Modern residents expect more from a resident service app than the ability to pay rent and log a maintenance request. A good resident app will not just make life more convenient for occupants either. It will also give them opportunities to engage with others and feel connected to the building’s community.
While this sounds like a lot of work, modern resident service apps streamline the entire process. Not all of these apps are created equal, however. Some resident apps offer the basics, and others offer a complete solution.
To help you find the best resident app, we’ve put together a list of resident app essentials. These are features residents will find useful and even fun to use, leading to tighter-knit communities, happier residents, and more renewals.
1. Resident event tools
Organizing and hosting resident events can be a hit-and-miss affair. Using traditional posters, word of mouth, texts or flyers don’t really cut it anymore. Residents want to know what events are coming up, who might be going, and have an easy way to RSVP.
A good resident service app will provide all three of these features.
From a property manager’s point of view, you’ll want to look for a resident app that makes the whole process easy. Look for apps that allow you to book interesting, diverse events directly on the platform using trusted partners.
Ideally, these events will then be added to an event calendar that your residents can then RSVP and look forward to.
2. Social features
While resident events can provide interesting experiences for your residents, you can get a lot more interactions by leveraging social media-like features in an app. These act as a social glue, keeping residents connected and interacting with each other outside of events.
A good resident service app, such as Flamingo, will give a familiar experience to Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms but exclusively for their building. This should include a community feed for keeping in the know and posting fun photos or thoughtful comments.
Gaining insights into each other’s lives in this way means your resident events have much higher attendance. People begin to know each other gradually through their posts, pet photos, and baking disasters.
For this reason, a resident app should also include private resident-to-resident messaging to facilitate blossoming friendships.
All this boils down to a lot more interactions. In fact, social features can boost resident interactions from 50-60 a month to well over 500+.
3. Resident services and digital guides
It’s important to not ignore the essentials too. While residents seem to love using resident apps for social interaction, they also need to pay their rent and report their air-con has decided it’s a hairdryer.
A good resident service app will integrate resident portal tools to complete these tasks as well as a way to contact the property manager.
You should also look for an app that has a fully digital resident guide. Modern multi-family demographics are much more comfortable searching and swiping through a digital guide than a paper one. Paper guides tend to be ignored and relegated to a drawer somewhere never to be seen again Residents need only type in what they’re looking for and find their answers quickly.
4. Concierge services
In the spirit of making your residents’ lives easier, your resident app should also include a way to book concierge services. These services include cleaning, dog walking, personal trainers, oddjobs, as well as luxury treatments like massages.
Just like event RSVPing, booking these services should be achievable within the app itself. Residents won’t want to be redirected to external websites or jump through hoops to perform basic tasks. This is a turn-off for residents and will prevent the positive association of concierge services with your building.
Be sure to look for a resident app that vets services and only approves trusted providers to keep residents safe and happy.
5. Surveys
Lastly, you’re going to want to know how things are going for your residents with surveys.
Far from an annoyance, occupants find resident surveys to be empowering. Brief, timely questions on a variety of topics can give insights into what’s working and what needs improving.
By giving residents a chance to give their side of things, property managers can gauge overall sentiment much better. This could be how smooth a resident found the moving-in process, how fun they found a recent event, or their happiness with the building itself.
A good app platform will then allow you to collate this information and use analytics to discover useful and actionable data.
Takeaway
Not all resident apps provide the same experience. While some just cover the basics, others can find themselves a permanent fixture of a resident’s home screen. Using the above, you should carefully consider what value your resident service app gives to your occupants and, ultimately, how it can affect the bottom line.
