Optimising the Resident Feedback Loop – Are Your Current Methods Failing You?
Resident reviews are an underused opportunity to show existing and potential residents that you listen to feedback and care about customer service.
Neuroscience techniques are the future of resident surveys.
The value of a mystery shopping programme lies in the ability of the auditor to analyse the data collected to identify ways in which to enhance the service quality, improve operational efficiencies, and motivate and coach on-site teams to deliver a great experience.
Authentic resident insight leads to improved asset performance
Every BTR operator knows that the key to supporting and enhancing rental values is not solely about having the newest, shiniest building with all the smart-tech and amenity bells and whistles, success ultimately lies in the experience you provide to residents and how you make them feel about the place and people with which they interact on a daily basis.
When implemented effectively, resident feedback is a powerful tool that can be used to inform product and service improvement, evaluate the effectiveness of operational policies and procedures, measure team performance, identify where additional training may be required, and help predict changing market trends. Insight-led decision-making, rather than based on assumption or the opinions of those who shout the loudest, not only supports a brand culture of greater transparency and accountability, but also aids resident retention and wellbeing, which will ultimately enhance the asset’s investment performance.
It’s clear that an organisation that listens to and acts on its customer requirements generates loyal and happy customers and encourages brand advocacy – the holy grail of any commercial business – but how can you ensure that you are truly getting to the heart of what residents want, need and expect from their living environment? Read on to discover how you can optimise the resident feedback loop and why GAA is looking to disrupt the status quo of traditional survey methods by embracing innovative technology to dig deeper into the subconscious minds of residents.
Where is the sector going wrong?
The BTR sector has traditionally focused its feedback efforts on resident surveys, emails, feedback forms, interviews or focus groups, and analysis of customer service and support interaction data, such as complaints or maintenance request tickets.
Invariably the more feedback an operator receives, the better it can understand what residents want; however, it is not always easy to generate insightful feedback as residents are often busy and may not have time to complete a survey or participate in a focus group. As such, a suboptimal response rate is one of the top challenges to overcome. According to multifamily technology solutions provider Grace Hill, the average resident survey response rate is 10-30%, and, in our experience, it is often on the lower end of the scale. This poor engagement level can also be driven by a lack of trust, including a fear of identification and adverse consequences for expressing any negative views, a language barrier that prevents them from participating, or simply apathy as they believe no subsequent action or change will arise.
Even when residents do participate, there may be a high rate of non-completion, which indirectly indicates a poor survey experience. This can result from poorly framed questions, requests for personal or sensitive information, or the survey being too lengthy.
Fundamentally, however, even if an operator achieves a satisfactory response and completion rate, traditional survey methods have limitations. There is often a discrepancy between what people say and how they truly feel, as participants tend to provide moderated responses influenced by social desirability bias.
The GAA view
In order to optimise the customer feedback loop and to gain genuine and accurate resident insight we work with our clients to focus on three key aspects:
Employ neuroscience survey techniques
GAA recently worked with an asset and property manager client to deploy Reflection, an innovative new Neurotech survey platform from leading global professional services firm Aon, to assess resident wellbeing and satisfaction at one of its recently acquired BTR assets. Whilst this type of survey tool had thus far been used in a corporate environment to garner employee feedback, GAA recognised the benefits that Reflection could bring to the BTR sector in quantitively measuring residents’ true feelings, attitudes and sentiment, not just what they are willing to share. Indeed, in more than 80% of traditional surveys that Neurotech software developer, Truthsayers has performed, respondents self-report they are positive about a factor when instead they feel negative about it.
Reflection is able to bypass this conscious bias by measuring the Implicit Reaction Time (IRT) to answers, meaning it can combine how people feel with what they think to give an unprecedented 360-degree view of understanding and insight. The method has been employed for over 40 years by social psychologists and brands to understand what drives consumer behaviour and to connect with their audience in a more meaningful and effective way.
This gamified approach appeals to the key Gen Z audience, is quick to complete, designed for neurodiversity, caters to all major languages and is usable on any connected device – thus overcoming many of the barriers to participation that are present with traditional survey techniques.
Incorporate indirect and inferred feedback
Many feedback methods focus on direct solicited feedback; however, it is crucial to incorporate unsolicited indirect and inferred feedback into a comprehensive omni-channel approach. Indirect feedback includes social media listening, which is rapidly becoming a vital tool for customer intelligence. By monitoring online conversations, BTR operators can gain insights into their brand, service, and product, as well as assess their competitors' performance.
