Renewal Incentives.

Hey everyone .. I hope you can help me with some ideas.

I am looking for something to present as a renewal incentive for our summer renewals. I would like to stay on a modest budget while offering something that a resident would love.

What have you done in the past? Any and all ideas are appreciated!

Thanks!

Renewals? Well I will give you a few of my ideas and see what you think! I have started with putting in entry way areas in all of my renewals apartment homes. If you have garages on property you could do so much off per month resulting in a free month over a year lease. Our cable company offers incentive for referring new residents to sign up with them you could pass your discount on to renewing residents if that is something your cable person would be willing to do. All new compact florescent bulbs throughout their apartment.(go green theme) Just a few ideas hope this helps!!

We've done several different things here...

Sometimes an upgrade to the apartment
a gift card to Walmart

Relatively inexpensive and they loooove the giftcards!

Below are several ideas that we use periodically:
$50 "rental bucks" coupons to be applied toward rent
Free carpet cleaning
We purchase bulk gym memberships for our residents- so free gym memberships
Accent wall painted for them
Free apartment cleaning

Hope this helps!

I take a contrarian view - I'm opposed to renewal "carrots". I really don't think that people make life decisions like moving or not moving based on a renewal gift. The best program for increasing renewals can be summed up in one word: "service".

We have a large, 40-year old property with nearly 350 apartments. We offer our customers Anytime Maintenance Service 24/7/365 for emergency or non-emergencies service needs. This means that if a customer needs a light bulb changed on Christmas day we will do so. We're far from perfect and screw up from time to time; and, there are circumstances that sometimes won't allow for same day service (e.g., needing a part, scheduling with a contractor, snow storm emergency). But, in general, we are able to perform most of our service requests when requested, same day, 24/7/365.

In addition, we have one person on our maintenance staff whose nearly sole responsibility during the business day is to perform service requests. We also ask our customers for service. Each conversation we have with a customer should end with this question: "Is there anything we can take care of for you in your apartment?", which can often jog someone's memory about something he/she meant to request.

Does this level of service payoff? Our rate of turnover is less than half the NAA reported national average of 60%. One of every 3 customers stays more than 5 years, one of every 5 customers stays more than 10 years. Our length of stay is about three times better than the national average reported by SatisFacts Research ( bit.ly/hYThyC ). How much money and wear and tear do we save with less turnover? A bunch ( bit.ly/FullyLeased ).

And, with YouMail, I can review and manage the prior day's service requests with our staff each morning, quickly and efficiently.

At the end of the day, the best renewal gift we can give our customers is good service.

Rick Hevier
Richard Hevier
Richard S. Hevier
[email protected]

These are all wonderful ideas. I'm going to try and sort thorugh them and see which ones work best for our property.

Thank you for all your responses.

I schedule an open ended work order to repair whatever maintenance issues that went unreported just before I send the renewal notice.

Post a 7 day notice of entry for this that explains your maintenance team is doing their annual preventive maintenance based on the anniversary of their move in. Use this opportunity to clean the a/c filters, change the smoke detectors or batteries as appropriate, check plumbing fixtures for leaks, replace light bulbs with CFL's, install CO detectors if you have gas and have not done so (this may be required in your state, or will be soon), replace any broken/missing vanes on the window coverings.

If you notice anything that needs replacement in their unit and need the resident's assistance, follow this up with a letter documenting findings:

'We were in your unit this morning and noted that the carpet/flooring/paint in your unit needs to be replaced. Our company policy is that all units get a fresh coat of paint for each new resident, or every x years; and the carpet is at least cleaned for each new resident, or replaced every x years. Since you have been here past the time for fresh paint or new carpet; this will be at no charge to you, however we will need your assistance to complete this task. We can discuss this when you come into the office to sign your lease renewal.'

This letter should be attached to the lease renewal offer.

Offer upgrades on services that you have. Wifi is something that every apartment complex should offer. There are a few services that would allow you to provide Wifi to your entire complex that would cost them less than their subscription and you can either add it to their rent. It would be an amenity that Gen Y would certainly appreciate.

Great idea! Everyone loves Wifi!

