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Why is a Chatbot Important for a Property Management Software?


As a Property Management Software company, you should think about all the solutions you offer – managing rental applications, streamlining maintenance requests, tracking rental payments, etc. As you probably know, most of your solutions are based on seamless two-way communication.

If your goal is to offer the best-automated solution, the first thing you need to do is follow in your footsteps and take on automation in the truest sense of the word – a chatbot with artificial intelligence.

What Is Chatbot?

Chatbots are automated, conversational messaging tools that you can integrate into your website and other messaging platforms. You may be wondering how chatbots can be used for property management, and multifamily property management software can help you create an accessible communication channel between residents and owners.

Chatbots for apartment buildings are revolutionizing the lead generation and customer service process for property managers. You can use property management chatbots or real estate chatbots to solve complex solutions for your multifamily properties.

We have listed some key points why property management chatbots are essential for property management software for multifamily buildings:

Multifamily Leasing Assistant

Property Management Chatbots (PMC) are virtual leasing agents that can capture leads for multifamily properties through real-time conversations on the website. When potential customers search for a property on the PMC website, they have no idea what kind of property they are looking for. They have many questions about the availability of the location, the application process, rental deposits, pet policy, expected move-in date, etc. 

All the questions a client would ask a real estate agent. Nowadays, most property buyers start their search on the internet. Therefore, it is essential to have a tool on the website to help visitors with their search. 

Multifamily property management software can automate property management by answering all these questions for each visitor. You can also integrate these bots with other channels such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Property management chatbots can present listings in their preferred location, amenities, parking, neighborhood, etc., guide them through the application process, inform them about rent levels and arrange viewings.

Screening & Nurturing Leads

The number of leads generated by property management is not so much a challenge as their qualifications. There are many rental criteria by which leads are filtered. 

Property management chatbots can pre-screen and filter your leads by asking most of these initial questions, such as the number of occupants, length of tenancy, lifestyle habits (smoking and pet ownership), and budget. You can then also integrate your leads’ contact information into your CRM. In this way, chatbots can reduce the time and resources needed to screen potential tenants, allowing sales staff to focus on the leases that matter. Your omnichannel presence also helps to generate leads from different platforms.

Virtual Maintenance Center

Property management and maintenance is a very stressful job. The number of tickets received daily by the PMC alone is very high. This can be very stressful for staff as they are often faced with rude and frustrated tenants. By using a chatbot for property management, you can develop a quick process for resolving maintenance issues.

Taking requests from tenants: Tenants often have issues with leaks, heaters, air conditioners, shower seals, etc. Thanks to 24×7 availability, they can open a maintenance ticket at any time of the day.

Determine the severity of the problem: Not all requests need to be dealt with immediately. Your property management chatbot can distinguish between high, medium, and low priority complaints and streamline requests that require urgent assistance accordingly. The chatbot can even be trained to offer solutions to minor issues that do not require expert intervention. It can send explanatory videos and links so tenants can solve the problem themselves.

Schedule an appointment: A chatbot for apartment buildings can automatically take repair orders and schedule appointments with the appropriate person, such as a plumber or electrician. This can speed up the process instead of making people stand in line for minutes.

Alerts and reminders

Almost every adult today has a phone, and 66% of Americans check their phone 166 times a day! Do you know what that means? It’s almost impossible for renters to miss important reminders sent to their phones; this can reduce missed appointments and increase on-time rent payments. You can choose the frequency of reminders, the timing of notifications and personalize your reminders. With the property management chatbot, you can automate the sending of notifications and reminders for:

  1. Inspection calls
  2. Property visit reminders
  3. Rent payment reminders
  4. Update on maintenance requests
  5. Social & Community Events

Continuous Customer Service

Let’s look at all the components that are essential for efficient customer service:

Communication: Rent is a big part of your monthly expenses. So if your tenant is paying around $1500 per month, they don’t want to be ignored. The way a PMC handles their daily communication is critical to their success. Property management chatbots allow for constant communication and keep tenants and prospective tenants up to date on property and tenant-related information at all times. 

Immediate Response: Phone calls are a popular mode for customer service, but imagine how often tenants have to hold the call while speaking to a service representative. The immediate response from customer service has been a long-held dream and a problem that companies have tried to solve repeatedly. But nothing has worked as well as chatbots. Whether your tenant has a plumbing problem at 2 a.m. or your prospective tenants want to make an appointment for the weekend, your multifamily chatbots can determine this immediately without having to wait for staff to come by on Monday morning; for this reason, chatbots can solve problems in real-time.

Customer loyalty: Property managers must always build a polite and friendly relationship with their current and potential tenants, no matter the workload. You can integrate your brand personality into chatbots, and they can speak in the way you want, be lively, quirky, and funny. The idea is not to replace the human touch but to help similarly without neglecting its software roots. By providing a personalized experience for each customer, you’re one step closer to building lasting customer relationships using chatbots for apartment buildings. 

Marketing Feedback

Customer insights are valuable, so companies spend thousands of dollars to understand what the customer wants. Chatbots are not called marketing intelligence software for nothing, and they can pull your data. Based on the conversations it has had over time, your property management chatbot can provide answers to questions like:

  1. What is the type of persona visiting your website? 
  2. What are the types of leads you’re getting?
  3. Which of your properties is popular?
  4. What are the common issues your rental prospects are facing in your properties?

It can reflect how you are performing against industry standards and help you gather data to target your marketing strategies accordingly in the future.

Have you checked out our Property Maintenance Chatbot yet?

It helps you keep your website is in tip-top shape. Check it out now here: Property Maintenance Chatbot

Read More: Chatbots in Financial Services: Benefits, Use Cases and Key Features