Tapping Technology for More Effective Operations
As an industry, multifamily is always looking for ways to be more effective, whether it’s improving lease conversions, operational efficiencies or driving resident satisfaction. With the recent advancements in property technology, apartment management companies are tapping tech solutions to bolster their efforts across all aspects of operations.
During the 2021 AIM session, Ad Board Talks: Investing Time, Energy & Money in PropTech, members of the AIM Advisory Board discussed innovations, investments and advancements in technology, and how they’re being deployed in the multifamily space.
“We’re really looking holistically at our entire software org chart and trying to create a better experience,” said Girish Gehani, Chief Operating Officer at Trilogy Real Estate Group.
“We’re looking at new technology that we don’t have in place, but also looking inward. We’re getting back to basics and looking at each level of our existing infrastructure and finding pieces we can upgrade to create a better experience from that first prospect contact all the way through the resident life cycle.”
As proptech has evolved, particularly over the past 18 months, so has operators’ requirements and expectations of technology solutions.
“We look at the challenges and problems we have, what we’re struggling with today and how it could be solved through technology,” said Mark Zikra, Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at CA Ventures. “Proptech started as a bunch of single-point solutions, but point solutions are no longer viable. Everything needs to integrate.”
While operators might have an isolated problem that they’re attempting to solve, integration with existing software and management systems is now a prerequisite.
“Do you integrate with our PMS? That’s a top three question,” said Marcella Eppsteiner, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Training at Mission Rock Residential. “Really what we’re asking is if it’s seamless, and is this technology going to do what it says it’s going to do. You can’t have technology solutions that address one problem. Solutions have to interact with the other technology in our stack.”
Connected solutions can create greater efficiencies than products acting independently. For example, occupancy sensors simply count the number of people in a space. But when tied into HVAC systems, which are tied into weather forecasting software, the collective system can automatically adjust airflow and temperatures based on specific conditions.
Pinpointing such opportunities, as well as areas where operations might be streamlined, can help to dictate proptech spending.
“Understand your technology stack and identify your gaps. Then you can move forward to improve your capabilities,” said Daryl Smith, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at KETTLER. “Sometimes you find that your teams aren’t fully utilizing existing settings, and you can adjust or cut tech. But you can also use that data to identify remaining gaps.”
Without a clear understanding of what a particular solution was built to do and the results it was designed to achieve, operators risk introducing redundancies or ineffectual platforms. Collaborative communication with the tech provider can help to establish realistic expectations and predictable outcomes.
“You have to understand the vision of the solution and how to measure its success. You have to understand what you’re measuring,” Eppsteiner said. “Measuring success is understanding the story that the data is going to tell from that technology.”
Here is the replay:
- Girish Gehani, Chief Operating Officer at Trilogy Real Estate Group
- Mark Zikra, Senior Vice President of Technology & Innovation at CA Ventures
- Marcella Eppsteiner, SVP of Marketing, Training and Revenue Management at Mission Rock Residential
- Daryl Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at KETTLER
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