Whether you realize it or not, data runs just about every business. Over the past few years, most trends in business have included data analytics and artificial intelligence in one form or another as organizations have begun to recognize the impact that big data can have.
Big data is a term that refers to the massive amounts of data that businesses generate – amounts that cannot be processed through traditional means. By properly utilizing big data, companies are able to make smart decisions, understand their customers, and improve operations. And this need for professionals has affected not just businesses but also the education sector as well, with universities opening up online courses to cater for the demand. Those who take an online master’s degree in business data analytics are able to position themselves in the five industries to make the largest investments: retail, banking, discrete manufacturing, professional services, process manufacturing, and federal/central government. Although property management has lagged behind those five industries, there is currently a huge drive to use more data to the benefit of the tenants. However, landlords will also have to be careful with how they use the data due to new privacy laws.
What Types of Data Do Property Managers Have Access To?
The first step to utilizing data efficiently is figuring out what data you even have access to. Even without an analytics system in place, you’re actually collecting massive amounts of data: your occupancy rate, how long tenants stay in your properties, how often tickets for repairs are sent in, what areas and facilities your tenants use, and more! All of this data can be useful, and you can collect even more data when you have a smart tenant and facilities management solution in place.
However, you shouldn’t go about collecting data from your tenants haphazardly. Data privacy is a very real concern, and, depending on the size of your business and what you do with the data, failing to uphold your tenants’ data privacy rights could leave you with heavy fines or exposed to lawsuits.
How Can Property Managers Leverage Data?
The beauty of analytics is that, while it presents you with information, what you do with that information is ultimately up to you. Here are some examples of how the data you collect can help you improve the experience of your tenants:
Building and facility design
By tracking the movement of your tenants across your property, you can determine the best layout for your facilities. Moreover, using automated tracking software and electronic access systems can help you determine trends in how your tenants use your facilities. By identifying these trends, you can better detect anomalous behavior, thus improving the security of your property.
Resource allocation
Property managers often deal with limited budgets, and sometimes, a seemingly endless list of tenant issues. All property managers want the give their tenants the best experience possible, but with a finite amount of time and resources, some concerns will warrant more immediate attention than others. By using analytics, you can decide how to best allocate your resources and how to schedule your maintenance visits.
Improvement of Tenant Relations
How managers interact with their tenants has a massive impact on tenant satisfaction. Simply tracking the types of complaints you get can help you improve your operations so that you are addressing problems before they arise.Moreover, tracking the life cycle of a tenant’s complaints can help you identify how long it usually takes for your team to resolve them and find ways to optimize your process, improving tenant satisfaction.
Gathering tenant feedback
Gathering tenant feedback can be tricky. Often, tenants feel no need to contact their property managers unless they need help, or have encountered some issues with the property, whether it's maintenance or repair requests, or complaints about their neighbours. Property managers also rarely reach out to their tenants for fear of being called nosy or painting the renting experience in a negative light. However, using a platform that collects tenant feedback and analyzes the data generated can help build a more effective tenant engagement strategy. You can also use analytics to determine which feedback collection methods tenants are more likely to respond to so you can have a more streamlined approach.
How Can Property Managers Maximize Their Data?
Property managers who want to improve their processes and enhance their tenants’ experiences have many options for integrated solutions. Velis Tech’s Singu FM includes all the features you would need, including a user-friendly tenant portal that brings all tenant communication online.
However, Singu FM doesn't just help facilitate communication between tenants and property managers: it also provides excellent data visualization through its dashboard and widgets. By presenting the data collected in easily digestible formats, Singu FM helps property managers improve the decision-making process within their business.
For more information on how Singu FM can help you maximize the data you collect on a daily basis, you can download our webinar for free!
