With Avy Tenant Experience Platform, Studentbostäder in the Nordics (SBS) has created a smarter move-in process that relieves customer support and makes students more satisfied.
Summary
Studentbostäder in the Nordics (SBS) launched the Avy Tenant experience platform in December 2021 to meet the needs of its digitally mature student tenants and has created great value from the start with digital solutions for booking, key management and accommodation services.
With 700 new students moving in in the fall of 2024, Davy — an AI-powered copilot — was the next step in development and ready to offload customer support. By enabling Davy to handle accommodation issues as a first instance, the number of customer service cases decreased by over 65%, allowing the team to focus on more complex issues. For the students, Davy's efforts meant faster and easier access to important information, which increased customer satisfaction and improved the entire move-in experience. Davy contributed to a relieved customer service and enabled a more efficient move-in process for SBS.
We already had a lot of information in our e-library, but when Davy was able to give the students answers directly, the result was incredibly positive. Today's students expect to have the information served quickly and easily - not to search for it. That was an important insight for us!
Customer case
SBS launched the Avy Tenant experience platform in December 2021 and has today implemented it in 6,500 student housing units in 18 cities. As a purely student housing company, SBS manages a high relocation rate of 50%, which means high demands on efficiency and smooth processes. With an tenant experience app, SBS can simplify and enhance the student customer journey. Students are often digitally mature and expect digital solutions for many housing issues, while an Tenant experience platform also streamlines internal processes and saves costs.Samira at SBS says:
Digital presence is a stated goal for us. A digital customer journey fits our target audience and is key to streamlining our work and achieving our financial goals. The high relocation and short residence time mean costs and can create dissatisfaction if the processes become too complicated for the customer.
Digitalization of welcome letters saves time and resources
In the past, landlords at SBS sent manual welcome letters by email with information to each newly moved tenant. This was a time-consuming process in a high-turnover business. By instead automating welcome messages in the Avy app, SBS has calculated that they save the equivalent of two weeks of full-time work annually.
Big savings through digital key management
One of the biggest improvements has been the introduction of digital key management. For large move-ins, for example for 100 apartments, SBS has gone from requiring six employees for physical key management to two employees for digital management via the app. The process has been simplified as several time-consuming steps, such as preparing keys and checking them manually, can now be performed digitally. In the past, delays or absences meant that move-in was sometimes postponed until the next day or after the weekend. Digital key management has eliminated this risk and increased efficiency.
Popular in-app features that make student life easier
Use of the Avy app increased markedly when SBS offered digital booking of the laundry room, allowing students to book an appointment without having to visit the laundry room. Even in-app accommodation services, such as the ability to easily take out home insurance, have become popular. Of the 92% of tenants who download the app when moving in, over 37% take out a good and cheap home insurance through the app, which is also well in line with the company's work on sustainability and gender equality.
One feature that has pleasantly surprised is the accommodation forum, where students can communicate with each other on housing issues. The forum is appreciated by residents and has become a way for SBS to be present, despite a geographically dispersed property portfolio. Samira explains:
“The forum has allowed us to see engaged souls grow in different areas, and students tell us that they got to know each other and share their studies. Our ambition is to create safety through neighbourly communities — something that can be an important support for young people who are new to the city and may be experiencing mental illness.”
Co-pilot Davy joins team
In early 2024, SBS received reinforcement in the team through Davy, an AI-powered copilot created to improve case management and provide tenants with faster and more accessible information. SBS began by training Davy, who had to read into all the relevant information often requested by tenants, especially in the face of moving in. The customer service load is unevenly distributed throughout the year, and at the start of the semester, SBS usually has to reinforce the team to cover weekend and evening work.
When 700 new students moved in in August 2024, Davy was ready to begin his work on offloading customer support and increasing accessibility. With insights into the properties in question, Davy was able to answer students' questions in over 200 languages. If Davy encountered questions he could not answer, the matter was automatically forwarded to the right person internally.
How did the move go then? Davy's colleagues at SBS were very grateful when they saw that inbound cases were down by over 65%. In the period from July to September, a total of more than 10,000 cases were received, but only a small proportion needed to be handled by customer service, who could now spend more time solving complex issues with higher quality. Some periods were completely silent on customer service, as Davy solved more questions than planned.
The students who moved in gave a lot of positive feedback, especially around the speed and accessibility of Davy. The result was increased customer satisfaction and a better experience for the tenants.Samira reflects on Davy:
“We already had a lot of information in our e-library, but when Davy was able to give the students answers directly, the result was incredibly positive. Today's students expect to have the information served quickly and easily - not to search for it. That was an important insight for us!”
