Core tenants of the BetterBot product philosophy

With all the growth we’ve experienced over the last few years, we now find ourselves as one of the companies leading the AI automation charge in multifamily. While our company has changed in many ways, our primary product philosophy has remained unchanged, and we still use it as a guiding principle to decide what types of products we build. Furthermore, this guiding philosophy is a true differentiator between our competitors and us. To know BetterBot, you must first understand our core philosophy. 

Chatbots are here to stay

Approximately every decade, a new user interface revolutionizes how people interact with technology. This was the case with graphical user interfaces (GUIs), touch UI (iPhone), and voice (Alexa, Siri, etc.) Conversational AI chatbots held that promise when we first started, and now they are everywhere. Bank apps, airlines, insurance companies, and most other businesses we deal with now use chatbots as a primary tool for support. Why are chatbots so popular?

• Human habits have changed, and people now demand meaningful answers immediately. Old-school solutions like call centers and live chat simply cannot deliver this level of service. 
• Interactions have moved to mobile devices, and websites on mobile devices need help to deliver a good experience.
• People prefer impersonal communication and don’t want to talk to people to get answers to transactional questions.

We build tools that serve their intended purpose

We are never satisfied with a product that works 85% of the time. We always strive to build a tool that works reliably on any given device 100% of the time. This has come at a cost because we have had products that wowed during scripted demos, and our customers would havebeen happy to try us. But we never compromised because deep down, we don’t want to build anything that has a degree of failure built in. This was the main reason why we moved to guided conversation technology. Even though we first had a full NLP bot with speech-to-text capabilities, we decided to scrap it and start from scratch. We were not satisfied knowing that some users would have a poor experience.

B2B vs. B2B2C

We are 100% a B2B2C company. Even though we directly sell to property management companies, the actual users of our product are the renters that use BetterBot to find their next home. That is why we are so obsessive about the experience that our end users will have when using our product. We always want to delight our end users, so we design everything pixel-perfect, use beautiful graphics and media and only let partners integrate with us if there are no compromises with the interface. We have iterated more times than I can count to minimize friction for our users to a point where they can use our product without typing on a mobile phone. Compared to other technology like websites and live chat, we were able to cut the time needed to get information by 50-75%.

Many other companies see themselves as B2B and mostly build features for the PMCs while completely ignoring the end users of the technology. The numbers don’t lie, which is why we significantly outperform head-to-head comparisons. Of course, we still take care of the PMCs, but we don’t compromise when it comes to the end users.

Automation is our core value proposition

Whatever we do has to have a measurable impact on the time saved for our PMC clients. We have seen firsthand that forcing leasing agents to spend time on menial, repetitive, mind-numbing tasks does not work well. Humans are waking up and demanding stimulating jobs that allow them to utilize skills that technology can’t replicate.

Saving time is the core of our value proposition, and everything we build must, in some way, savetime and, therefore, money. We will always look at activities to automate that allow the PMCs to operate 24/7. That is why we don’t primarily optimize for marketing KPIs like the number of leads and appointments with low show rates. We want to ensure we automate the work important to any given property. In a lease-up, we want to schedule as many appointments that show up, and in a fully leased property, we want to gracefully say there is no availability and put people on a waiting list. Many other solutions focus on increasing leads, phone calls, and the volume of work increases for leasing operations with little results. 

The role of AI

We don’t believe in using AI to mimic human conversation. Even though the technology we use lends itself to doing this, there are practical, ethical, and even legal considerations that we care about. We always want to be honest and let people know they are talking to a bot that is there to serve them. On the other hand, we believe that AI can perform a function as long as it’s not in contrast with our philosophy. We are very proud that we developed a unique approach to making AI invisible to the user while simultaneously improving our product’s performance.

When a chatbot mimics a human, it sets the wrong expectations for the user. The user thinks there is a human on the other end, which sets the conversation’s tone. People tend to share responses in multiple paragraphs long filled with personal information. This, in turn, overwhelms even the best AI and sets up the interaction for failure. Recent advances in AI notwithstanding, we are still talking about mathematical algorithms that use language models to   provide answers based on the quality of training data. If anything, all we have learned is how complex human conversation is. Conversation between humans relies heavily on nonverbal communication and, most importantly, empathy. Machines cannot replicate this. People don’t like to be duped unless they go to a magic show. How do you think someone feelswhen they find out they talked to a bot after sharing their most intimate details about their finances, health, and family? We see the notes that people leave and can say with 100% certainty people would not be sharing certain things if they knew there was nothing more than amathematical algorithm on the other side. Specific conversations have to remain between humans.

