Over the past couple of weeks, I've asked operators in student housing, coliving, and senior housing the same question: What is your biggest challenge?

The answers were mixed but seemed to touch upon the same thing and can be paraphrased into three questions.

1. How do we understand and communicate more efficiently with our tenants?
2. How do we improve expectation management?
3. How can we make sure we have the happiest tenants?

Directly or indirectly, all of them touched upon communication.

So let's break down communication first since we all have opinions on what communication means, especially good communication.‍

By definition, communication means: "the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium." And I think most agree that good communication is when we communicate efficiently, where both the sender and receiver feel understood and understand what's being conveyed.

Communication is always crucial, but in a shared housing situation it is even more critical. In shared living, communication is a must. So, let's start there. Since communication is a broad and widely examined subject, I will try to narrow it down by focusing on communication combined with technology.‍

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Understanding Your Audience

Start by giving the applicant/tenant a platform to be heard. Whether that is through emails, phone calls, or meetings doesn't matter as long as you pay attention and listen. Ask meaningful questions, and by that, I don't mean, "what's the name of your first pet?" or "what's your mother's maiden name?". There are several helpful websites where you can extract great questions.

If you don't have time to put together and test a questionnaire on your own, you can sign up for a service that can do it for you. With technology today, it is possible to streamline communication so you can get an easier and more efficient way to understand the applicants better early on. It simplifies the application process and makes it easier to match tenants with the most compatible groups. Build great communities and get happier tenants. Communication becomes more effective, and you can save time and money by getting it right from the beginning.‍

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Expectation Management

‍To stand out as a caring and forward-leaning operator, setting expectations early in the tenant journey is increasingly important and should start at the stage where the applicant shows first interest in your accommodation.

You must cultivate a good social dynamic between the tenants and ensure everyone gets along. One of the best ways to do this is through expectation management. Expectation management involves understanding the tenants' personalities and what they expect from the community. By doing this, you can create a group of people that will have an excellent dynamic and are compatible with one another.

Additionally, it is essential to follow up with the tenants and measure their satisfaction levels. By managing expectations, you will improve your services and make everyone happy! The tenant wants to be seen and heard, so they don't feel disregarded or ignored, even if they don't end up at your shared living.

You can acknowledge your tenant in a few different ways. It can be something small like a personalized thank you email, questionnaire, interviews, phone calls, or, as seen more recently, through digital tools for values and personality mapping.

No matter which of these steps suits your operation best, they will all give you insights into who your tenant/applicant is. The more advanced steps you take, the more advanced the information will be. It can be a good indicator of whether your tenant is an introvert or extrovert, whether they would much rather receive a phone call, or if an email is a better match for their personality. By knowing exactly who lives under your roof, you can tailor advice and tips for your tenant necessary for them to thrive.

Some more sophisticated software tools can automatically show you where your applicants are geographically and their demographics. Valuable information you should have in mind when planning your next marketing campaign to better appeal to your target audience.‍

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Striving for the Happiest Tenants‍

When they move into a new place, most tenants first worry about: "who will be my roommate?" They want to ensure their needs for companionship, privacy, and space are being met.

It would be best to signal to the tenant before their stay by marketing that you, as an operator, use a non-discriminatory matching process, placing the tenants where they will thrive and putting them together with others with whom they will likely flourish. Using digital matching tools before moving in, you can remove the guesswork and guarantee the tenant that you will match them with the best possible roommate.

Technology can allow you to guide the tenants based on their unique personalities and values.

The operator must care enough about the social environment so sustainability can happen, which starts with compatible housemates.

Taking your time with each applicant will make you stand out as a company— creating a shared living where each tenant's uniqueness is celebrated. During the stay, the matching process enables a positive living experience by creating the best compatible groups. A negative housemate experience is an important reason for an increased turnover rate by tenants. The operator can also communicate the measurement of customer satisfaction and social well-being.‍

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Implement one or more steps into your process:

• Modernize, and use cutting-edge digital tools to make your decision-making process more accessible and accurate.
  

• Ensure your tenants that you will match them with compatible housemates with good dynamics.
  

• Pay extra attention to who your tenants are and who they are placed with, and follow up with living satisfaction measurements.
  

• Work with non-discriminatory methods.
  

• Provide scientifically based, data-driven insights to the tenants that prepare them to be great housemates already before moving in.
  

• Offer personalised information and shared living guidance to each new tenant based on their personality, challenges & strengths.

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Conclusion

To sum up, there is no one way to do something or a formula to make all your tenants happy and to have the most vibrant community, but there are steps you can implement that will take you in the right direction.

Suppose you want to implement additional, more personal interviews or lean more toward modern technology. In either case, you should have the tenant's best interest at heart and, most importantly, listen to what they have to say — what are their needs, and how to best fulfil said needs.

As long as you take time with each tenant/applicant, ask questions and listen, your community will thrive, no matter what direction you decide is best for you.

Feel free to reach out if you want to know more about various technological solutions to personalise yet automise your application process or if you want to receive feedback on your current process. Who knows, maybe we can help you get one step closer to your ideal community.