From Zlatko Bogoesvski, CEO and Co-Founder of BetterBot: “It is my pleasure to announce that Debbie Sehorn has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of BetterBot effective immediately. Debbie has been an integral part of our team for the past four years, and her contributions have been instrumental in driving the company’s success.

Debbie joined BetterBot as a finance manager and quickly demonstrated her ability to manage complex financial operations. She also took on the additional responsibility of overseeing HR, where she implemented policies and procedures that have helped us attract and retain top talent.

Most recently, Debbie has been leading our efforts to improve operational efficiencies. Her keen analytical skills and strategic thinking have been invaluable in identifying areas where we can streamline processes and reduce costs.

As COO, Debbie will continue to oversee finance and HR, and will take on additional responsibilities, including managing our day-to-day operations and ensuring that we are meeting our growth targets. With her strong leadership skills and deep understanding of our business, I have no doubt that she will excel in this new role.

Please join me in congratulating Debbie on this well-deserved promotion.

From Robert Turnbull, President and Co-Founder of BetterBot: “I love it when people are promoted and everyone thought they already had the job.  That means you just promoted the right person and Debbie Sehorn has proven time and again she is absolutely the right person for this job.

With Debbie focused on improving operational efficiencies, it allows me to focus solely on our product evolution, go-to-market strategy, and revenue growth for BetterBot. With the exponential leaps and bounds AI is taking right now, we plan to keep BetterBot well ahead of the curve and solving problems before now not attempted.” 

At BetterBot, we constantly enhance our products to offer the best automation solution in multifamily. One feature that is often requested is the ability to communicate with prospects via text message. We’ve been listening to our users and now with our NurtureSkill, the bot will follow up with prospects via SMS in response to leads that are sent through ILS platforms. 

How it works

When a lead that contains a phone number is received by through BetterBot’s NurtureSkill, the platform will respond initially with a text message. If the individual does not engage with that message, they will automatically be sent a follow-up to ensure the lead is still being attended to. The nurture platform will continue to try to engage the prospect by both email and text until the prospect engages in one channel, which will then be the preferred channel for communicating with the prospect.

This skill is powered by BetterBot’s NLP engine and any texts that may come back to BetterBot are responded to promptly. If the user decides to call the number that is being texted, BetterBot ensures those calls are directed to the property so that there is no way of missing any lead that may be interested. 

How to set up SMS

Whether you’re a current BetterBot customer or you’re interested in learning more, setting up is an easy process. Simply contact BetterBot and set up a quick chat with one of our team members. We’ll make it as painless as possible, we promise. Want to see what else is new at BetterBot? Learn more about hosting surveys within your bot or how utilizing FAQs can help enhance your bot’s performance. 

Written by CEO & Co-Founder — Zlatko Bogoevski

Over the last few years, we have seen a massive change in how people look for new homes. Year over year, we’re seeing an increase in the number of renters that choose AI assistants as their preferred method to get answers to questions ranging from pricing and availability to neighborhood, amenities, and reviews. Over the last four years, BetterBot has served over 1.4 million multifamily units. At our scale, we have gathered some valuable insights along the way. Here are four lessons we’ve learned from serving over 1.4 multifamily units and automating over 4,000 leasing operations. 

Value Proposition Matters

The value proposition for automation is stronger than ever. Property managers are forced to operate with skeleton on-site teams due to labor shortages. Post pandemic potential on-site employees prefer jobs that are remote and offer flexible hours.  Investing in a good AI automation platform can bring 10x to 20x in savings for every dollar invested.

Human Interaction Can’t Be Replaced

Humans are still very important and will be an essential part of operations for quite some time. During Covid, many properties had to close their offices and experiment with tech that took leasing staff entirely out of the picture through reliance on automated tours and call centers. Now that things are back to normal, we know that people prefer visiting a property before making a choice on a place to live. They still want a guided tour by an experienced agent that can solve potential application problems and answer nuanced property-related questions.

Automation Has Become Mainstream

AI automation has moved into the mainstream in the multifamily industry. For the last three years, AI automation was for innovators and early adopters, while many PMCs waited for proof on the sidelines. There has been a fast shift in thinking to where property managers are no longer considering whether to implement an automation solution but rather which one.

