Marketer

Automated specials within Craigslist templates

• Say goodbye to manually modifying templates.  Specials from your data feed will now automatically be included within Craigslist templates.  Magic.

Do you have a YouTube video for your property?

• If so, go to Community Details and provide the URL, and the video will be available on RentSocial for all of your current and prospective residents to see!

Custom URL option added for alternative portal access

• Not using Rentpayment or service requests through RentSocial?  No problem.  A new custom URL option is available to redirect residents to other portals:

Prospector

The latest improvements include:

• Bug fix on quote page to ensure accurate payment schedule logic
• Cleaned up activity stream to improve user experience and usability
• All guest cards are applied to correct source and includes complete browser compatibility

Leasing

Updates include:

• Bug fixed re: number pad on your keyboard.  Now seamlessly enter phone numbers in @home registration and @property guestcards via your numeric keypad.

More RentSentinel Goodness

We’ve updated our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.  Access these documents by clicking the Terms of Use link within RentSentinel and the Property Portal.

Stay tuned, we’ll have more improvements to come!

This effort to streamline social media builds from RentSentinel’s Social product which was created to simplify the process of managing multiple social media channels and properties from one platform. The decision to include Social Media Made Easy™ as a RentSentinel service was agreed upon following an analysis of the multifamily industry and the resources required to successfully implement a social media plan for each community.

“Once a community purchases our RentSentinel Social product they have the option of managing their social media accounts, from our dashboard, on their own or taking it a step further by implementing the Social Media Made Easy™ service,” says Eric Broughton, President of Yield Technologies. “We’ve found most property management companies don’t have the bandwidth to utilize social media and identify the benefits. We see great value in our partnership with Apartment Marketing Systems because it augments the social media process and time allocation of leasing agents. This is a valuable way to use social media and market your brand to a social generation.”

By offering this service to property managers, Social Media Made Easy™ streamlines all social media activity for the communities. This includes crafting community Facebook and Twitter content, as well as creating a community personality and following based on location, neighborhood, and local events. They also monitor and moderate online comments and reviews, increase user engagement, promote community Facebook Pages, create status updates, and design Timelines with custom graphics and more.

RentSentinel recently launched RentSocial.com, a social renting site that brings together apartment listings, ratings and reviews, resident experience and social media on a single platform. Social Media Made Easy™ will play a role managing the social media component on this platform as well. This includes updating community blogs, Q&A, status updates and more.

“Apartment Marketing Systems is proud to partner with RentSentinel to demonstrate how Social Media Made Easy™ can help property management companies easily build and manage a social media strategy, optimize community online presence and increase resident retention and referrals,” says David Butler, Founder and CEO of Apartment Marketing Systems.  “RentSentinel Social and RentSocial.com are exciting solutions for the multifamily industry. These platforms, coupled with our Social Media Made Easy™ service, enhance the resident experience and give property management companies a cost effective way to market and advertise to the renting demographic.”

Although renting is at its peak, Marketing departments receive less than 2% of the budget to promote communities according to the National Apartment Association.  How will properties differentiate themselves. The multi-family industry could learn from CPG companies who’ve displayed the value and effectiveness of an unlikely marketing channel- consumer ratings and reviews.  For example, Samsung employed an Ask & Answer section on product pages encouraging consumer conversations. Products with consumer driven content saw a 22% increase in sales according to Bazaarvoice.  In addition to influencing the purchase psyche, ratings and reviews are drivers of SEO. Ratings and reviews feed Google with dynamic targeted keywords, intrinsically driving shoppers to property pages. Unlike some social media channels it is undisputable ratings and reviews drive sales and affect the bottom- line.

Forrester research suggests 69% of customers use online reviews but only 25% of sites include the preferred feature.  With shoppers exploiting online resources and the growing role of ‘social commerce’, why is there a disconnect?   Fear of bad reviews is the answer.  Bad reviews are assumed to be the silent killer of closing a lease.  But rarely exposed facts indicate otherwise.  If bad reviews are managed properly they benefit communities.  A study by RightNow found that consumers who received a response after posting a negative review did the following:

• 18% turned into loyal customers and referred more customers
• 33% followed their original negative review with a positive statement
• 34% deleted their original negative review

An idea first brought forward from the Better Business Bureau in 1916 may revolutionize renting.  In the spirit of March’s optimism trend, let’s learn from other industries and become early adopters- learning to ebb and flow with consumer driven content.  Adaptability to reviews will affordably set properties apart, gain market insight on what residents’ value and allow the engaged communities to fulfill the demand.

