The competition is heating up for Class-A and Class-B assets ahead of summer, and as we know, every lead counts even more between June and August. 

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Whether you’re an active partner with EliseAI or considering adding AI to your arsenal of prop-tech tools this peak leasing season, there are ways to capitalize on the increase in lead traffic while reducing the workload at the same time. 

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Four Ways To Leverage AI More Strategically This Leasing Season

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1. Respond Faster To  Upsell 

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Most renters (71%) who ask landlords or property managers about a listing expect to hear back within 24 hours (Zillow). And only half of renters receive what they consider a timely response within ten hours. If they don’t hear back within 24 hours, 22% choose to immediately move on to another rental property they’ve set in their sights.

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An AI Assistant can exceed expectations, responding to all prospects within 2-3 minutes. Elise on average books tours within ten minutes of first contact with a renter. 

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This makes a big difference for net operating income because you reduce the time of the unit on the market. When it comes to responding to renters, the quicker you are, the more likely you are to convert a lead to tour, even when you only have options that stretch their budget. Conversational data gathered from EliseAI-to-prospect interactions indicates that 35% of renters will agree to tour a unit that’s 16% above their budget if it’s fast and easy to get a response. Additionally, increasing the speed of responses can help you engage more diverse renters. 

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2. Use AI To Automate All Prospects’ Preferred Communication Channels 

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Other channels of communication are increasing in popularity for leads who are on the go and adapting to the increasingly digital leasing process. It’s best to accommodate all channels used to interact with your leads, automating email responses, text, phone, and chat with AI capable of tracking leads per channel and referral source. 

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It’s especially important to cover all your bases as channel preference can also vary depending on age and even location. A Zillow Group Report states that 24% of GenZ renters and 17% of Millennials prefer to email to inquire about listing and that 42% of renters in rural areas will call to inquire about leads.  Additionally, 90% of Millennials and Generation X turn to mobile sites and online searches for property research over in-person interactions, meaning a mobile-optimized chat could be ideal for increasing the number of prospects in your leasing funnel. 

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3. Create Quality Interactions (And Close) With Truly Conversational AI 

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AI that is not conversational can confuse and frustrate the prospect on their home search. Less sophisticated chatbots are built to rush the lead to tour, often disrupting the flow of communication with distracting form fill pop-ups, limited decision tree models limiting renters to clicking buttons to interact via chat, and pre-programmed responses that don’t fully answer their questions. 

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Truly conversational AI does more for the prospect (and the associate) by…

1. Completely answering all questions and answering multiple questions at once
2. Asking the prospect tour availability, rather than simply providing time slots
3. Gathering prospect information and preferences to personalize the interaction
4. Generating a guest card on behalf of the leasing team
5. Booking tour and confirming the appointment with the prospect including relevant instructions 

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The prospect shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between AI and agent for a truly impactful, seamless experience. 

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4. Give Renters More Options With Dynamic Pricing And AI Re-Engagement 

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In early 2022, rent growth surged, with renewal rents up 11.8% year over year and rent up by 6% after it rose an astounding 15% in 2021. While it is cooling, it's likely to continue to steadily increase in major fast-developing metro areas. Renters are likely looking for concessions or no-fee apartments. 

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An EliseAI Leasing Assistant can… 

• Communicate and cross-sell transparent up-to-date pricing information for multiple communities at once. 
• Follow up with renters still in the funnel when a new discount or concession rolls out for communities that match their preferences. 

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An agent may have to take the time to look up and curate options for a renter, but AI can do this automatically, becoming an essential selling tool for your leasing team. 

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There’s Still Time To Get Ahead Of The Competition 

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With the economic landscape tenuous, your teams need to maximize their efforts this peak leasing season. The key to sealing the deal with prospective renters this summer is speeding up and scaling outreach at a rate that an AI Assistant like Elise can deliver. With human-like responses and always accurate answers, teams trust Elise to automate multiple steps of the prospect funnel without sacrificing conversational quality. It’s time to automate leasing tasks and modernize your operations or risk falling behind.

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