Conrad Op't Hof, Regional Director ‘“ EMEA, Urbainse, throws light on how investing in your end-users is the smartest way to attract and retain tenants
How you think about your tenant engagement approach can determine your successes or failures as a business.
In today’s real estate landscape, this rings true more than ever. It is no longer limited to the space the tenant utilises. Tenant engagement/experience has broadened itself to providing consumer-first experiences, no matter where they live or work.
Truly investing in your end-users is the smartest way to attract and retain tenants and differentiate your assets. To achieve the best results, technology is needed to bridge the gap between a Strata Manager and the tenant, while also connecting them in a way that is both engaging and thoughtful.
And to do a great job in any area, we need the right tools. Setting an example is the Dubai Land Department (DLD), through its regulatory arm the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera). They have established a first-of-its-kind electronic system called Mollak that incorporates innovations to ensure that justice and transparency is maintained. The system also proves to improve the relationship between the tenant and the manager within the community by providing the tenant information through a direct API link to the Strata/Community Management system.
When it comes to Strata/Community Management, Community Management Software that incorporates communication, scheduling, tracking, and reporting functions is imperative. Disparate systems only make more work and detract from what Community managers need to give their attention to each day.
The right system can empower residents to take care of their living spaces and be involved in the community, and in doing so, lighten a little of the strata manager’s load. Strata/OA management systems that enhance communication and streamline common requests, such as parcel collection, reduce the cognitive load strata/community managers need to carry for their communities. This creates more time for them to focus on more complex tasks – be it maintenance work or preparing financial reports for the next owner's meeting. The technology will also enable the manager with the essential data that is very important as managers can do optimal planning around events, promotions, and end-to-end community engagement.
Community Apps are one of the key features when using Strata/OA software that can make a community thrive.
These apps allow for direct communication, and document access as well as connecting all aspects of the community. Reducing the time to react to issues, applying for NOC’s and even accessing concierge services are just a few of the benefits, which can significantly increase the efficiency of your operations.
Technologies such as tenant engagement apps not only ease modern-day concerns revolving around safety, communication, and engagement for your existing tenants, but they will also help you strengthen the living space culture to help attract new tenants by enabling unique digital programming trends.
Other components in engaging the tenants and being transparent when managing a property are having all the rules and regulations of the community available on the App. When issues arise, the tenants can easily raise a request and it will automatically notify the relevant authorised maintenance team. This is a paperless process that will keep the tenants informed throughout. Only approved suppliers from the Strata/OA company can be assigned eliminating unauthorised suppliers and sub-standard workmanship leading to increased value for the owner/investor.
Offering digital programming to complement your assets can re-shape antiquated engagement models by bringing your building’s amenities directly to the end-user, as opposed to having tenants seek them out on their own. Such modern tenant relations ideas not only strengthen the culture but also establish a brand value.
(About the author: Conrad Op't Hof is the Regional Director – EMEA, at Urbanise)
