Insights from Zego’s 2024 Resident Experience Management Report (Part 1)

Yolanda Muchnik:
Hello and welcome back multifamily pros. I’m your host Yolanda, and my co-host Charles is joining me here as always.

Charles Buggs:
Hello multifamily pros.

Yolanda Muchnik:
So today we’re diving deep into some fascinating findings from the 2024 State of Resident Experience Management report recently published by Zego. This is the first year ever that multifamily residents were surveyed in addition to property management companies, and that has lent itself to some pretty interesting findings.

Charles Buggs:
Absolutely. In my role working with multifamily operators all over the country and just helping them fine tune their technology, I speak with many a professional and I feel like the situation tracks with a lot of stories I’ve heard.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yeah, and the first State of Resident Experience Management report came out in 2021. It was a game changer for the industry in the sense that a third party group of survey management professionals worked with Zego to specifically understand the attitudes, trends, and best practices around resident experience management and how it impacts owners and operators. And I was excited this year that with the help of American Express, we could survey residents simultaneously and compare and contrast the two viewpoints within the same timeframe.

So this year’s report provides critical insights into the current state of multifamily resident experience, highlighting areas where property managers are struggling to meet the expectations of residents and are offering actionable advice and recommendations.

Charles Buggs:
I agree, it’s all great. And the 2024 edition pulls out eleven data points and their implications. That will be a lot to cover in one go. So for you, our listeners, we’re deep diving into four conclusions from the report under the broad theme of communications, precisely bidirectional nature between property residents and property management. Plus, we’ll explore two specific recommendations for property management companies.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yes, and before we dive into the details, let’s set the stage for our listeners. Why is understanding and communicating with residents crucial in today’s property management industry?

Charles Buggs:
Isn’t that the million dollar question? I think effective communication builds trust and satisfaction, which is essential for employee retention and overall property success.

Yolanda Muchnik:
All right, so let’s start with the report’s first conclusion, which is understanding and communicating with residents is a top challenge today for property managers. So, Charles, why do you think this remains such a persistent issue despite advances in technology and adoption?

Charles Buggs:
Yolanda, it is two sides of the same coin. Positive side: we have many tech tools to facilitate communication. We have text, AI, chatbots, all kinds of cool stuff.

Negative side: it may also create a barrier from face to face interactions that generate greater understanding for positive and much needed context. And the challenge is the ability to effectively use the tool available to reach the diverse resident base that we have now.

Yolanda Muchnik:
I agree, and following that, what unique strategies can property managers implement to improve communication with residents beyond the typical emails and newsletters that you probably find everywhere?

Charles Buggs:
Great question too. I think I’ve seen a lot of leveraging social media platforms more effectively by creating community groups on Facebook. Maybe you have a cool community app to share updates, engage with residents, and foster that sense of community. Another great resident idea is resident feedback sessions where residents can voice their concerns to you directly.

Yolanda Muchnik:
I like it. So, second conclusion from the report this year is that property managers are not in tune with the reasons why renters choose not to renew. I thought that was a really interesting finding. It's a critical issue for retention too. So what are some potentially overlooked factors that could influence a renter’s decision to leave, as we found this year?

Charles Buggs:
Absolutely. And I know we talk about this always, like from this third party perspective, but there’s a lot of renters listening to this. So really try to understand what we’re talking about from a renters perspective. It comes down to minor day to day frustrations that build up over time, things like slow response times, lack of cleanliness in common areas, or even inadequate security significantly can impact the resident’s decision to renew. It’s where you live.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yes. So digging deeper then, how can property managers proactively identify these issues before they lead to those non renewals?

Charles Buggs:
That’s the million dollar question right there, and I think it comes down to a couple things. One, regularly conducting detailed resident surveys, and two, maintaining open lines of communication is critical. PM should also track and analyze maintenance requests and feedback patterns to spot reoccurring issues early.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Great point. And so the next conclusion will surprise some of our listeners just a bit. Zego’s research finds that renters care most about the basics when it comes to living in their communities, not necessarily all those bells and whistles, right? Maintenance, security and cleanliness are by far and away the most influential decision makers for renters, as they indicate in the report this year. And it seems straightforward. But what are some innovative ways that property managers today can enhance these three areas to attract and retain their renters?

Charles Buggs:
Great question. I’m going to totally geek out here, because I love this topic. For example, the first thing here, aside from tech being vital, is that smart locks and surveillance systems can improve security. Automated maintenance request systems can ensure timely responses. Regularly scheduled deep cleanings of the common areas, your clubhouses, what have you, will help elevate residences standards.

Also, your curb appeal, that area of gray right outside where it’s like city property or yours, but people see your property driving up, that’s important to keep up to. I know it’s a San Diego thing for some people, but I think for most curb appeals, right up there on the top as far as checklists that people are going to hold you to, as far as your leadership and residents really pay attention to that, too.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Absolutely. And the last piece for this discussion that I think is quite revealing from the report is that Zego found that flexible rent terms are widely offered today. Right. But the vast majority of renters don’t even know they’re there. They’re just not aware that they even have this option. So my question to you, Charles, why do you think there’s such a disconnect there?

