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New Media Apartment Marketing: Random Thought

ExperienceJust a quick post for your Sunday reading pleasure.

New Media Apartment Marketing: Experience

I am vacationing in Denver this weekend. I am taking some time away from the day to day work I do with Mills Properties in Saint Louis to recharge the batteries. It feels great to get away to refresh the mind, body and soul. This morning as I was sitting in a coffee shop grabbing a quick cup of Joe and something to eat I overheard a conversation that intrigued me. The two people communicating wore bright red clown noses and looked to be having a great time. But, that was not the intriguing part. They were talking about random topics when the following comment caught my ear,

What experiences would you like to get out of that trip?

It came on the heels of another question and a subsequent comment. One clown nose man asked the other, “where would you like to vacation if money were no worry?” The response was, “Somewhere in the Bahama’s.” This is where the inquisitive clown nose asked the above question.

New Media Apartment Marketing: Question

It made me think that we should be asking that question of all of our constituents be it Mills Properties employees, residents or otherwise. Answers to that question could yield some pretty cool information as it relates to both online and offline experiential marketing efforts. It could assist in tailoring both inhouse and outsourced initiatives along with in general work practices.

It’s not to suggest that we don’t practice some form of information gathering that is rivals this question. But, the thing that really caused me pause was the pause it created in the responding party. For all intents are purposes the question was not normal and it caused the man to think before he responded – something that is losing it’s common place anymore. And, when he responded, it was with mindful thought in lieu of random generalness (if that is a word).

I will let you know how it goes….

In the mean time, let me know your thoughts on the subject and have a compelling Sunday

0 Responses

  3. I think this goes deeper than new media Mike. It's all about the experience, and we don't ask enough questions. What blows me away is that companies don't even survey their customers for feedback, yet they complain when they get bad reviews on apartmentratings.com. If you don't know what type of experiences you people are having to begin with, what are you supposed to expect. We make too many assumptions that we know what people want.

    Reply

    1. Good Morning mbj

      I agree with your point and I think every single touch point is and should be about experience. It goes as much for employees as it does for prospects, residents (current and past), vendors and the like. Anyone who touches anything at any point in your business is given an experience be it subtle of over the top.

      I am as guilty as the next guy or gal of not asking enough questions about one's experience. I am equally guilty of drawing my own assumptions void of that information. Now, I could give a whole host of reasons for it from time to fear but none of them have real merit.

      I do think, however, that new media plays a fantastic mate for all the practical reasons of listening, participating, asking for feedback and being able to demonstrate change publicly. It allows a new basis for going even deeper with our ability to serve up what matters most to the the people that matter most to our business.

      Mark, thanks for the feedback – you always bring a great perspective. Have a great Sunday.

      Reply

  4. Hey Mike, First, have a wonderful time on your vacation!
    As I was reading the post, the my thoughts on responding mirror Mark's comment, and your subsequent reply. My only add to that would be, I think many times we get feedback and valuable customer experience information, yet we still don't “do” anything, either because of the reasons you state, fear, not our policy, cost, seems to strange, and so on.

    There are so many ways we can all improve the Resident Experience, which I believe is diametrically different than Customer Service, and folks seem to confuse the two as being one and the same.

    Reply

    1. Good morning – E

      Thank you for the add as it sparked a thought – I wonder if resident experiences really are just a delivery mechanism for a whole new level of customer service that is being created right before our eyes. I wonder if it is fair to say that for now – yes, a divergence is apparent between the two but at some point – likely sooner than later – convergence will come into play. And, when it does residents and/or consumers in general will expect radical experiences as part of the overall customer service package.

      Do you think they will always be separate mechanisms? I am really curious now that you bring the point up. Off the cuff – I can see it both ways.

      Reply

      1. Well, I have been thinking about the topic of Enhancing Resident Experience for some time, and as we practice that in our business, several things surface. The two topics are clearly meshed together, but think about this, Customer Service typically revolves around policy, procedures and, execution of same, and getting better and better at them, or said another way, if we as apartment operators execute well on those, our Customer Service should be stealer, and that is usually the case. My point here, is we sometimes look only to executing better, and we think that equates into better Customer Service.

        With that, as we work on getting better and better at Customer Service, we look to examples like Ritz Carlton, Nordstrom and the like. Yet, when I think about stealer Customer Experience, I think, Apple, Seth Godin, and Southwest Airlines.

        Resident Experience evokes emotion. Outstanding Customer Service is only the starting point for practicing Resident Experience. But, here is the thing, one can turn around a negative Resident Experience in how we react, which IS where the golden nuggets are.

        Reply

        1. I agree to some extent but for the sake of discussion, as companies adopt new media as a part of their business model, will consumers force policy and procedures to be more in alignment with their expectations of experience. All within reason of course. Will that expectation be a catalyst for convergence? Where you have been thinking on the topic for sometime – I wonder if it's shifting and the consumers expectation with regard to experience is that it is baked into service. It's one in the same with no clear distinction between the two.

          As an example, I once read a story about a plumbing company that provided compelling customer service. In the story the repair man, after clearing a kitchen sink drain, went about washing the sink full of dirty dishes and setting them aside to dry. He left a note suggesting he did as much and to consider his company in the way of any plumbing need in the future. What happened over time is that this kind of experience was to be expected. It was and in my mind a compelling and over the top customer service gesture but now it is considered common place with that particular vendor.

          Good food for thought as more and more companies adopt the use of new media as a way to create and market experiences…

          Reply

  12. I think that your focus on experience is appropriate. When you're trying to manage a brand–or just the web presence of your company–it's important to make sure that you are not undermining the importance of the experiences that your users have. If you lose track of the experiences that you're creating for your clients and customers, then you are, in effect, losing track of your clients and customers.

    Reply

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