What does this say about us? 

Knowing our core philosophy shows what’s most important to us — people. We want leasing teams to be able to do their jobs efficiently, which is why we’ve created a product that helps save time. We want to serve prospects and residents in a way that’s convenient for them. Our purpose is to serve the multifamily industry in an invaluable way, and we will continue to enhance our product to do just that. 

It’s an understatement to say that 2022 exceeded our expectations. In the last year, we have worked tirelessly to create a product that serves the multifamily industry in a way no product has before. Here are some of the things we were able to accomplish in 2022 at BetterBot.

Q1

The most exciting part of the new year was that we reached an amazing milestone. We greeted our 100 millionth prospect during this time. This is significant because it shows how people gravitate towards chat and automation. During Q2 of 2021, we greeted our 50 millionth renter, meaning in less than a year, we reached another 50 million prospects. 

In addition to reaching this milestone, we launched our new calendar integration and team notification updates. This allows users to share information seamlessly and easily update their team. 

This season, we launched our first webinar series, Better Year, Better Marketing. This series of courses covered topics with several multifamily experts, including Trends and Best Practices for Self-Guided Tours, Automation Trends In Multifamily, Creating Moments for Virtual Engagement, and more. 

We also connected with some fantastic individuals at Multifamily Social Media Summit, where we partnered with some notable companies to host engaging events such as a wine tour and lobster boil. 

Q2

During Q2, we enhanced our product by launching our referral bot. This feature allows properties to share nearby communities they may also want to promote. It comes in handy when communities may be full, have income restrictions, or have differing floor plans. 

Throughout Q2, we had significant interactions with clients and prospective clients at TAA and NAA conferences. In addition to hosting some fun events with partners, we were able to have meaningful conversations with thought leaders in our industry that inspired us to make improvements throughout our product. 

Q3

We improved our multifamily chatbot user experience during the summer months by introducing invisible NLP into our lead nurturing product. NLP is also known as Natural Language Processing, which we have been intentional with when it comes to integrating it into our product.  Our goal is to ensure the best user experience, so we only use this method when it is guaranteed to work. 

In Q3, we expanded our partnership by working with Engrain to offer embedded site maps within the bot. This allows for a seamless experience for both prospects and site teams. 

Q3 also included our initiative to redefine automation and how it’s used in the multifamily industry. We aim to help educate the industry on how automation can work best for their business and shake up how it is viewed today. 

During this time, we hit another huge milestone. As we mentioned earlier, in Q1 we greeted our 100 millionth prospect, up from 50 million in 2021. Well, in September, we greeted another 50 million prospects…in just one day. That’s right. It practically broke the internet! 

Q4

The final months of the year had us out and about! We took over both Optech conferences and saw many friends, clients, and team members. We are grateful for this time to reconnect and share new industry insights. 

We also announced our latest partnerships. We shared that we are officially certified with RealPage as an AppPartner. We also became a preferred partner with Greystar. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with some fantastic companies. 

Plus, during Q4, we were able to continue enhancements to our products with the introduction of our office closed functionality and embedded reviews. These features allow even more customizations for the end user, enabling them to make it their own. 

Lastly, we sponsored and worked with some fantastic property management teams at their events throughout the year. We are grateful to have quality time with clients like Greystar, ZRS, Asset Living, Bell, and Lincoln. 

If 2022 has taught us anything, we can be open to new ideas and partnerships. We have rolled out exciting updates and products that we never dreamed of in the past. This past year brought us so much to be grateful for and has us excited for what 2022 will bring. If you’re wondering what lies ahead in 2022, check out our article on trends to watch for the year to come.

Almost 6 Leases/Property/Month!

Coastal Ridge dives into lease data around automation

Many in the Multifamily Industry are facing the same challenge right now: The labor shortage. More leasing professionals are leaving their properties than are coming in and replacing them is getting even more expensive…if you can find them.

One such company, Coastal Ridge, has been testing and deploying automation solutions to help during this labor shortage. The goal?  To give their leasing agents a better-quality work environment by reducing the volume of mundane, repetitive tasks they have to do on a daily basis and give them their time back.  But at what cost?  And is automation really working for them?