Bliss is a seasoned veteran with 18 years’ of experience in the multifamily and software industries. Most recently, he served as G5’s Vice President of Sales where he was a central figure in the firm’s national growth.

At Yield Technologies, Bliss will oversee the RentSentinel and RentSocial sales operations; this includes strategic planning, business development, and revenue generation. Yield Technologies created this role to ensure it will remain at the forefront of the multifamily industry by creating new relationships, services and processes across its network.

“I’m excited about this next chapter for Yield Technologies and the opportunity to accelerate product sales and positioning in the marketplace,” said President Eric Broughton. “I look forward to the collaboration between the RentSentinel and RentSocial teams and am thrilled Bill is taking on this responsibility to drive and operationalize our sales model. The position we’ve attained in the marketplace is a testament to our employees and the loyalty of our clients. We are proud to build on our success and are certain Bill will play an integral role in leading the team.”

Marketer

We’ve polished Marketer and added capabilities:

• Assign a management company to a community that is different than the owner
• Manage property specials within RentSentinel

Prospector

Tired of being taxed to receive your data through your property management system’s web service? Our new Drag and Drop feature allows you to avoid the extra fees and the hassle of data integration. Easily drag and drop guest cards, quotes and applications from RentSentinel into your property management system. No fees, no hassle, no problem!

New features and improvements:

• Set up property management integration for guest cards on your admin screen
• New Activity List created for unassigned Guest Cards
• Agents can set a guest card status to ‘Resident’
• You can now use hyphens on name and city fields in a guest card
• Organize automatic creation of emails and tasks for every scenario with Prospector
• Including new guest cards, screening status, application started, quote created and more!

We cleaned up the design and fixed the bugs:

• Community time zone issues are resolved, make changes on your community details screen
• Task and Reminders are easier to use
• Duplicate task issues are fixed
• Prospect search is improved, only showing results from the current community
• Modified unit search allows straight and weighted searches, make this change in your Preferences screen

Leasing

We’ve expanded our list of integrated screening providers and added LexisNexus.

Tablet

Tablet also got performance enhancements in this release, it’s faster now.

As always, there are more features to come!

To celebrate Valentine’s Day RentSentinel named Forest Creek of FPI Management our ‘RentSentinel Valentine!’  Choosing a special community was difficult because we love all our customers, so how did we decide?  In typical RentSentinel fashion it came down to analytics!  After reviewing our Ghosting Ads Summary, Craigslist Weekly and Content Refresh Reports it was clear the Forest Creek Leasing Team is the object of our affection.  Here’s why!

• They never post more than one ad per hour
• Forest Creek repeatedly refreshes content to avoid ghosting
• They create basic templates and posting titles.  Don’t get too fancy, Craig doesn’t like it!
• Forest Creek follows Craigslist rules and doesn’t overpost
• Their leasing agents use RentSentinel everyday

More and more Americans are saying goodbye to the white-picket fence dream of homeownership.  Rather, the US population is choosing to rent.  By the numbers, thirty-four percent of the US population is renting.  Moreover, in thirteen of the top twenty-five Metropolitan markets over fifty percent of the city resides in rental properties.  Market factors like unemployment rates, rising home foreclosures, and property prices under pressure are leading the revolution toward a Renter’s World.

Another shift remaking the face of the US housing industry are social trends.  First time marriages and family planning continue to be put on hold.  Generation Y are opting to pursue roommates, job mobility and professional and academic development rather than cul-de-sac and car pools.  First-time homeowners once accounted for nearly half of home sales, now less than thirty-five percent.  New generational tendencies are stock piling demand for renter populations.  I think it’s safe to say not only will 2012 be the year of the Landlord but many more to come.

Between market and social trends, the rental market is undoubtedly changing.  A question to ask the industry is will the existing tools for renters meet the needs of this new generation?  I’m unsure of the answer myself, but I’ll certainly stick around to listen and learn.

Marketer

Review & Post screen updated to support changing unit descriptions.

ILS

We’re excited to welcome Zillow to the ILS family and expand our ILS Feed.  We recently partnered with Zillow to syndicate their listings to a wider circulation!

