Resident Retention

I have read an article after article on how important resident retention is today and I completely agree with it. Lets get to it and brainstorm, how can we make sure our residents are happy in a time of the biggest recession of our lifetime where budgeting has become a huge challenge.

I am going to throw out a few ideas I have done and will be trying out with my residents who some, don't cost a dime. I would love to hear your ideas as well!

1. Pool Party (Did this last summer): I hosted a party for our Opening of the Pools. I talked to all of our local retailers, I had just been promoted at the time to a Leasing Director so I had to start building up relationships as well. Took me about 3 weeks to do. I had Old Chicago's, Safeway Deli and Cici's take care of food, then I had a health club (we don't have one on site) bank, moving company and Qwest come out to introduce their services. I advertised for a free band to come out and play live music on Craigslist and actually got a couple of responses and the one I picked was awesome! I had a DJ at the time living at the community who took care of the music when the band wasn't playing and just paid him with concession off his rent. That whole part didn't cost me a dime, what I did spend money on was a bouncy castle for the kids and decorations. I also made sure to combine this with an open house so I put out fliers to all local businesses, preferred employers and an ad in the paper. We got a great resident day and leasing day out of this

2. $5 dollar pizza, old trick but your residents love it. I have Papa John's coming out to sell their delicious pizza's which gives them more business and keeps my residents happy. I am doing this next on the 1st of the month so they can pay their rent but at least take a pie home for $5 dollars

3. Sunday Brunch, I have a good relationship with Sam's Club, they come out on last Sunday of the month and sponsor a brunch, brings in residents to pay rent, have brunch and buy a membership to Sam's Club

4. Sell ads to your newsletter, sell them for cheap then spend the money on resident retention

5. Pet Adoption day (will be having one in May) Dumb Friends League will come out with pets for adoption, I also talked to PetCo grooming and they will come out along with dog trainers, vet offices etc. Offer a free pet fee for that day. Combines a resident and future resident day

6. Talk to local libraries, bookstores etc to come out and have a book club for the kids. A member from that service will come out and introduce a new book for the kids and read to them

7. Check with your local highs school and what programs they offer for community service, quite often they can come up with some great activity for kids

I'll hold off for now as it is getting quite long, please share some of your ideas as I know you are sitting on some great ideas!

Hi Vala - Great topic! I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that retention is critical right now, and the brainstorming you've started is very timely. Resident events are fun, great community builders, and give staff a way to use their creativity, however, I recommend these things are done as 'icing on the cake.' Residents expect their communities to prove the value for the money they spend each month. If their service request takes a week to be completed, with no notice for the delay and no follow up to confirm it was completed properly, a pool party may feel like a slap in the face. Or if it takes a couple of days to get a response to a call or email, a resident may be less-than-pleased to see a leasing agent blowing up balloons in the club house for the monthly kids movie night.

If calls and emails are being returned same day, if service requests are completed within 48 hours and receive a follow-up call, if prospect inquiries receive a same day call or email, if the common areas are well-maintained, and walking paths have been checked to ensure proper lighting at night, then I agree a community building event may be that extra bonus that makes the resident love their choice in home even more!

Thanks for starting this critical conversation!

You are so right Jen. If the community is responding late to all these services then the resident's look at a party as an insult! Right now it is imperative to make sure that you have a great maintenance team who respond quickly to requests and do a good job. I make it a point that even as a Sales Manager to let the maintenance team know that they are doing a good job as their job immediately connects with mine.

Thank you for your respond Jen!

Vala - Your ideas are fantastic, but even moreso, the enthusiasm you have behind them! And, I second both you and Jen in that if the basics aren't second nature to a property or office, don't take on any other tasks until basic customer service is rockstar. It sends mixed messages to residents and will end up being a serious detracting factor regardless of how great your other ideas are. Keep rocking it out!

I love all these ideas! Point taken as to having all your other ducks in a row, but this is a great way to set your properties apart from the others.

We've always had a lot of luck with some pretty simple things:

1. Greeting cards - sending a birthday card, thank you card, oops we messed up card, etc. - Resident seem to really appreciate these little cards, because they know you had to take the time to do them and that makes them feel special.

2. I love the idea of taking some of those silly, fun & quirky holidays - like popcorn day - and finding a way to treat the residents with something fun & quirky - We handed out bags of microwave popcorn with a card that gave a little history of popcorn and invited them to "pop" into the office to try some other popcorn recipes (that the staff had made) - this went over quite well

3. We talked some of our teenager into helping the younger children with their homework after school. This has allowed some single working moms not to worry about their child(ren) & what they might be doing and we've noticed better grades on the report cards. We supply water/juice and we try to keep the treat healthy...pretzels, jell-o packs, etc.

What I do at my property is schedule an appointment at the resident's convinient time to discuss any maintenance or office issues. The visit can be in the office or their residence. Bring maintenance man with you. This is what works for me.

We were just talking about having a morning poolside breakfast for our residents. Regular pool hours begin at 11AM. Offering to open the pool not for swimming, but for lounging on the sun deck, eating muffins, bagels, having some coffee, socializing, etc.... good opportunity to meet your neighbors, talk with staff.