According to Forbes, 83% of companies that believe customer satisfaction is vital to doing business experience a growth in revenue. In fact, brands that prioritize providing a top-tier customer experience see 5.7 times more revenue than those that do not.

Multifamily operators also know the true value of resident satisfaction and its impact on retention and attracting new renters. Although it is impossible to please all residents all of the time, innovative solutions are getting operators closer to that ideal than ever before.

The industry has moved forward through the advent of self-guided tours, centralized leasing and smart technologies designed to make life easier for both residents and associates alike, resulting in increased satisfaction. But what about the way operators choose to administer collections? Digital payment platforms are significantly disrupting the status quo and offering an untapped opportunity to delight renters.

Decoding Modern Resident Needs
A key aspect of increasing satisfaction, encouraging renewals and boosting digital payment adoption is through resident sentiment analysis. Understanding how residents feel about their living situation is no longer a guessing game. Through data analytics, operators can gain valuable insight into residents' needs, desires and frustrations.

Operators have the ability to gather information by incentivizing residents to complete traditional data collection methods like community surveys, but there are also other practices to help them understand resident behavior.

Digital payment platforms can offer resident rewards programs, which have proven to be an instrumental tool in the effort to gain resident perspective. By rewarding reviews and community engagement, as well as on-time digital payments, these platforms collect robust data on resident payment preferences, satisfaction levels and identify areas for improvement. This type of data helps operators make better informed decisions and enhance the resident experience.

Payment Acumen: Driving Efficiency and Digital Adoption
Recent data indicates that 76% of residents prefer to make their monthly rent payment digitally. To the contrary of the vast majority of what residents want, only 55% of today's renters have access to digital payment options. When operators neglect to answer the call of their residents and continue to offer complicated payment processes, it leads to a drop in resident satisfaction and decreased efficiency.

Digital payment platforms are helping operators meet resident needs and drive digital adoption by making paying rent online simple and secure. With proactive fraud and privacy protection measures in place, digital platforms further the appeal of paying rent online.

These solutions also offer multiple digital payment options, including a mobile check scan feature for the residents who prefer to pay by paper means, bolstering digital payment adoption rates in the communities that utilize them. This not only securely streamlines the payment process, but provides operators with a wealth of insight into resident behavior.

Portfolio-wide insights into digital payment percentages and property performance allow operators to deploy targeted strategies to increase resident satisfaction and eliminate inefficiencies associated with outdated collection processes.

The Future of Resident Satisfaction
Per the 2024 NMHC/Grace Hill Renters Preference Survey, 85% of residents indicated they were satisfied with their current living situation. One of the three factors contributing to their contentment is having access to the services that enhance their well-being, and digital payment platforms offering rewards and multiple payment options are a prime example of such a service.

As technology evolves within the multifamily space, so will the science of resident satisfaction. The ability to make data-driven decisions empowers operators to tailor their strategies and rewards to the unique needs of their residents, fostering stronger community bonds and boosting NOI.

By embracing digital payment platforms that provide resident sentiment analysis, rewards programs and payment insights, operators are experiencing new levels of resident satisfaction, renewals and an improved reputation. This not only elevates the entire living experience, but it also unlocks opportunities for operators to attract more renters and protect their bottom line through resident-centric strategies.