Similar to the hospitality sector, BTR places a strong emphasis on customer service, and can draw valuable lessons from how this industry utilises user-generated content, such as reviews, to enhance quality and bolster reputation. Effective management involves actively responding to these reviews to demonstrate genuine interest in feedback and a commitment to excellent customer service. Research from TripAdvisor.com highlights that 77% of respondents feel reassured about a hotel's commitment to guests when they see management responding to reviews.
As BTR’s TripAdvisor equivalent, Homeviews, continues to gain traction in aiding prospective residents to make an informed decision on where to live, it is vital that BTR managers utilise reviews in the same way as the hospitality sector by sending a personalised response thanking residents for taking the time to share their experience and addressing any negative comments.
Another vital feedback channel is the daily interactions and conversations that staff have with residents. Passing comments to maintenance or cleaning teams and regular requests at the concierge are often not captured or documented, yet they provide valuable 'in the moment' feedback. By incorporating these insights with formal survey results, we can gain a more relevant and real-time understanding of residents' needs and preferences.
To develop a holistic voice of the customer, a customer feedback strategy should also include inferred feedback, which considers operational and customer behaviour data and looks at what residents actually do, rather than what they say. This may include website or resident app data, maintenance team operational data (support tickets), amenity usage stats or resident referrals.
Naturally, unsolicited feedback is less structured than direct solicited data, requiring sufficient tools and resources to analyse and draw out the key insights. However, regardless of the method used, it is important for BTR operators to act on the feedback they receive. This means not only addressing any specific concerns or issues raised, but also communicating with residents about what actions are being taken and why. This can help build trust and demonstrate to residents that their feedback is valued.
Hit all customer touchpoints
A significant proportion of customer feedback methods centre on gathering the opinions and experiences of current residents. However, it's crucial to assess customer satisfaction at various touchpoints throughout the customer journey and to acknowledge that attracting new residents is just as important as retaining the existing ones. An anonymous third-party audit of the pre-leasing experience can provide an honest and objective viewpoint of the service quality provided to prospective residents, not only highlighting what needs to be improved but also celebrating where you are succeeding.
Simply implementing a mystery shopping programme does not inherently improve the customer experience. The true value of such an audit lies in leveraging and analysing the collected data to identify opportunities for enhancing service quality, streamlining operations, and inspiring and coaching on-site teams to deliver exceptional experiences. This involves pinpointing key themes, quantifying occurrences, and delving deeper as needed to comprehend any issues more thoroughly. Subsequently, actions can be prioritised based on the severity of the problem (with compliance and health & safety as primary concerns) and the feasibility of achieving improvements promptly.
Final thoughts
When it comes to resident feedback data is king, but it needs to be based on authentic sentiment and reactions. Direct solicited feedback is a valuable tool; however, traditional surveys have their flaws, namely a tendency to provide a moderated response based on what they consider to be socially acceptable, which can lead to biased results. At GAA, we believe that neuroscience survey techniques are the future of people analytics and can help BTR operators get to the heart of how their residents truly feel about their living environment. That is not to say that traditional surveys won’t continue to have a place – they are an effective way in which to seek opinions on more factual topics – but when it comes to more psychological-based themes, such as happiness and wellbeing, social connection, equality, inclusion, comfort and security, we believe that a neuroscience survey offers significant advantages.
The BTR sector should also draw on tactics used in the hospitality industry by monitoring and, crucially, responding to unsolicited indirect feedback to provide more candid insights about resident perceptions. In our opinion, review platforms are currently an underused tool, yet they can have a significant impact on decision-making when it comes to securing new leases or renewals. If you’re not responding to reviews, you’re missing the opportunity to show your existing and potential residents that you listen to feedback and care about customer service.
Achieving a balance among various techniques to identify and act on relevant feedback from a diverse audience is crucial. The strength lies in combining themes from surveys, daily interactions, online review platforms, mystery shopping, and other feedback channels, rather than relying on a single tool in isolation.
It’s clear that customer feedback and a subsequent improvement in operational efficiencies and resident experience can have a significant impact on investment performance by way of reducing void periods and increasing rental income, so the question is not can you afford to invest the time and resources in utilising neuroscience survey techniques, social listening tools, and a mystery shopping programme to gain a deeper understanding of your residents’ mindset, but rather, can you afford not to? To us it seems like a no brainer!
To find out more about how GAA can help you optimise your resident feedback strategy, please get in touch with Sarah Cole at scole@globalaptadvisors.com.