Charles Buggs:
You know what? I’m gonna say this, and I think it comes down to ineffective communication. You can have amazing options for them, but if they’re not communicated clearly and frequently, the residents may not know they exist.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yep. And so this leads to the question, how can property managers better promote these flexible payment options to their residents?

Charles Buggs:
Great question. I think there are two points I want to jump into on this question. One, integrate rent reminders into your monthly rent statements through your resident portal or whatever method you have, ideally something digital. And the second one is more face to face interactions, like hosting informal sessions about financial management and giving them options, how they can make your payments available to them.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Right. And of the broader recommendations in this year’s report by Zego to actually address how to better facilitate communications. And the first one was fine tuning your survey strategies. And so my question here is, what are some techniques to create more effective and insightful surveys that you’ve seen our customers implemented?

Charles Buggs:
Fundamentally, the first thing that you got to do, again, a little geek out moment for me, because I love the data. You got to dig into the survey data, right? Use previous feedback, whatever information you have at your disposal, to better lasso around the residents, like pet owners, things like that, to create a more targeted question. The better the question, the better the answer. AI tools and data analytics for your data can help tailor surveys to predict and address potential issues as well.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Awesome. And the second piece of advice that I was alluding to earlier was really to have more face to face chats. So how can property managers effectively balance those personal interactions with the technological efficiency in today’s digital age?

Charles Buggs:
Yeah, that’s a good point. And I think personal interactions, especially after the pandemic, got weird, right? They don’t have to be time consuming. They can be simple scheduled meet and greets, quick check-ins. People like to know that they care about where they live. Property tours can make a big impact, so that as well, you can also use your tech more efficiently, helping schedule track these interactions to ensure more consistency among you and your staff.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Great point. Well, we’ve covered several crucial communication related insights and actionable tips from this year’s 2024 State of Resident Experience Management report. Personally, my key takeaway here is that understanding and engaging with residents on a deeper level not only improves retention, but also overall property success. Effective bidirectional communication is at the heart of addressing these challenges.

Charles Buggs:
Yeah, effective bidirectional rewards I hope jumped out to you. If you can grab any couple or nuggets from this episode, we will be happy. But we’re coming back for a Part Two discussion on this, so we hope you can join us for that as well.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Yes, we are continuing the conversation, examining four additional conclusions from this year’s report and the remaining two recommendations for property management companies specifically.

Charles Buggs:
Absolutely. So please make some time, tune into the next one because we’re going to deep dive again into some really cool points that I think everyone can learn from.

Yolanda Muchnik:
And definitely hold on now for a dash of the good news.

Charles Buggs:
Just a dash of good news.

Yolanda Muchnik:
Little dashlet.

Good News

Charles Buggs:
Hello, thank you for joining the Good News. And for the record, Good News can be anything. A successful initiative, a fantastic resident review, or even a shout out to a work colleague or friend. This is your time to promote yourself, so please take advantage and shine. There’s enough stress and anxiety going on in the multifamily industry, so our goal here is to shine a brighter light on what’s going right.

How do you give us your good news? It’s really easy. Go to the show bio on any platform you’re listening on, or go to our podcast page at gozego.com/podcasts and click the show link. You can text or leave a voice message and we’ll highlight it on the following episode. Thank you so much for listening. Now let’s get into some Good News.

The first anonymous caller or texter sent in saying, I’m starting a new job soon and I’m very excited about my new opportunity. Congratulations on the new job. Let us know how it goes on the update for next week if you could.

The next one says, we hit a lot of financial goals as a family this year, including getting a new house and getting a new car paid off with an exclamation point. I love that. New house, new car, somebody’s feeling brand new. Please, please let us know updates as they come available and we’ll highlight them on the episodes. Thank you for writing in on that.

Our next anonymous caller or texter let us know our company has been going through a lot. We’re a small family owned business. One of our owners lost a spouse. We have an employee with a son dealing with a serious mental health issue, another team member who was diagnosed with cancer, and others dealing with illness. This is all within a month. I am so proud to work for a company that rallies around each other and supports each other personally and professionally, filling in the gap when others have things going on that prevent them from doing their jobs. Big shout out to that company. I wish we could say a name. We don’t have it, but I think that’s big. Life happens and anytime a company can make you feel like more than a number and that you’re an actual person and help you get through these tough times, it makes it a lot easier. Shout out to you and thank you so much for letting us know and we’ll hope things get better for you.

Our next one from Allie L. Thank you. Allie comes in saying, I got increased budget for a summer party, extra funds means extra fun. I love that. I don’t even know if she meant that as a pun, but that’s how it read and I’m going to take credit for it if she didn’t take credit for it, but you should take credit for it. Huge win. I think resident events are a great way to keep people in the seats they’re in and it’s a good way to build a sense of community. If you could send in an update and let us know how great your event goes.

Our next and last one comes Anonymously and says, this year has been incredibly rewarding for me professionally. I’ve gained valuable process improvement experience which has significantly enhanced our team's efficiency and productivity. Additionally, I successfully implemented four new platforms to seamlessly integrate into our operations and driving positive outcomes for our projects. I appreciate the tongue twister. I got a little hung up, but we got through it. Thank you so much for that update. Please let us know how things progress and how things get better for you.

This has been great, and thank you so much for taking in time bringing in your Good News. We hope to get more of you later on and in future episodes to come. Thank you so much and thank you for listening.