When I terminated AT&T for office communications and went to Comcast at my last property; I got them to include WiFi so that each unit could have access to it. Fortunately, it was not difficult for them to do as it was a single building property (3 floors of 22 units each).

I had also started talking to the local electric provider about installing solar panels at their expense in such a way as to sell the excess power generated back to them.

These were presented as values to the current and prospective residents: 'Live here and get free internet and electricity!'.......

WE have had ice cream scoops made with our logo on it and a cute saying... "________ has the scoop on great living!" something like that... Then we put a gallon of ice cream and a scoop in their freezer... or you could put the scoop on their door with a certificate to come to the office to pick up their ice cream.

Bravo!
Calling carpet shampooing, painting, etc. an "incentive" is a sign that you're not scheduling those as regular upkeep. Let freshening the apartments of long-term tenants go too long, and you can create a disincentive to stay! Don't forget how many opportunities one may have had to see the "make-ready" preparations for apartments turning over. They WILL walk through them, or at least peek in, and feel resentful if theirs looks dingy and old by comparison. (And justifiably so!)
In my opinion, a renewal "incentive" needs to be something that new tenants don't get - a reserved parking spot, or and upgrade to the apartment, ranging from a simple ceiling fan or light fixture to a new, better stove, refrigerator, or even counter tops.

Lurker, you need to create an account so I can give you some karma for that post - absolutely fantastic!

All residents receive incentives. But the incentives we provide are priceless and inexpensive. We offer them a staff that truly cares about them and shows it every day. Plus free coffee and treats daily, and occasional Goody bag. The last one was laundry goodies, a one-load box of laundry soap and fabric softener. This time its a dental bag, toothpaste and toothbrush and such.

If a resident keeps their apartment in the kind of condition that would require the equivalent of a turn every 6-12 months at renewal, they aren't the kind of residents we want to provide incentives to stay at our community. Regular upkeep should be done by the tenant. Management has a duty to provide maintenance, tenant is obligated to keep the apartment in decent condition. That's the deal. Residents who DO keep their end of the bargain get to keep living here, and will receive upgrades as appropriate.

We have one resident who has lived in our building for 30 years. He does not need (or want) new carpet, paint, etc. He did get a bigger and nicer fridge and stove than a new resident would get when his wore out. We have offered to paint his place, install a ceiling fan, and other upgrades, but he refuses.

Over 70% of our residents renew at least once. More than 30% have been in our community for over 5 years. Our turnover rate is 17%.

I think a lot of this depends on the specific property and what the needs/concerns/wants are. Why exactly residents leave that community should dictate what ways we should be inspiring them to renew. So in that respect, I think both Rose and Lurker could be correct for their particular situations. I do agree with you, Rose, about the agreement between a resident and the community, but I think we have to acknowledge the fact that their are other "suitors" that are trying to woo our residents away. If they are doing a good job of that, we have to concede that a resident will get a "new" apartment if they leave, and if we don't match that in some way, then we are likely losing ground.

So true Brent. Many of my residents shop around at lease renewal time. I would too.

I don't try very hard to entice residents to stay. I want my residents to be happy where they live, whether it's in my community or somewhere else. If a resident seeks something we can't provide, I am happy recommend a few places. I know my comps very well.

The suitors may have better apartments and amenities, but my long term residents stay because I offer them a level of service they have never experienced before- and probably won't again.

The "renewal incentives" thread makes me uncomfortable because it seems to miss the criticial point and thus, seems to be mislabeled. I would, instead, shift our focus from "renewal incentives" to "customer retention" or, to put another way, "customer satisfaction".

The theory behind "renewal incentives" seems to be that a community can offer some kind of carrots that will cause a customer to make a decision to stay in their apartment. These carrot ideas vary widely in scope, including things like free carpet shampooing, free coffee, ice cream scoops with community logos, goodie bags, new painting, community events, etc. "Renewal incentives", i.e., all of these carrot ideas could be better be labeled as "Public Relations", but don't fit the psychology of customer retention/satisfaction.

