

  • To help organizations understand where to get started with their digital transformation journey, RealFoundations presented a pathway characterized by 4 primary steps: Define, Integrate, Measure and Support.

    • Define: Articulate a clear vision that defines what centralization and automation mean for the organization.

    • Integrate: Implement processes, such as self-service automations that create seamless customer experiences.

    • Measure: Establish a way to objectively measure automation-driven improvements and overall impact on property operations.

    • Support: Support the CX tech stack with cross-functional collaboration and application support services.

#2 The application of AI (Artificial Intelligence) has transformative implications for multifamily operations.

  • AI-powered tools, such as ChatGPT and Bard, are rapidly evolving and displaying their ability to offer significant value when applied to real business settings.

    • Tests conducted by MIT researchers observed that the use of ChatGPT resulted in quicker task completion, less time required for brainstorming and initial drafting efforts (which allowed for increased focus on strategy and refinement), higher job satisfaction, and enhanced self-confidence among employees.

  • For real estate marketers, speakers reiterated that the application of ChatGPT to various tasks can create incredible efficiencies, including the ability to jump-start content development and research and generate “starting point” content in mere seconds.

    • More general examples include generating job descriptions, developing budgets, writing website copy, developing blog content to impact SEO, and auditing property reviews to generate appropriate responses.

#3 As applications proliferate and evolve, technology stacks should be assessed for optimization and consolidation.

  • As a result of the “Great App Explosion”, there are oftentimes overlaps in the functionality provided by solutions within an organization’s tech stack.

    • This has resulted in marketing teams acting as Mini-IT shops to assess tech stacks for opportunities to better leverage and/or consolidate currently utilized tools and applications.

  • It is also important to assess tech stacks when an organization is adding another vertical as well. For example, a Multifamily group launching into the BFR (build-for-rent) space should diligently and proactively assess its technology stack against the requirements of the new vertical.

#4 The impact of automation and technology optimization on the Customer Journey must be carefully considered.

  • Property operators are not selling a product, but rather, they are selling the resident experience that can only be delivered by their organization at a given property.

  • With the influx in technology touching the customer, marketing and operations leaders must evaluate each touchpoint to identify the greatest opportunities to leverage automation for the routine tasks and the human touch for an improved experience.

#5 The Customer Experience can be improved through the implementation of self-service solutions.

  • Multifamily digital experiences must be seamless, easy to use, and high value-add in order to meet the customer’s expectations. It’s important to remember that a multifamily customer will approach a property website with their most recent self-service experience in mind – like that of Amazon or Uber.

  • While the website plays a crucial role in providing self-service opportunities, customers are experiencing a property or organization’s brand through search, mobile, chat, social, and map applications as well.

  • Experiential marketing is not limited to the physical world; the advancement of digital technology enables marketers to create engaging experiences that can be enjoyed by the customer virtually from almost anywhere.

Closing Remarks

The best customer experience begins with understanding what matters most to your customers across the research-to-renewal phases of the customer journey. Analyzing your customer journey through this lens can lead to improved touchpoints and operations that have an immense impact on resident satisfaction, employee retention, and NOI. If you would like to learn more about how RealFoundations is helping our multifamily clients navigate Customer Experience Improvement (CXI), connect with Hope Dunleavy, Jenny Pancoast or submit an inquiry to our team of experts by clicking the button below.

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About RealFoundations

RealFoundations (RF) is the world’s foremost professional services firm focused solely on the real estate industry. Through our delivery of Management Consulting and Managed Services, we help companies that develop, own, operate, service or invest in real estate make better, more profitable decisions. We are proud partners to over 500 real estate companies around the globe, providing accelerated solutions that solve some of real estate’s most complex challenges. We Make Real Estate Run Better.