Strengthen your brand by developing your people
For apartment communities, a strong brand centers on people. Happy residents become long-term renters, and each person you impress with a tour becomes a potential new lease. To strengthen your brand, it helps to remember the human element throughout your branding, marketing and lease-up strategy.
The basics
To build a human-centered multifamily culture, you must begin internally. You can curate the most appealing lifestyle photos and spend months perfecting your marketing materials, but that’s only the beginning. What happens when a potential renter calls your leasing office or steps foot on your property? If your staff lacks training or has not been taught basic customer service skills, you could lose that human connection in an instant.
In 2021, people want meaningful interactions. We’re over bots and virtual meetings. Every exchange with another human being, whether friend or acquaintance, has the potential to add something positive to our lives. In a piece for Forbes, one expert highlighted that need as a marketing trend for this year:
“Customers will expect a greater ‘human’ element in their interactions. Virtual meetings and the absence of gatherings has people eager for real-time, meaningful conversations. To a Zoom-fatigued population, a phone call can seem more personal and relaxed. Now is the time to reacclimate to personal phone calls or even mutually-acceptable live visit.” – Robin Day, NIH Research & Consulting, LLC
Hearing a friendly voice at the other end of the phone can help someone relax and feel more comfortable. Experiencing that friendliness in the context of looking for a new home? Priceless.
That initial interaction with your leasing staff carries a lot of power. From day one, you want your residents to feel welcomed and supported in their search for the perfect apartment home.
Staff training and branding
If you take care of your people, they will take care of your brand. Invest in recruiting top talent but don’t stop there. Train them to be the best and then reward their efforts.
Multifamily Executive reports:
“Employing a highly skilled property management and maintenance staff is paramount to resident satisfaction and successful day-to-day operations. However, finding and retaining top talent will remain a challenge in 2021 for several reasons. Multifamily is a highly competitive and growing industry with a surplus of opportunity. We’re now seeing an excessive demand for experienced, trained personnel, but a labor shortage of qualified candidates entering the market. 2021 will continue to expose the need for more highly skilled and passionate staff members.”
Part of your training should include how to present your branding messages and how to represent the brand well. We have worked with multifamily companies on staffing programs that include curated attire for leasing agents. Every detail contributes to your prospects’ and residents’ overall experience with your property and brand.
In addition, use your staff as the resident-retention front line. Now is not the time to neglect resident communication or community-building efforts. Even if your events and communications remain mostly virtual for this year, you can find ways to add personalized, human touches along the way.
Your residents want to feel cared for, and they want to know they are part of a larger community. Staying in touch with them and delivering quality experiences will help them feel more at home – and more likely to stay for another lease term.
Final thoughts
Although we continue to face the challenges brought on by the pandemic, multifamily brands have an opportunity to provide their residents with positive experiences. As they spend nearly all of their time at home – working, playing, resting and schooling – home has taken on an even greater importance.
When you remember to meet their human needs, your multifamily brand becomes more than just a name and logo on paper. You become an important part of their life experience.
Ready to add more of the human element to your multifamily brand strategy and strengthen your brand? Reach out to us. We specialized in elevating brands just like yours with delightful design, and thoughtful branding and marketing strategy.
