I used to fly into Vegas three or four times a year. I especially loved coming in at nighttime and seeing all the bright lights, flashing neon signs and the general busyness of people milling around. That’s definitely fun when you’re preparing to land and spend some time in the Sun City.
What’s not fun is when you’re thinking of moving to an apartment, going to their site and seeing flashing buttons, call-to-actions everywhere and…well…just general busyness. It’s not only hard to navigate, it’s just plain hard to look at.
I get it. There are so many tools, widgets and solutions available today that help a prospective renter, we want to make sure they know about it. But there’s a better way of going about this. Imagine a prospect walks into a leasing office and the leasing agent sprints to the door carrying 7 fliers and tells the prospect they need to read all of this right now. Of course this is going to overwhelm the prospect and the agent doesn’t yet know what specific information the prospect is really seeking. Good agents greet with a smile, ask what they’re in the market for, and allow the conversation to take its natural course.
Well, a bot…a good bot that is…is very similar to that leasing agent. The bot pops up and says, “Hey, I’m here if you need me.” When engaged, the bot can provide all of sorts of options and allows the prospective renter to guide the conversation. If the prospect wants to know about the pet policy or amenities, great! If they want to know about availability, terrific. If they want to talk to a current resident to get their perspective, even better. And if they want to schedule an appointment, score! All of these actions can be met and facilitated by the bot.
Bot technology when done right isn’t just one more thing to add to a property website and other marketing channels. The right kind of bot can carry all of those other widgets and their functionality within the bot experience freeing up your site so it can breathe again. And if you really like the job your digital agent (bot) is doing, feel free to send it to Las Vegas for a little fun in the sun.
