Under the multifamily umbrella, there are various property types – and no two properties are the same. And while innovations in proptech have made it much easier for property management teams to do everything from schedule tours to convert leads into new renters, no technology is a one-size-fits-all solution. Especially in the case of a multifamily chatbot, we’ve found that the more you can personalize and tailor your bot to your unique property type, the more effective it will be in the long term.
In this quick resource, we’ll outline both the benefits of tailoring your multifamily bot and how to go about it with specific examples.
Why tailoring your multifamily chatbot is important
More qualified leads
A great chatbot can help you insert yourself in conversations when and where it matters most. Still, a generic property chatbot can only help you get so far. Tailoring your chatbot to fit your property’s unique type and renter requirements can help you secure even more qualified leads and tours.
Meet your prospective renters where they are
Depending on your property type, prospective renters may be on the hunt for specific amenities and features. For example, students looking for housing may be interested in knowing how many beds an available room has. Customizing your bot to feature this and other relevant information can make it much easier to meet prospective leads’ needs directly without going back and forth with a property management team.
Give your team valuable time back
When your chatbot can more effectively meet people’s needs and provide relevant information, it can save your property management team valuable time. Instead of fielding endless email and phone queries, any information a person needs can be quickly obtained through your custom chatbot.
How to tailor your bot to common property types
Student
The apartment rental process can be unique for students, which is why it’s a great idea to craft a chatbot solution that can meet their needs. A few ways to tailor your bot for the student housing experience include:
Allowing students to search by unit availability: With many looking for apartments at the beginning and end of semesters, it can be helpful to search by availability at the touch of a button.
Search by the number of beds: Many students will opt to live with roommates to minimize the amount spent on rent. Your chatbot should be searchable by number of beds, not only to help your prospects find the right space but to help your property management team stay organized.
Student scheduling: The school year can look different based on the type of school and location. Our student bot offers a custom scheduling tool to schedule by semester, trimester, or quarter calendar.
Access to student resources: Providing interactive student resources is a great way to help your renters stay up-to-date with what’s going on at their building and school.
Conventional
Looking to spruce up your apartment chatbot? Here are a few of our recommendations:
Add multilingual support: Don’t leave great leads hanging just because English isn’t their first language. BetterBot offers multilingual support so you can easily communicate with all your prospects.
Offer virtual tours/videos: Although we’re a far cry from the beginning of the pandemic, many prospective renters may feel more comfortable taking a virtual tour of your property. With BetterBot, you can easily embed your virtual tours from Matterport, LCP360, Zillow, Vimeo, Helix, Realync, YouTube, and more.
Embed your photo galleries: Instead of sending users away from your chatbot to check out your fantastic pool and tennis court, you can quickly embed all the galleries you want directly into your chatbot.
Affordable
Especially in affordable/section 8 housing, it can be challenging for property management teams to keep up with the volume of leads and daily requests for information. A personalized chatbot can help make your life much easier by offering the following:
Waitlist management: With a user-friendly dashboard, our Affordable Bot makes it simple to view your waitlist at a glance. And once a renter moves out, you can easily choose the next – no physical list needed.
Affordable-specific dialogue: For example, you can pre-qualify leads by asking for yearly income and the number of residents looking to move in. This can help prospective renters know quickly and easily whether or not they qualify to move into your affordable spaces before even speaking with your team.
Affordable-specific reporting: Even at an affordable property, it’s still crucial that your team can sell your property experience. Our affordable-specific dashboard allows your team to quickly assess top-of-funnel leasing performance, helping you determine what’s working – and what isn’t.
Lease-Up
A Lease-Up specific bot can be beneficial for communities that may be so new that they don’t have a website up and running yet.
Offer community-specific information: Your bot will be the first (and likely only) place people go to learn about your upcoming community. Make sure to customize it with plenty of relevant information, including info on parking, amenities, and whether or not your facilities will be pet-friendly.
Set up tour appointments: Just because you don’t have a site yet doesn’t mean you can’t start booking tour appointments. Set up and manage tour appointments directly from your bot from the get-go.
In almost every industry today, personalization and customization reign supreme. And it’s not just about better serving your leads and renters – it’s also about helping make your teams’ life easier too. With the right chatbot solution at their fingertips, property management teams can feel empowered to spend less time on repetitive, low-value workflows. For more chatbot guides and insights into multifamily industry trends, check out the BetterBot Blog.