Realistically, there are forces at work that lead customers to decide to move that a property has no control over, such as job transfer, family issues, etc. On the other hand, moving from one home to another is not easy, the costs of moving are not just financial and also include lost work time and mundane disruptions such as a new address or changing of paid services. The level of mobility may also have some relationship to income or region of the country and thus, certain properties could be more at risk for mobility than others. In our case, Syracuse has experienced negative population growth, negative job growth, and certainly being the snowiest big city in North America doesn't help either. And, we have an aging property of 44+ years.

First, we should acknowledge that customer retention/satisfaction begins from the initial encounters, with the clock starting with the move-in experience and continuing through the next twelve months. Then, what was the quality of the "apartment prep"? Quality can be affected by the age of the property or its original construction approach, but some properties will compress their apartment prep turnover process into a very short time period. A poor quality turnover results in future service requests, which even if performed to perfection, are annoyances to customers, and will have a drain on overall customer satisfaction. Poor quality begets poor quality, which leads to shorter stays, which leads to more customer turnover.

Second, Public Relations efforts (i.e., "renewal incentives") are nice, but cannot substitute for a "good" experience. A "good" experience can be affected by things such as issues with neighbors, a poorly prepared apartment, or simply poor service. The problem with PR efforts is that they make management feel like it is addressing customer retention/satisfaction, when it fact, the bigger picture of "good" experiences is what needs to be the primary focus.

The most important amenity is customer service. We want to provide "Anything, Anytime" service, which includes changing a light bulb on Christmas Day. We don't always succeed, but improving service is where are efforts are directed. "Renewal incentives" are more of a placebo, but realistically cannot substitute for a "good" experience.

Sadly, a few weeks ago, and almost timed together, we lost two customers who moved: one had been with us for 39 years, the other for 38 years. There were times that with both sets of customers we failed in our expectations for service. And, like a lot of relationships, it was not always blissful, but overall, we played an important role in their lives and we appreciate the opportunity they gave us.

Rick Hevier
Richard Hevier
Rick S. Hevier
[email protected]

Thanks Rick, I totally agree. I think it's not so much renewal incentives that I'm against, I think it's just what they are called. Resident retention fits what I do much more accurately.

Put Together a Menu of items and services that the resident can choose from ~~ housekeeping service for one month, dinner & movie out, pay internet and or phone bill one month, Pay utilities one month, Pay Netflix for one month, etc. Include upgrades to unit on your menu. Gas card, grocery card. A day at the spa. 10 rent discount coupons that can be used any month of the year. Call it your 'Menu to Better Living'!

Offer to paint an accent wall based off of approved color choice and not charge painting fee at move out

Have you looked at services such as Livly, Modern Message, Cobu?
I always loved offering to paint an accent wall, unit upgrades, etc.
You can always offer gift cards to the meal delivery services in your area, even grocery delivery.

Offer a carpet cleaning.

Free Rent for a year! ( we can dream can't we?)
Free rent for a year ONLY applies to those who are current on their monthly rent who never got a note or call for rent due.

A “smart” thermostat that they can control from their phone.
An echo or echo dot
Smart bulbs to place in there fixtures

One for older properties that haven't been fully Rehabbed or who's vacants are being rehabbed during turns but still need occupied units to be rehabbed; A Renewal Rewards Program (similar to a Frequent Flyer Program): Offer a variety of upgrade item options to viable (in good standing) residents (value add items you plan to do anyway on turns) that have different values to each item. The items will vary depending on your property's needs and your preapproved Renovation items. The longer the renewal lease period and higher the increase, the more they get to choose from. Perhaps as follows depending on your pre-approved budget and Reno budget: 1) a carpet clean 2) a deco wall with choice of one of 2-4 predetermined paint colors,
3) upgrade to a new energy saving lighting package 4) brushed nickel hardware throughout 4) new counters bath and kitchen 5) an "entire" unit new paint job 6) a new appliance 7) an entire unit new carpet & pad a new appliance package with new finishes, same as upgrades you are doing in vacant turns. This way you are offering upgrades you already planned and are approved to do and you are closing the rent loss gap, while at the same time giving Renewal Rewards to your residents, and saving them from moving out during an ongoing full Renovation.

Offer free Internet for a period of time.