It’s All About Experience

There is no replacement for a good product experience. Many AI automation products demo well but in practice, are confusing, error-prone, and don’t deliver results. Renters want fast and accurate answers to their questions in a 24/7/365 fashion from their mobile devices. Property managers prefer easy-to-deploy and manage products and can scale across a portfolio of different unit types like conventional, student, and affordable. 

Over the last four years, it’s been essential for us to reflect and make sure we are learning along the way. Since BetterBot was formed in January 2019, we have been striving to deliver a low-friction experience that provides fast and correct answers with every interaction. We’ve been incorporating these lessons along the way and will continue to learn along the way. Learn more about what we’ve been able to accomplish over the past year, and stay tuned to see what we have up our sleeves. 

We are constantly working on enhancing our product. The way Walt Disney said, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world,” is precisely how we feel about our products at BetterBot. One thing that inspires us every day is our clients. They continuously show us what they need the most, and we do our best to bridge that gap. For example, the feature we are sharing was inspired by one of our amazing clients, Karen Kossow, at Paradigm.

As many companies are dealing with, Paradigm is also facing labor shortages. These staffing concerns caused them to close most of their offices on Sundays, meaning the staff is only in the office six days a week rather than the seven they’d always been open. 

“We wanted the capability to share with our prospects that our office is closed and to specify when they should expect a response,” says Karen Kossow. “Knowing that BetterBot’s team tends to be nimble, I reached out and asked if this was something we could do. We use BetterBot’s NurtureSkill, so not only can we use it on our website, but this functionality can also be used across all the advertising platforms.” Paradigm has since rolled out this feature across all their communities and has helped create consistency across all communication channels.

How it works

By updating your office hours in the back end, BetterBot can now intuitively share that information with incoming prospects. For example, if a property is closed on Sundays, all you need to do is indicate that in the dashboard, and a message will pop up in the call-outs, like the one below. 

Another way the prospect will be notified is by making the user aware of when the office will reopen. For example, the message below reads: “Please note that our leasing offices are closed today. If you reach out, expect to hear back from our leasing office as soon as Tuesday 09/06”. The bot will read the office hours and share the next day your office will open. That way, the end-user has realistic expectations for when they will hear back. If they do decide to schedule an appointment, they will also be notified, so it is crystal clear. 

Again, we truly value the feedback and insight from our valued customers. We will continue to enhance our product to optimize the user experience while providing for the community’s needs. For more information on BetterBot’s updates, check out our blog, which houses all our feature announcements.

Ways to make apartment hunting less spooky for renters

Spooky season has arrived! While many of us love the fun Halloween and fall vibes, it’s essential that apartment hunting remain one of those sacred things that do not become spooky. So how can we make it easier on them? Here are a few things you can do to make apartment hunting easier. Plus, when you make it easy for renters, you also make it easier on your team. It’s a double win! 

Don’t make them go on a witch hunt for answers.

Renters want information wherever and whenever they are looking for it. That’s why it’s so crucial that, as marketers, we make it easy on them. They shouldn’t have to go on a hunt to find the information they’re looking for. Utilizing tools, such as chatbots, can often remedy this issue. For instance, using BetterBot’s platform, all the information is embedded in one spot. It is delivered conversationally, allowing the prospect to find what they’re looking for in one plus. Plus, it can be deployed anywhere prospects are looking for you, allowing consistency in shared information. You won’t have to worry about updating information in multiple places because it’s all in one. Less work for you and less work for your prospects. 

Neighborhood insights 

(For the best trick or treating info, duh)

Okay, maybe don’t add anything about trick-or-treating spots because they will eventually go out of season (unless you live in Halloweentown, then go for it!). Renters want to know about the surrounding neighborhood. Be sure to share information such as surrounding shops, restaurants, schools, etc. Another thing that is also helpful is referral info. If one of your properties doesn’t have availability, but another one does, you should be referring to that community. Or, if someone wants to move to an affordable community but they don’t qualify, you can refer them to a sister community that might be a good fit for them. 

Don’t ghost your prospects.

