Property management businesses have a lot on their mind in 2022. From developing more innovative customer experiences to navigating changing regulations, there’s a lot for property managers and their teams to consider. Of course, an ever-present challenge continues to be cost of onboarding. If you can’t manage it, there’s no way you’ll be able to keep up with the pace of change. But with the right technology supporting you, it’s much easier to save in the long term. 

Exactly how much can the right tech investment save you? Today we’ll be taking a look at the cost of onboarding a new employee versus onboarding BetterBot. You’d be surprised to find that utilizing a digital leasing agent can help save you thousands of dollars. 

How BetterBot can help lower your operating costs

We all know that retaining your current employees is much more cost-effective than onboarding new ones. But if someone retires or resigns, you might think you have no choice but to add a new member to your team. The good news is, there’s another option. 

Before we get into the other option property management teams have, it’s helpful to break down just how much onboarding a new employee can cost. 

How much does it cost to onboard a new property manager?

Let’s start with salary: While property management salaries can vary wildly between different areas, the average leasing agent in the US makes around $18 an hour, which comes out to roughly 34k per year. But employees don’t just walk in the door with all the skills they need. Training costs can add up to a significant amount as well. The National Association for Talent Development found that the average cost of training a new employee will set a company back $1252. But suppose you’re a property management company paying both a trainer and that $18 average hourly wage to get your new employee up to speed. In that case, that cost will likely be significantly higher. 

And if you’re already facing rising costs, making that decision to onboard someone new can put a strain on your finances. This is where investing in the right technology can help keep those costs down. 

The cost of onboarding BetterBot

Onboarding with BetterBot is one-time, $150 fee. That’s it. Our team will even handle set-up for you. Plus, we’ll walk you through how to integrate our chatbot into your workflow and explain our extensive integrations. For about 3 hours’ worth of pay for one employee, you’ll have an intuitive property management chatbot that will leave no source untouched. 

At the end of the day, though, true cost-effectiveness isn’t just about saving money on onboarding expenses. 

Don’t forget time = money

It may be an old cliché, but every business knows there’s truth behind it. Time is money, and the more time you can save your teams, the more opportunities they’ll have to generate new business. In fact, on average, BetterBot saves properties 66.8 hours per property each month. At a minimum, that’s just over $1,200 that your team could be saving using BetterBot. Instead, properties could be spending a fraction of that cost by investing in automation.  

As we like to say, business hours are a thing of the past. Today, people expect excellent, informative customer service 24/7, 365. However, this excellent customer service doesn’t have to come from live human agents. Leasing automation can jump in and help. Most people are more than happy to speak with chatbots – granted, you’re not trying to masquerade your chatbot as a real person. 

If you can save your team, say, 10 hours a week of reaching out to and responding to leads, they can put those 10 hours into more valuable tasks – like following up with the most qualified leads. In turn, utilizing a digital leasing agent can help boost your closing ratio. And your team will be more than grateful to have all of those hours back. 

Maximizing value is all about making intelligent decisions. Don’t keep wasting funds that you don’t have. Invest in an automation solution that will have your team’s back and integrate into your tech stack. Learn more about how BetterBot can take your customer experience to the next level here.