The importance of metrics and follow-up in the customer journey

It has become standard practice for professional property companies to conduct customer surveys in order to better understand the needs of their tenants. As part of a data-driven approach, the information is used as part of improvement work to increase both customer satisfaction and profitability. The importance of a properly functioning customer dialogue to improve the efficiency of the company's own work has become increasingly apparent, and many companies now choose to monitor different parts of the customer journey separately to fine-tune their processes. At the same time, social sustainability has become a priority for most property companies, further increasing the value of tenant feedback as a basis for measuring progress in initiatives to ensure safety and sustainability.

Identifying your company's customer journey

To get the most out of tenant feedback, you should start by defining your company's customer journey, i.e. understanding how tenants interact with your company at different stages. This also includes analysing and segmenting one's customer base, as the touchpoints and needs of the different target groups may differ along segments such as new construction, redevelopment, senior housing, students, etc. 

As a first step, it is important to identify all points of interaction between the tenant and the property management company. This can be on various digital platforms, over the phone or in person. For each phase and touchpoint, it is important to understand what the tenant is looking for, what questions they have, and what potential obstacles may exist. To make the customer journey as seamless as possible, it is important to collect data on how customers behave and what problems they encounter.  

One effective approach can be to develop a visual chart that illustrates how a tenant moves through the whole process, from initial contact and through all further touchpoints. Together with survey data from customer journey tracking, this chart can help identify your organisation's challenges, opportunities for improvement and to create a more seamless customer experience.

Measuring and improving the customer journey

By integrating follow-up into the customer journey and continuously measuring different interfaces with tenants, processes and services are continuously improved. This enhances the overall customer experience, both in the short term and long term. Tenants come into contact with different departments of the property management company depending on where the tenant is in the customer journey. Whether it's moving in, renovation, reporting a problem or customer service, there is a range of interactions that all reflect the tenant's overall experience. Below are some examples of so-called "customer touchpoints": 

• Website 

• Customer service (phone, email, chat, app) 

• Problem reporting (phone, email, chat, app) 

• Tours (in person or digital) 

• Lease agreements and signing 

• App or self-service portal (e.g. for laundry or common areas) 

• Property manager (personal contact) 

• Maintenance and service visits (repairs, inspections) 

• Communications and information from the property management company (newsletters, information, disruptions) 

• Social media 

• Safety measures (e.g. emergency hotline) 

• Follow-up and evaluation (customer surveys, evaluations) 

By monitoring these interfaces, the property management company gains deeper insights into how tenants interact with its staff, services and products. The benefits of adopting a data-driven approach and using the information to optimise the different stages of the customer journey are many.  

Some examples of effect include: 

• Improved digital presence 

• Smoother processes 

• Increased efficiency 

• Better communication  

• Improved customer experience 

• Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty 

• Improved customer support 

• Increased profitability 
  
  
  

"As the real estate industry has become increasingly customer-oriented in recent years, the demand for customer journey follow-up has also grown. For most professional property owners and landlords, their business is no longer just about the buildings, but also about the people who live in them. As property companies have become more data-driven in other areas, they have also seen that it pays to integrate tenant feedback to increase efficiency and profitability," says Jon Svensson, CEO at AktivBo Group.

MKB's work to improve the customer journey

The Swedish company MKB has clearly defined its customer journey and is dedicated to continuously enhancing every aspect. The questions, "How does the customer perceive our service, and how can we elevate their experience?" and "How will we achieve our customer goals?" sparked MKB's initiative to improve tenant satisfaction. The aim is to ensure that every part of the customer journey reflects the ideal experience. 

“We conducted a comprehensive review of the entire customer journey, delving deep into each process to identify areas for improvement at every stage: termination, rental, move-in, and the overall service experience. The ongoing surveys have provided valuable insights into how we can enhance our offerings and elevate the customer experience. Notably, we have developed internal best practices by analyzing areas where our customers are most satisfied, allowing us to translate these successful approaches into streamlined processes across other parts of our portfolio”, says Per-Henrik Thurban, Head of Customer Innovation and Rental at MKB.

AktivBo Analytics – a platform for customer journey follow-up

AktivBo is continuously developing industry-specific services to best support property companies. One important aspect of the development of the AktivBo Analytics analysis and survey platform was to be able to follow up the customer journey in an optimal way, and in real time. Being able to analyse different surveys in the same view is essential for users to be able to group topics freely between them. This supports, for example, a marketing or communications department looking to capture and improve all issues related to information and marketing, regardless of department, year or survey.

Effective follow-up of the customer journey relies on the ability to enable automatic and trigger-based customer surveys via API integration. One example of this is for the follow-up of issue reports. After completing a case, an investigation is automatically triggered via the connection between AktivBo and our client's property system. The tenant evaluates the work and responses arrive in real time in AktivBo Analytics. Metrics and follow-up of contract signing, move-ins, move-outs, problem reporting and customer service function via API integration by default.

Summary: By defining the customer journey in clear stages, identifying critical touchpoints and identifying the customer's needs and challenges at each stage, a property management company can monitor and improve the overall customer experience. This leads to more satisfied tenants, increased efficiency and a stronger bottom line.  

Eager to take the next step?

What does your customer journey look like? What are your most important touchpoints with tenants? We are happy to provide support in mapping the customer journey to enable continuous improvement of internal processes and external services. We have standardised customer journey surveys that allow for benchmarking. All tenant feedback is presented in real time in AktivBo Analytics.  

Contact us to find out more!