RealPage issued the following announcement on Dec. 27
As we have said here before, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of virtual alternatives to processes, transactions and events that have traditionally been handled in person. And apartment tours have been no exception.
To be sure, the evolution from in-person to virtual apartment tours was already well under way before the pandemic, and in some sense inevitable.
“This isn’t just about Covid,” RealPage Product Manager Bronte Beaird told us in the spring of 2021. “Yes, the pandemic accelerated virtual leasing, but even without that context the live-hosted virtual tour is preferable to visiting the property for more and more people. Many live in a different area and can’t rely on a friend or relative to check the property out. And others simply don’t want to make an appointment and drive to the property or show up and wait for a leasing agent to become available.”
Beaird told us that a guided 3D virtual apartment tour can be in some ways even more informative than an in-person tour of the property, with a multitude of information about the apartment, community and neighborhood at the fingertips of renter and agent.
How “On-Call Tours” work for apartments
RealPage’s On-Call Tours are initiated via a widget on the screen that appears only when a leasing agent is available to accompany the prospect on a virtual tour. The agent guides the prospect through the property and apartments (including various floor plans), and will soon be able to show specific units as well as video of the units’ interiors. All kinds of answers to questions the prospect might have been a few clicks away.
Prospects can actually see the leasing agent, adding a highly personal element to the tour. And they can choose whether or not to allow the agent to see them.
Of course, prospects can take a virtual tour without being accompanied by a leasing agent if they wish, and interact with an agent only to answer specific questions.
A big boost in multifamily staffing flexibility
At RealWorld 2021, Kelly Tang, president of IEC Property Services, told us that tools such as On-Call Tours are vital to staying agile during a time of fluidity in multifamily staffing.
He said property management styles run the gamut from fully-staffed on-site offices to completely virtual management. Guided On-Call Tours enable an ideal combination of personal, high-touch service with the convenience of virtual tours. And just as importantly, they allow flexibility in staffing.
“You can assign people to what they do best,” said Tang. “You might find you have one associate who is phenomenal at giving virtual tours and handling this sort of online lead. You have another who is great at doing in-person tours, walking around the property with the prospects. And perhaps another who is good at the follow-ups and administrative tasks. So having these various tools lets you equip your people for what they do best.”
Tang added that personal attention is critical to giving prospects the sense that should they move to the community, they can expect the same level of service, and this helps close sales. He said there’s a big difference between a personal tour accompanied by an agent and a visit to a website to view static photos and information. But importantly, prospects can choose exactly the level of agent involvement they’re comfortable with.
Your own apartment leasing agents, or RealPage’s
Depending on staffing depth and talent, property managers can choose to have their own agents guide the On Call Tours or depend on highly-trained RealPage agents with access to comprehensive information about the properties.
RealPage agents tasked with On Call Tours are actual leasing agents with years of multifamily experience – not typical call center representatives. They can provide rents quotes, negotiate lease terms and then direct renters to the online leasing system to complete the leasing process. And they are not only familiar with the properties they’re promoting, but also work closely with the property’s leasing office.
It often can make sense to let a third-party step in to help with leasing. In the case of some properties, staff are simply too busy to respond quickly to tour requests, and many leases are lost this way. And of course, adding new property management staff to fill the holes is expensive, particularly at a time when finding and holding on to talented people is so difficult.
Bronte Beaird noted that as RealPage Tour Guides are not distracted with other duties, they can often be more effective than on-site staff, spending as much as 15 or 20 minutes with a prospect, a chunk of time that’s very hard to come by for a site manager. And contact centers, while playing an important role for many leasing offices in qualifying leads and feeding them into the CRM, generally train staff to spend an average of three to five minutes on a call and to avoid long, dragged-out conversations. “The only job of On-Call Tour Guides is to close leases, and they’re allowed the time to do it,” Beaird told us. “Tour Guides are pure leasing agents who can take the prospect all the way through the sales cycle – that’s their only job.”
On-Call Live Tours integrates with the apartment property’s CRM system so property managers can track all tours, follow-up activities and results.
RealPage On-Call Live Tours is part of the Peak Performance (P2) Virtual Leasing Suite. For more information on On-Call Live Tours please click here.
Original source can be found here.
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