A couple of years ago, Equity Residential began seeking a CRM that would accomplish a multitude of goals.
To start with, the operator – one of the largest in the country with more than 300 communities and 80,000 apartment homes in its portfolio – needed a solution that would provide maximum flexibility in how it delivered service to residents and prospects at the portfolio, regional or local levels. Secondly, it wanted a CRM tool that provided much-needed and essential data-driven insight into its lead management process.
In 2021, Equity implemented Anyone Home CRM to achieve these goals.
Several years ago, consumer trends began shifting in multifamily – leaning more towards self-service and convenience. In this environment, Equity Residential realized the need for a more digitized and automated lead management process. Equity needed to be able to better evaluate how its leasing teams were performing, but lacked the necessary transparency, data and metrics to achieve that goal.
Additionally, an operator of Equity’s size and complexity needed a platform that provides flexibility to provide lead management at the most appropriate level at the company, whether that be at the community level or through more centralized locations that each support a particular metropolitan area.
“We knew it was time for us to begin working with a company that understands service delivery and the changing nature of multifamily leasing and marketing,” said Kristin Hupfer, First Vice President of National Sales at Equity. “We believed the software would be a key facilitator for our ultimate vision of the future, which is a more digitized experience for both our customers and sales teams.”
Following an extensive review of best-of-breed CRM technology, Equity selected Anyone Home’s platform. Equity was already a customer of Anyone Home, having previously implemented Anyone Home’s Contact Center for emergency service calls.
Anyone Home has a track record of helping apartment companies serve their customers in the most effective and efficient way possible, and Anyone Home’s ability to design and build scalable technologies specific to the company provided a powerful advantage in the implementation of a CRM solution for Equity.
Equity’s roll-out of Anyone Home’s CRM solution began in March 2021, and was in place across Equity’s entire portfolio within four months. According to Hupfer, setting up 80,000 apartments with all the tools and integrations the community teams need was no small feat.
“Throughout the roll-out, we always had direct access to the best of the best on the Anyone Home team – from product managers to project managers to their head of implementation – and they really supported us throughout the implementation process,” Hupfer said. “One of the big keys for us, and a critical element to our business, is data fidelity. Anyone Home helped us to identify integration gaps that might exist, which could compromise the accurate transfer of data. I thought the Anyone Home team really shined during the implementation process, and they did a good job partnering with us to create a structure based on the current needs of our business.”
Hupfer noted that the organized, cohesive nature of the partnership resulted in a positive user experience for leasing teams and 75% of Equity’s onsite team members reported that the Anyone Home CRM tool has been easy or very easy to use.
Perhaps most importantly, Equity has a CRM solution in place that gives it a variety of options for executing lead management now and into the future. The solution will support and optimize multiple service delivery models – at the property, regional or portfolio level – that Equity, depending on market conditions and business objectives, has the flexibility to implement. Equity now has true data-driven insight into what is taking place in its lead management processes.
“Prior to Anyone Home, we had limited data to help us understand what happens after the customer makes an appointment,” Hupfer said. “We had a recommended sales approach and we would press our team members to follow certain steps and do those things in a timely manner. That said, you might have team members actually following only 30% of those guidelines, which is obviously a much smaller number than we would want.
With Anyone Home, Equity’s teams follow a more proactive, data-directed process. The alerts and directions provided to the leasing team members by the CRM tool, remind them to follow up with prospective residents within designated timeframes, send confirmation messages (including thank you emails) and invitations to submit an application, drive performance.
“Our data shows that of the customers who tour with us and apply, 85% submit their rental application within seven days of the tour. So, that follow-up from our team really needs to take place right away,” Hupfer said. “If we aren’t demonstrating to customers that their business is important to us and confirming our desire to help them find a home, we have the potential of losing them. The ability for us to direct the leasing team to follow up through Anyone Home’s alerts has been a huge help in keeping our leasing team members aligned with our best practices.”
Additionally, the transparency created through the Anyone Home CRM tool enables Equity’s management team to identify the leasing team members that are adhering to the company’s best practices.
“Metrics around customer interaction and follow-up shifted dramatically as soon as we implemented the CRM tool,” Hupfer said. “That is a huge win because we really want to be able to better measure our sales team’s ability to care for the customer, nurture that experience, and hopefully, get that customer to lease with us.”
Anyone Home has provided the management team visibility into the tour volume for each Equity Residential community. The management team at Equity now has a better perspective on how taxed property teams are, what their follow up cadence looks like, and whether they’re equipped to handle that workload.
The cooperation and collaboration are continuing post-implementation and benefit both Equity and Anyone Home.
“Anyone Home has been really helpful as we work through glitches and technical issues, as well as evaluating and developing potential enhancements to the CRM tool,” Hupfer said. “Overall, we’ve partnered very well together to keep the implementation process organized and cohesive, while also moving the CRM functionality forward to ensure a good experience for our Equity teams and customers.”
Anyone Home has provided the management team visibility into the tour volume for each Equity Residential community. The management team at Equity now has a better perspective on how taxed property teams are, what their follow up cadence looks like, and whether they’re equipped to handle that workload.
The cooperation and collaboration are continuing post-implementation and benefit both Equity and Anyone Home.
“Anyone Home has been really helpful as we work through glitches and technical issues, as well as evaluating and developing potential enhancements to the CRM tool,” Hupfer said. “Overall, we’ve partnered very well together to keep the implementation process organized and cohesive, while also moving the CRM functionality forward to ensure a good experience for our Equity teams and customers.”
If you’re interested in leasing smarter with Anyone Home, BOOK A DEMO to learn more.
