The word “shortage” has become an unfortunate part of companies’ everyday lexicon. Whether it’s a staffing shortage, a product shortage or a shortage of customers, businesses everywhere have had to meet the challenge of not having enough head-on since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some have done a good job of adjusting their business models and/or approach to the changing landscape. Others have continued to struggle or, worse, had to shutter.
Owners of multi-dwelling unit properties have experienced many of these same challenges, and continue to do so.
With no end in sight to some of these shortages, building owners are left to wonder what they can do to compensate.
The simple answer is to invest in internet connectivity. Here’s how an interconnected community can solve your shortages.
Staffing Shortages Not having sufficient staff can greatly affect MDUs. All services an MDU provides requires trained and talented staff — whether you’re trying to attract new tenants or keep existing ones happy.
By creating a connected environment at your property, you can help mitigate any staffing shortage you’re facing. There are a number of practical ways this applies:
Virtual/Self-Guided Tours Prospective tenants can get an immersive virtual tour from their current home rather than taking time out of their day to visit your property in person. Future residents can visit your property on their schedule, rather than yours, allowing your leasing office to remain open on expanded hours without the need for on-site support.
Self-guided tours require strong connectivity to support access control, remote support, as well as tasks that are generally completed by staff such as ID collections and background checks.
This reduces the number of staff members required to show prospective tenants around. Instead of having multiple employees staffed full-time on-site, the connectivity allows for a centralized workforce.
Maintenance Requests A connected community enables maintenance requests to be submitted and handled in a much more efficient way. Residents can take photos and videos of their problem and submit them through a portal. Your maintenance staff can then review the issue remotely so they’re prepared when they go to fix the issue.
Preventative Maintenance Advanced Internet of Things (IoT) integration can even help MDUs with preventative maintenance. Instead of responding to maintenance issues such as leaks that can cause major problems, a connected community can prevent the issue from occurring in the first place by automatically turning off the water in an apartment when a leak is detected.
Strong connectivity is no replacement for talented staff members, but it’s a strong complement to help you address the issues your property faces during periods of shortages.
Operations One of the biggest administrative challenges for MDUs is managing multiple properties or multiple buildings. In a non-connected environment, this requires a physical office setup at each location, staffed by appropriate employees who must not only be available in office but must monitor the property by walking or driving around.
A connected environment helps MDUs centralize their operations. Strong internet connectivity allows the properties to “talk” with one another, feeding data and information back to one central location. When needed, staff at the central location can deploy on-site employees to handle problems or investigate a situation.
What’s more, this connectivity allows MDUs to consolidate various smaller offices into one operation. No longer does each property need a leasing office, for instance; it can all be located in the one central office, with services such as rent payments handled through a connected system.
Ultimately, having a connected community allows property owners to not have to take such a micro view of operations at each property.
‘Make Ready’ One of the most labor-intensive processes MDUs undergo is turning over a unit from one resident to the next. This “make ready” process involves all different types of services and people, including:
· Cleaning staff
· Maintenance to fix issues, paint walls, etc.
· Utilities to turn off and on service
A connected community can’t give open units a fresh coat of paint, but it can significantly reduce the number of touchpoints necessary to make it ready for a new tenant to move in.
With an always-on community, network technicians don’t have to go into each unit to turn service off and pick up equipment when one resident leaves — and then do the exact opposite process all over again when a new tenant arrives. In fact, new residents don’t have to wait at all to have their internet services turned on.
MDUs can significantly streamline the “make ready” process for all units, thereby reducing headaches for new residents and extra unnecessary points of contact for third-party providers.
Elauwit Provides MDUs with a Connected Community MDUs are facing a plethora of operational challenges today, all sparked by shortages in various departments. The way to work through those shortages is by creating a connected community with best-in-class internet service.
“There’s no avoiding the challenges that shortages cause, but MDUs can respond in new and innovative ways by creating a connected community,” says Barry Rubens, chief executive of Elauwit. “We can help property owners create this community to reduce their pain points and that of their residents.”
Contact Elauwit today to discover how we can help you solve your operational challenges.