Consumer products marketers figured it out decades ago – put the customer first and you’ll sell more widgets.

Tech companies have taken it even further – anticipate what the customer will want before they know they want it and give it to them. Consider the iPod or even Apple’s iPad. It seems ridiculous to say today, but back then nobody knew for sure that customers would want all their music on one device or be able to control their computer by touching the screen, because those things didn’t exist yet. Apple built them anyway, and the results are clear.

As is the case with most things in marketing, putting the customer first is easier said than done. We can get stuck in patterns that appear to be working simply because they have worked well in the past. And we’re afraid to change.

That’s when fear becomes the enemy of marketing, especially when it comes to addressing a major change in consumer behavior. Not changing in today’s fast-paced marketplace can be detrimental to the survival of a business or entire industry. Think about all the businesses – newspapers, film camera makers and printers – that have gone under because consumers turned to digital sources for information and to share their lives.

How does this relate to the apartment industry? Well, the situation isn’t that dire, but the industry is behind some consumer trends when it comes to marketing apartment communities in the digital era.  

• Transparency in Price and Availability. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have real-time pricing and availability on community websites and listing services. For larger operators using revenue and property management software, it’s as simple as putting the technology in place to automatically feed the information to the appropriate sites. For smaller operators, it’s really just a matter of updating the information regularly. Hiding price doesn’t work in today’s consumer-driven world. If you don’t share your price up front, somebody else will and customers will go to more transparent customers instead. The same is true about availability. Nobody wants to have to send an email to find out if the floor plan they like is available. Today’s consumer expects to have this information available at their fingertips online because they get it everywhere else – hotels, retailers and even restaurants.
  
  
• Ratings and Reviews. The days of keeping negative customer interactions private are long gone. Every interaction can easily turn into a public conversation thanks to social media and ratings and reviews sites. Unfortunately, pretending like these sites don’t exist doesn’t make them go away. They’re here to stay and they’re offering you the opportunity to participate. It’s time to engage in the conversations taking place so you can manage your reputation. It’s also important to adopt some of the newer sites, especially ratings and reviews on Internet listing services where customers look first. Communities that have ratings and reviews available on listing services garner more visits and longer page visit times, translating to more leads and leases.
  
  
• Customer Touch Points. One of the inherent challenges that we have in our industry is the number of times we are in position to connect with our customers after they sign their leases. With online payment and service requests, it’s possible that we could go an entire year without ever connecting with our customers. That makes it a touch difficult to create a lasting relationship that leads to a higher rate of renewals. But there are things we can do to connect with our residents more often. The tried and true resident event is clearly on the list, but more importantly we have to re-evaluate how we’re using that monthly rent payment as a customer touch point. Since they’re paying online, they’re not stopping by the leasing office to chat. That means we have to find creative ways to engage during the rental payment process. Customer satisfaction surveys, communications about upcoming events and other communications that interrupt the process come to mind as good starting points.

As marketers, we know that putting the customer first is extremely important. But it’s easier said than done. Starting with these three things will go a long way toward putting the customer first wherever you can.