So Coastal Ridge did a deep dive into the data, and this is what they found using 36 of their properties over a period three months using just BetterBot’s web chat skill:

The following are averages per property per month…

2,260 – Number of renters greeted

174 – Unique renter conversations

340 – Total renter conversations

124 – Specific questions answered

14 – Virtual tours provided

29 – Conversational handoffs to the leasing team

19 – Appointments scheduled

5.8 – Leases that BetterBot helped facilitate

67 – Hours BetterBot’s web chat skill saved each property

$1200 – Money saved by deploying BetterBot’s web chat automation skill

And just for fun, when you add up all 36 properties for 3 months, Coastal Ridge saved 7,236 leasing team hours which equals $130,248 in cost savings. Was it worth it? “Absolutely,” says Megan Womick, Marketing Manager at Coastal Ridge. “We really do care about providing immediate service to our renters and reducing the workload for our leasing teams. Deploying this automation accomplished both.”

2021 was a year that had us hopeful for change. The previous year was challenging for everyone with the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020. However, we were excited about what the year ahead would bring. It’s an understatement to say that 2021 exceeded our expectations. In the last year, we have worked tirelessly to create a product that serves the multifamily industry in a way no product has before. Here are some of the things we were able to accomplish in 2021.

Q1

The most exciting part of the new year was that we could raise capital to expand product offerings and reach. This also allowed us to increase our team by __%. During Q1, we worked with our team to integrate with Rently. We also launched two new products — Affordable Bot and Student Bot. These two new products were created specifically for these communities built with unique features that help promote this property type. We also launched our latest version of the BetterBot dashboard, which allowed us to provide our customers with insights into the bot’s conversations.

Q2

During Q2, we expanded our partnership by working with Tour24. We also greeted our 50 millionth renter and were able to share what we learned with the industry. Underscoring this achievement is the internal growth BetterBot has experienced over the past two years. This has allowed us to set the foundation for our product and work on expanding into new areas.

Q3

During the summer months, we improved our multifamily chatbot user experience by updating the interface of our bot. We made sure to provide users with a simple but effective design to have the best user experience. In addition, we launched our newest product — BetterBot for Leads. This offering allows us to help teams nurture their leads throughout the leasing process and ultimately save them time. During Q3, we were excited to meet for the first time since the pandemic started at Multifamily Social Media Summit and Multifamily Women’s Summit. We were ecstatic to see familiar faces once again. Lastly, we announced integrations with both Entrata and Yardi. This allows us to reach more of our customers and provide more accurate information to our clients.

Q4

The final months of the year had us out and about! We took over both AIM and Optech conferences and were able to see so many friends, clients, and team members. We are super grateful for this time to reconnect in person and take in new industry insights. We also announced our latest integration with Rentgrata.

If 2021 has taught us anything, we can be open to new ideas and new partnerships. We have rolled out exciting updates and products that we never dreamed of in the past. We have grown our team exponentially and made meaningful connections. This past year brought us so much to be grateful for and has us excited for what 2022 will bring. If you’re wondering what lies ahead in 2022, check out our article on trends to watch for the year to come.

Bots Solve Problem of ‘Too Many’ Unqualified Leads

For the everyday consumer, the “You Might Also Like” button can certainly be your friend. But for many apartment marketers, it’s become an enemy.

It’s a nuisance because one of the industry’s most nagging problems – receiving “too many leads” – persists because so many of those leads are unqualified.

Karen Kossow, Marketing Director, Paradigm Companies, says her teams were wasting too much time on unqualified leads, a lot of which were generated by “You Might Also Like” links on websites.

“In the past, our team was responding up to three times with a lead and was getting no response,” she said. “Our team started to ignore many of them. When a bot can segregate the leads based on quality – such as prospects who engaged with the bot – it makes us much more efficient and successful.”

Since it rolled out the bots at five communities in March 2020 and nine more in late summer last year, Paradigm Companies has had 777,948 people greeted and 2,604 appointments scheduled through the bot.

Newest Product: Lead Optimization

Kim Boland, Director of Digital Marketing, Morgan Properties, has had 14,672 appointments scheduled through Better Bot (an average of 30,380 conversations per month) while running at 346 of its properties. It enables its customers to schedule appointments, schedule virtual tours or to talk to the onsite staff.

She’s taken the next step with the company’s newest offering – Better Bot for Leads – and is testing it at three communities through listings on an ILS that provides her portfolio with a great deal of leads.

“We all know there are a lot of renters who are looking, but who are not that serious, yet,” Boland says. “They might inquire at four or five properties at a time. Our staff was spending too much time following up with prospects and when they did, it was going nowhere.”

Better Bot for Leads looks to determine when that lead is ready to take the next step and it nurtures the leads through email follow-ups, inquiring only if the person is deemed truly interested or wants to schedule a tour or engage in any way. The bot has summited 22,448 leads to Morgan Properties of people who wanted more information.

