Purposeful Surveys

Using Resident Response Data

By Erica Rascón on Nov 16, 2016 in Marketing

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can’t manage what you haven’t measured.” What exactly do you do once resident satisfaction has been measured? The data within your resident survey results can pave the road for a more profitable and enjoyable property—if you optimize use of the data.

 

Make a Plan

Before you issue the survey, get team leaders onboard with the process. When leaders are vested in the survey, they will provide enthusiasm, structure and accountability among staff members.

Enthusiasm for surveys may be hard to muster. If your leadership sees surveys as a public roast, they are less inclined to throw themselves on the chopping block. The first step is to change the way that the staff sees surveys.

Kristin Van Ramshorst, Social Media Specialist at Yardi, encourages clients to see all feedback as good feedback.

“Any feedback – positive, negative, or in between – is good feedback and a way to offer better customer service,” says Van Ramshorst.

“Respond to negative feedback in a way that is timely, empathetic and identifies solutions. Often times responding in a timely manner can also deescalate complex resident complaints and take the conversation offline faster.”

Your plan may also include a strategy for compensation and responsibility dissemination. Consider:

• Will your property have specific hours for responding to issues brought up in the surveys?
• How will your staff be compensated for responding outside of normal business hours?
• Outside of normal business hours, are auto-response messages (i.e. Facebook Messenger) a good option for your property?
• If there are technical or legal issues reported in a complaint, which individuals at your company or corporate will you escalate the inquiry to?
• What resources (i.e. training, staff, equipment) do you currently have available at your property to respond to social media inquiries and surveys?

Promote Your Survey

 

Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to promote the survey.

Residents won’t take a survey that they don’t know about. Use Yardi RentCafe to promote the survey through email blasts, social media posts and push notifications.

“Property Facebook Pages and community groups are good places to start,” begins Van Ramshorst. “If your property is on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or other social networking sites, providing access and visibility to your survey is important. I’ve seen properties incorporate survey nudge marketing into their website and host community town hall meetings.”

Incentivizing participation may also boost engagement.  Prize giveaways, rent discounts, and free food are reliable go-tos for more involvement.

Van Ramshorst recalls a conversation with a client at Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference, “They hosted a community pool party with food, music and giveaways. They added a bonus giveaway entry for a discount on one month’s rent for anyone who took the survey within a specified time period. I thought this was a fun way to bring residents together and ask for feedback at the same time.”

But before enticing residents with incentives, consult your legal team for any restrictions.

Look for Trends

Though you may gather information daily, analyze the data and look for trends over the long term, such as quarterly or bi-annually. This will allow you to focus on big-ticket items rather than blips on the radar.

Empower Change from Within

Before sharing survey results with staff, have leadership draft a list of actionable items. These directives will help staff see how they can use survey results to improve their services. Keep this list flexible. Make room to receive employee insights and suggestions!

Keep Staff in the Loop

Trends in the feedback that you receive may call for modifications to your workflows or practices. It’s important that all involved parties receive the education needed to comply with changes. Yardi eLearning is a fantastic tool for keeping employees abreast of changes in a flexible learning environment.

Make Fewer Changes with Larger Impact

If your survey reveals a slew of opportunities, pause and prioritize. Pick the top two or three reoccurring concerns and focus on those. Eradicating two concerns will have a greater impact on resident satisfaction than partially addressing several concerns.

Celebrate Victories

Surveys are a great tool to highlight areas of improvement but they can also put a spotlight on what you’re doing well. Be sure to congratulate staff on a job well done and express your appreciation for their efforts as a team.

Both staff and residents benefit when leadership recognizes great performance, Van Ramshorst observes:

“A client shared that they started a staff appreciation program to identify staff ‘rock stars.’ They would give out gold spray painted rocks once a month to employees who received positive resident feedback or were nominated by colleagues. It became so popular that they featured their ‘rock stars’ on Facebook, where resident engagement on the posts increased dramatically.”

“Any program where you regularly acknowledge staff is a way to humanize your company and show that it is both a fun place to live and work,” says Van Ramshorst.

Follow Up on Testimonials

If you garner praise from residents, contact them for testimonials. With the residents’ permission, these quotations can be used in print and digital marketing to promote what your property does well.

Van Ramshorst says, “I’ve seen a number of properties feature positive Yelp reviews and apartment reviews right on their website. If you receive positive feedback on Facebook or another social networking site, consider repurposing the content during lease-up and move-in season.”

Creating content from quotations or review excerpts can also  foster a brand ambassador relationship with your residents. Consider featuring real residents in your promotions and repurposing reviews on your website and as standalone graphics for your social media channels.