Successful customer care

For four years in a row, Mannersons has won the prestigious award “Highest Service Index” at Kundkristallen. Carl-Fredrik Grönhagen, CEO, shares the work on creating added value for tenants with relevant services based on the customer's perspective.

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Why is customer care so important to you at Mannersons?

If you want to be long-term, satisfied customers are the basis for a profitable business. Our goal is for a Mannerson apartment to represent a higher added value than a normal tenancy. The competition to our apartments is often made up of condominiums and in order to be relevant we have to offer something that they do not have — full service.

Is the housing industry generally customer-oriented?

The housing industry has been comfortable for far too long. Long housing queues have ensured that apartments are rented out without having to make any effort. Now we are approaching an interesting point when there is a healthy equilibrium in the market and you have to work to attract your tenants. A lot of housing is being built and competition is increasing, this will in the long run create more vacancies and thus choice for the tenant. If you can then offer the right service, you can get a higher profitability than others despite equivalent apartments. At the same time, we see that tenants have a relatively high willingness to pay for various additional services. If customer focus wasn't relevant before, it will turn out that it is now.

“Now we are approaching an interesting point when there is a healthy equilibrium in the market and you have to work to attract your tenants.”

How to create a service that is attractive to residents?

I think it is important to distinguish between internal business processes and the customer perspective. It is all too common in the industry for customer service to be limited to what one can do within the framework of their real estate system.The real estate systems are an excellent information database for the content of the properties, but it is not a system or interface that is rigged to deliver market-leading service to customers the way customers want it packaged for them today. If service is to create added value, it needs to be relevant and simple. It is always the preferences of the tenants that matter and it is from their perspective that the customer benefit should be maximized.

What is your service at Mannersons?

We want to create a simpler and more modern service for our customers with an attention that should correspond to the large expense that a rental entails each month. We are very concerned about personal contact and that there should always be someone to turn to, at all hours of the day and that every meeting should feel safe. In addition, we have been keen to be able to offer our services in a single channel. Here we have launched Mannerson's accommodation app via Avy. In addition to being able to offer basic functionality in a smooth way such as payment, reservations and information, we have also been able to provide our customers with access to new services through Avy. The app includes everything from insurance to electricity, internet and household services and we would never have been able to package such a range in such an efficient way ourselves. It is clear that there is a need and willingness to pay in addition to the standard rent for the relevant service in the residence and the fact that we are able to offer that service has contributed to further added value for our customers.

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Any final words on a customer-facing housing industry?

I would say that within 3-5 years, increased competition and vacancies will start to be realized for real, and a market-leading service will take a long time to build up. It's about getting to know your customers personally and through data. You need to understand which service is relevant — and how you can then offer it in the best and easiest way to your tenants.