At a community in Maryland, for example, Boland received 396 leads from Better Bot for Leads. From that, four appointments were scheduled and three of those wanted more information; 23 open and engaged with the email, 145 opened and at the current time did not engage and 220 remained unopened. “If these were sent to our team, they would have been wasting their time on empty requests,” Boland says.

Websites Can Be Intimidating

She says the bot is reasonably priced, “and for our customers, it creates a positive experience because they get the information that they lead without getting frustrated or impatient. They don’t have to click through a bunch of pages on a website and deal with drop-down menus, etc.”

Kossow also finds the bot to be a worthy alternative to the community’s full-display website. The bot discreetly sits on the home page.

“Websites are great, and we all love our own community websites, but they can sometimes be intimidating to new visitors who don’t always know where to click to do certain tasks or to look for certain things,” Kossow says. “The bot comfortably leads them through the process with the right prompts and links. We were able to include videos and “360” images in the links sent by the bot to the prospects.”

Paradigm also has the bot on its Google My Business accounts, includes it on its prospect e-blasts, and has it linked to its Facebook accounts, using it to communicate through Facebook Messenger.

Boland links Better Bot to its Google My Business (GMB) listings. “We all know that Google is taking over the world, so we want to put as much information about our property on our GMB listings,” Boland says. “A link to our bot makes that happen. So many people who have contacted us have never even visited our website because they found us through Google My Business and the bot gave them the information such as availability, scheduling, etc., that they wanted.

Constantly Looking to Improve

Kossow says Better Bot has been one of the easiest products to install in her property management software. “It has allowed us to operate our marketing 24-7, which has become so important,” says Kossow, who is looking to install it at affordable communities in the near future.

Boland says that Better Bot’s willingness to listen to its customers has led to greater success.

“They listen and make adjustments based on requests,” she says. “They want to hear your point of view and ideas.”

One example was that we helped them craft the initial follow-up emails that were sent to prospects, asking that they include a link to the bot to make it easier for apartment searchers.

“People these days want information and answers immediately, and they are getting that with Better Bot,” Boland says.

Multifamily Social Media Summit is one of our favorite conferences, and we will tell you why. We always get precious insights and make great connections at this event. Multifamily Social Media Summit is typically hosted in Napa, CA, each year, and this conference is the only one specifically focused on social media in the multifamily industry. It is specifically developed for property management teams leveraging social media, influencer, and content marketing to retain and attract residents. 2021 was year nine for this event, and it keeps getting better every year. Here are some reasons why we find it so valuable:

• Strategy
• Connections
• Resources

Strategy

Multifamily Social Media Summit helps teams form their social strategy. They provide valuable information into the ever-changing world of social media. With the insights gained at each and every session, multifamily marketing teams gain the knowledge and confidence to host a thriving online community for their properties. This is just one of the reasons why this conference is so important. 

Connections

The connections cultivated during this event are priceless. This event allows individuals to get to know each other and discuss some of the trials and triumphs in the multifamily industry. The event boasts several events where attendees can network with others and form genuine, professional relationships. 

Resources

During this conference, attendees are given the opportunity to connect with many resources. A section of the forum dedicated to multifamily-specific vendors and resources solely focused on helping property management companies. Not only do guests get the opportunity to connect with these resources in person, but they can take those relationships back with them and find solutions to dilemmas they have been facing. 

Overall, Multifamily Social Media Summit is one of the most valuable conferences in the industry. Along with providing a space to create a social strategy, grow connections, and find resources, the conference offers lasting memories. The experiences that are available at this conference are so meaningful and will continue to last. For more information on Multifamily Social Media Summit, CLICK HERE. 

We are so grateful for our valuable partnerships. We’ve seen some amazing success at KETTLER using the BetterBot platform. Daryl is the SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at KETTLER and mainly focuses on building a fully integrated omnichannel marketing platform while growing KETTLER’s brand presence. Daryl boasts over 20 years of experience and is highly motivated in the areas of consumer acquisition, retention, customer experience, digital marketing, and communications strategy. He has worked closely with some of the largest Multifamily companies and is an advocate for the consumer. He is also passionate about connecting brands through digital technology and data. Daryl shares his experience with BetterBot and how he has been able to leverage this partnership to bring success over at KETTLER.

Wondering how it’s done? Daryl Smith, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer at KETTLER spills the beans. Find out how BetterBot helps lease more apartments.

Interested in learning about some of the results that BetterBot has produced? We’ve got you covered.

On the fence about adding BetterBot to your site? Daryl has some great insight for you.

Again, we are so grateful for relationships such as ours with Daryl at KETTLER. For further information on how BetterBot is improving the renter journey and making things easier for leasing teams, CLICK HERE.