My old property used to offer a free accent wall painted or having their hard wood floors cleaned by our cleaning company. We would also offer their fans, blinds and hard to reach places in the apartment cleaned.
Upgraded stylish light fixture in the kitchen/dining room area. Ceiling fans in the rooms that may not have them. Accent wall. Built in wine rack. We tried to do things that would upgrade the apartment and stay in the apartment when they eventually moved out. We had a menu they could choose one item from.
3 years 3 months ago#49253by Renee Kennedy Phillips
Upgrade incentive. Blinds, kitchen faucet, New carpet, carpeting cleaning, 1 hour housecleaning. Or they can request a special upgrade upon approval. (Dishwasher etc)
I offered to walk their unit to see what I can update. Sometimes they wanted a newer Ceiling Fan, sometimes it was replacing damaged or old blinds. I even gave folks a new appliance...depending on a few factors but you’ll have to decide what that is for you. The reasons I never bought into CCs are: a) it’s part of housekeeping and residents should be doing this but almost never do, I found, based on the demographic I had, b) “clean today, dirty tomorrow” and the “gift” effect doesn’t last. My assessment is if you’re giving them something tangible, you are more likely to get it back in good condition for the next resident. And when you provide a visual update, they feel better about the apt. and they feel valued. I had a lot of success with it.
Blinds, microwave (if you do not have them), accent wall, faucet upgrade, rounded shower bar.... if you have a movie theater we also used do offer private party for them and guests and cater with candy and popcorn.
We now offer the spruce or sparkle package. The spruce package includes a one time housekeeping service. The sparkle package is a carpet clean, new drip pans and touch up paint service. Before we would only do carpet clean but I’m way higher occupied (98%) than I’ve ever been before with a high renewal rate. I wanted to do more for them. Plus are rental increase have been more than normal too. So we started promoting this like last month and my residents are responding very well to the incentives.
As a resident, I’ve been offered new drip pans, front door painting, balcony power washing, and the ubiquitous carpet cleaning. On the other side, I’ve only ever been able to offer a carpet cleaning
Window & blind cleaning, light fixture cleaning, painted accent wall, ceiling fan installed, carpet cleaning or a gift certificate to the salon we have at our property.
I love the TLC to their home!
The best gifts are not items (sometimes)
The carpet cleaning along with cleaning of their ceiling fans, window seals, blinds & appliances would be my favorite from all I’ve seen so far!
At least for my market! The class A+ properties, the residents probably have weekly housekeepers already.
This must all begin during budget process. Extra money must be included for a successful and consistent program. Walking apartment with Maintenance Supervisor. Based on an appointment basis. We review home and any improvements needed. Based on our current budget, things needed. This is all based on length of residency. There are many small things to give to make a huge difference s on older communities. Little to do in newer communities. Be creative with a renewal gift outside of apartment. Valued up to 20.00. We had a favorite things flier downloaded in their file.
Also breakdown moving costs, lost time moving, change of address on all their stuff. Sometimes offering a reserved parking spot for that resident is free but huge to them. High occupancy can yield shortage on parking.
Theoretically, you should offer almost anything you would have to give or do to lease the apartment home to a new resident. BUT...the reason we focus so much on customer/resident service and creating a desirable living environment is to provide our residents with those intangible but critically important reasons to stay rather than move!
Even though our industry has grown sophisticated and intuitive in the product and services we sell to renters, there are still four things all residents REALLY want:
1. Immaculate Environment.
2. Friendly, Efficient and Professional Service and Response.
3. Good Neighbors (Translation: SAFETY and Security!).
4. Fair and Equal Treatment - Even beyond the requirements of Fair Housing.
All things being equal, the onsite team that best delivers these 4 basics are going to win the renewal game. A renewal gift of anything is a slap in the face to the resident if you are not providing the Big 4!
I’ve implemented an incentive program for renewals, where the resident has the ability to choose one option from a menu of items to upgrade their apartment. These include things such as updated kitchen faucet, California closets, accent wall painted, updated handheld shower head, updated linoleum flooring in kitchen/bathroom, etc....