Tenant Experience, tenants' needs, maturity in the Real Estate Industry and digital technology as enablers to move from insight to action

At Almedalen 2022, Avy-Tmpl was on stage together with AktivBo and talked about the Tenant Experience. Here are five questions for the panel that summarize our seminar in Almedalen 2022.

On Stage: Jon Svensson and Frida Kullh, AktivBo and Henrik Svanqvist and Petter Arvidsson, Avy-Tmpl. Moderator va Harry McNeil, Selma Residence.

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How can housing operators put the tenant in greater focus?

Henry: The first step is to understand what tenants need and expect in their accommodation. The next step is to be able to respond to that need, and reach out with an offer that is easy for everyone to take advantage of. There is a lot of service that is naturally suited for residential operators to offer their clients, and with the technology and innovation that has occurred in the industry, it is now possible to do so. Carry — and cleaning assistance on access, smart access to affordable electricity or broadband contracts, or simplified contact and case follow-up on important issues to name a few.

Henrik: “The first step is to understand what tenants need and expect in their accommodation. The next step is to respond to that need.“.

Why has this become so important right now?

Jon: Yeah. Many of the real estate companies we work with have seen early on the value of having satisfied customers. But if you look at the industry as a whole, a lot has happened in recent years and most professional players today see not only the soft values of an improved customer experience, but also how it affects profitability. Then the housing industry is facing greater challenges than before, where external factors have led to uncertainty. The result is that real estate companies review costs and streamline management, while increasing the focus on the clients they already have. We also see clearly in our data that customers' expectations of their landlord have changed with digitalization and new ways of life, which places higher demands on housing operators to live up to their customer promise.

Jon: “We also see clearly in our data that customers' expectations of their landlord have changed with digitalisation and new ways of life, placing higher demands on residential operators to live up to their customer promise“.

What do Avy-Tmpl and AktivBo combine?

Peter: We work for the same with complementary solutions, and share the vision of changing the industry to look beyond the building and focus more on the people who live in them. By moving from insight to action, our clients can collectively raise the standard of living experiences across Europe, with increased revenues, reduced management costs and improved customer relationships as a result.

What do tenants care about most of all?

Frida: When we look at what drives customer satisfaction the most, these are soft questions. To be taken seriously, to be safe, contact with the company and how the staff kept promises, etc. The customer also expects, for example, to be able to get in touch with the housing company at all hours of the day and to have the opportunity to digitally follow the dialogue and the cases they have. Over the past two years, private operators have delivered better on these issues compared to the public sector, largely because they are further ahead in digitalisation and have been able to meet the new demands and expectations of customers. But of course, there are also public-benefit companies that are far ahead in their digitalization.

Question from the audience: How can you become digital and how do you prioritize?

Peter: If you get a good system set within the company with an open platform as the basis for further development and launch of new functionality, you are well placed. Then, as time goes on, one can grasp and improve their priority areas and hopefully integrate with the real estate system so that the internal operational processes do not have to be changed. It is important to remember that no matter how good solutions you have, it is worth nothing if you do not reach out with them. If you have user engagement, you can rest assured that you are not throwing money into the lake on the development of functionality that is ultimately not used or generates any benefit. There, a good tenant experience interface can serve as an umbrella solution to also reach out with other digital investments made, such as queuing systems, IMD or locks.