It’s important that each prospective resident feels seen and heard. However, teams can often be inundated with leads, making it difficult to follow up with each person. Lead nurturing tools can help by following up with prospects and taking their interest temperature. Once that lead has been followed up, they should be put into different categories: hot, warm, and cold. Having these sorted allows the team to focus on the leads most likely to convert, which results in more leases.  

Hunting for apartments shouldn’t be scary. Moving is already stressful; finding a new space shouldn’t add to that. Features like chat technology, neighborhood info, and lead nurturing can help consolidate things for the end user. These tools make it easier to help potential renters while also making it easier on your teams. It saves them time and allows them to focus on what matters most — connecting with others. Plus, they’ll have more time to decorate for Halloween, which is what most of us really want anyways. Happy spooky season and happy leasing! 

Multifamily’s most-adopted conversational leasing solution hits new usage high

“Back in the early days of BetterBot we were excited to have our little digital agent greet and converse with a few thousand renters in a day,” recalls Robert Turnbull, President and co-founder of BetterBot. “The fact that our digital agents are now greeting and or conversing with more than half a million prospective renters in a single day is truly remarkable.”

On Thursday, August 4 of 2022, BetterBot facilitated more than 500K greetings and/or conversations with renters in three countries. Multiple factors play into the high volume, but the three primary drivers are: renter traffic is high in the Summer, consumers are happy to converse with a bot, and BetterBot’s user interface is converting one in 5 conversations to appointments. 

BetterBot’s ability to distribute these digital agents across numerous channels and be deployed with multiple skills impacts these numbers. In addition to a property’s website, BetterBot’s ChatSkill can be deployed anywhere a prospective renter can find a property such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Business Profile, YouTube, Yelp, various ILSs, etc.  BetterBot’s NurtureSkill can intercept, nurture, and convert leads into conversations and appointments from any source.

“People in our Industry can debate the need or value of chatbots and conversational solutions,” said Zlatko Bogoevski, CEO and co-founder of BetterBot. “But these kinds of numbers tell the story. Consumers, specifically renters and prospective renters, are using conversational tools like BetterBot to provide information quickly and offload repetitive tasks for leasing teams.”

Today BetterBot operates in three countries and can deploy multiple skills across various Multifamily segments such as conventional, affordable, student, senior, lease-up, and mixed-income property types. To learn more about how BetterBot’s automation platform works, check out the Automation Basics — here you’ll find all the ways automation should work for your community and how to get started.

Multifamily’s most adopted conversational leasing solution just got better with an interactive community map feature.

Prospective renters today want all the information they can get, wherever and whenever.  They want real-time responses to their questions, actual pricing and availability, real photography, video and virtual tours at both the amenity and individual apartment level. And, they want to know the exact location of their potential new home. 

Technology coupled with these new renter needs have led to more advanced integrations and collaboration between our industry’s PropTech providers. We’re excited to announce that BetterBot, the multifamily industry’s most adopted conversational leasing technology, recently added Engrain’s interactive maps to the leasing experience.

“We’re focused on transforming the way people find, lease and manage properties, providing transparency to renters and allowing them to narrow their search using criteria that matters to them and then choose the specific apartment they want to live in,” said Melissa Pasquale, Vice President, Unit Map Platform at Engrain. “Our interactive Unit Maps integrate seamlessly with other software applications, enhancing the property techstack and creating a consistent user experience for prospects.”

By using Unit Map as a feature, the BetterBot digital leasing agent can now show a prospect where the specific units are in relation to amenities, entrances, parking and other landmarks by giving them a visual of the community.   

“BetterBot’s thousands of digital leasing agents have completed millions of conversations with prospective renters on behalf of apartment communities all across the US, Canada and Mexico,” explained Robert Turnbull, President and Founder of BetterBot. “Nearly 60% of these conversations are happening after hours and on various channels such as Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, and so on. Engrain provides exactly the kind of rich content these prospects want to see – wherever and whenever.”

Existing Engrain clients can get their maps added to BetterBot by filling out this request form. If a BetterBot client doesn’t have an Engrain Unit Map yet, simply visit Engrain’s content upload form, provide the required information and Engrain will make it happen. Once Engrain creates the map, it  will appear on the BetterBot-powered digital leasing agent within days. These maps created for use in the BetterBot chatbot are available to property managers at no cost.