Social

Enjoy the growing capabilities of our Social product:

• Full integration with ApartmentRatings
• Ability to limit direct access to Facebook & Twitter – keep users in RentSentinel dashboard
• Track results with automatic daily portfolio reports of all social activity

Prospector

As if tracking your prospects from one platform wasn’t enough, it just got better:

• Prospect name and community logo added to online quote
• Ability to create custom email templates for quotes, applications and appointments
• Ability to configure automated emails to be sent to either property or prospect

Leasing

Attention readers and all Yardi customers, this is BIG!  Check out our online Leasing enhancements:

• RentSentinel now offers full Yardi integration
• Blue Moon integration
• New Lease Document Admin tool that includes significant documents in online lease and e-signature process
• Driver’s license validation in all 50 states
• E-signature confirmation of typed name versus name on application
• Application form offers unemployed applicant option

Tablet

Make the iPad work for your property, we’ve enhanced Tablet and now it’s even cooler:

• Works with or without Prospector
• Don’t just show floor plan images, now you can also show Unit Type photos
• New site map image type
• Update your guest cards, and more!

CHICAGO – January 5,2012 – RentSentinel, an industry leader and provider of apartment marketing management software, kicks off 2012 with a new website at www.rentsentinel.com.  The dramatically redesigned public site was a collaborative effort between the RentSentinel team, The Resident Connection, LLC and 30 Lines, LLC.

“The website redesign represents our commitment to the growing needs of our customers with a comprehensive suite of apartment marketing solutions,” says President Eric Broughton.  “The site is easy to navigate and provides flexibility for future growth.  It’s about building a relationship with a new audience and giving our longtime clients what they have come to expect.  I’m happy we had the opportunity to team up with the Resident Connect and 30 Lines.  I am proud of the finished product.”

RentSentinel partnered with Mark Juleen from the Resident Connection and Mike Whaling from 30 Lines to restructure the layout, offer fresh product information and improve company and client communication.  The more interactive approach provides better news, a social vibe, bold new colors and a clean design.

Managing Craigslist for a single account can be a challenge, imagine supervising 680 communities and their Craigslist marketing strategy. RentSentinel caught up with 18-year industry expert Heather Campbell, Vice President of Property Marketing at Riverstone Residential , to learn how a multidimensional routine has jump-started team success.

Need to know Heather Campbell & Riverstone Residential Quick Facts:

• Riverstone consists of 680 communities under management
• Heather started with Riverstone in Feb 2011, at that time 100 communities used RentSentinel
• Currently 400 Riverstone communities use RentSentinel Marketer & ILS
• 15% of Riverstone’s leases come from Craigslist leads

RentSentinel: How did you help Riverstone build an effective brand presence on Craigslist?
Campbell: We believe the more detail you provide a prospect the better. A benefit of Craigslist is agents can advertise in real-time so prospects know what’s available, right now. If unit 2016 is vacant I encourage teams’ to communicate this detail in their ads. Using fresh, specific unit content prevents ghosting, a challenge the multifamily industry struggles with as a whole.

RentSentinel: What do you encourage your onsite teams to focus on?
Campbell: We find that the most successful agents tour a property and translate that experience into an effective ad. This means creating consistent ad content. If the title of your ad says “Huge walk in closet and large balcony with city views,” your photos better prove that! We must stay cognizant of posts and check for correlation between titles, photos and content.

RentSentinel: So it’s safe to say your leasing teams are heavily involved in the Craigslist process?
Campbell: Absolutely, Riverstone teams are fully engaged in the renting lifecycle. I encourage teams to personalize and specify their favorite apartment features on ads because people can relate. Ads with personality create a human connection. Their opinions not only add flare, but give apartment shoppers an idea of who they’re possibly renting from.

RentSentinel: How do you effectively manage so many communities at a high level?
Campbell: We use RentSentinel to manage our property portfolios and we benefit from the software by implementing “Craigslist Training” to all teams’ schedules. This keeps us on the same page and ensures optimal results.We’ve found detailed Craigslist ads trigger conversations and improve click thru rates which leads to more signed leases!

RentSentinel: How does RentSentinel support your complex apartment marketing strategy?
Campbell: We employ a specific approach and RentSentinel supports our complex strategies to help us resolve occupancy issues. RentSentinel has an excellent reporting system that provides over 30 marketing reports. We have visibility across our property portfolios and can see which templates, titles and posting times work best. Our marketing plan can continuously develop because the RentSentinel platform successfully manages multidimensional strategies.

RentSentinel: Any last minute pointers?
Campbell: Only implement initiatives with a purpose. Before we implement any marketing strategies we ask teams to consider these key questions:

• How is this specific action going to help you lease apartments?
• What are your target units? (We should know by your ads)
• Did you personalize your ad template?

RentSentinel: Thanks Heather, before we wrap up can you tell me something awesome about yourself other than that you used to live in Chicago?
Campbell: I married my college sweetheart and live in Denver with our two kids, Franny and Gus. I can also say the alphabet backwards in less than 5 seconds!