After completing a project, the next natural focus for developers should be on future-proofing its selling points by fostering a community within it.
Community engagement and facilities management software developed by Australian-based technology company Resvu is helping developers across Australia tackle an array of community-building initiatives.
With daily engagement from customers, developers need to follow a few simple steps to achieve a resilient and healthy community within a residential project.
1. Begin engagement pre-settlement
Potential customers can, and should, gain an insight into the community, before signing a sales contract..
To do this, developers are advised to keep in regular contact with all prospective clients who enter the showroom through customer relationship management software.
“Invite these prospective customers to site-specific events or open days so they can get a feel for the community, as well as get to know their potential neighbourhood,” Resvu managing director Tom Welsby said.
“Once your customer settles and formally becomes part of your community, you can continue to engage with them and other stakeholders about the next phases of the development, upcoming social events, local business offers and much more, all while maintaining the strongest possible community connection.”
2. Proactive and informative communication
Customer engagement software like Resvu is proactive in providing highly-engaging communication at all times, in turn driving improvements in brand awareness and customer satisfaction.
“In other words, use software that allows you to be on the front foot, not the back.
“With this comes a more positive experience for everyone involved, because when you just react, it’s generally when something went wrong.
“Positive experiences help to build and strengthen a community, and the retention rate of your customers.”
For example, setting automatic notifications for residents in advance of any construction or maintenance to ensure there are no surprises when services are booked ahead of time.
Another could be an invitation to an education session for customers or reminders about upcoming social events or club information, which leads us to step three.
3. Host events and promote social clubs
Examples of events that increase community engagement; hosting sales launches, community family and friends events, new and upgraded communal facilities, resident club events and even tallying RSVPs to an upcoming meeting.
Whether selling off the plan, going through the settlement process or looking to engage an existing resident base, hosting an event is a great way to promote a development and foster a community irrespective of the development stage.
4. Gather user feedback for future decision-making
The enormous benefit of continuous and proactive customer feedback is that it provides a wealth of data you can use to make more accurate decisions on your future capital projects, facility maintenance, cleanliness and overall customer satisfaction.
This is a step that is commonly missed by business, not out of choice, but because there is simply no platform making this data readily accessible or sourced.
Be sure to send out surveys after each event to get your residents thoughts on how it went, or check-up periodically on the sites clubs to see if they could use any help – you’ll never know unless you ask. Tools like the CommunitiLink Resident App by Resvu make collecting and processing these results super easy.
Then, with these results in hand, you and your sites decision-makers can now make informed decisions about where to best allocate resources to meet your resident’s needs.
Tools like CommitteeHub make discussion and voting on these topics streamlined, eliminating the need for traditional email and meetings.
5. Utilise technology to make it efficient
Now more than ever developers should be using technology to engage with the community-building aspects of their development.
Customer relationship management systems, communication software, digital notice boards and event management systems help engage residents.
“With a platform and applications covering all the above for admins, committee members, residents, community partners, local business and the overarching strata company or developer, Resvu brings all stakeholders together in one centralised software system.”
“We’re helping developments like yours build and strengthen their customer experience.”
