Netintegrity Blog

Customers increasingly want control over managing themselves and their business relationships especially when it comes to their finances. Online payments offer owners and tenants self-service capabilities that are customers want at an increasing rate. Mobile payments alone have grown in popularity as younger generations get older and have more spending power – studies show that 33% of millennials use cash while only 18% of Generation Z relies on cash. The ever-evolving industry can be difficult to keep up with but stay in-sync with trends can offer benefits to customers and property managers, here’s what you need to know about online payments for your owners and tenants.

Property management companies make tons of financial transactions every month from receivables to payables between customers and vendors. The ACH/EFT network is generally very secure, in the first quarter of 2020, ACH payments in the US increased over 7% but approximately less than 1% of transactions were returned as invalid, of that 1%, only a fraction is a result of fraudulent activity. The problem with ACH/EFT fraud is that the large value of payments and the potential breach of sensitive customer data which can hurt a company’s customer relationships as well as their public reputation.

Preauthorized payments are a form of payment automation where customers enable companies to withdraw funds for recurring payments directly in their account, typically via the EFT (electronic funds transfers) or ACH (Automated Clearing House) process. Preauthorized payments have been around for a while but have become more popular as the use of cash has declined, the 2016 Federal Reserve Payment study found that over 144 billion payments in the US were non-cash and they totaled over $170 trillion. The shift away from cash persists, 83% of American businesses leverage ACH/EFT payments, here are 5 reasons why you should too.

The property management industry is unsurprisingly a competitive across North America. More and more companies are popping up and crossing industry verticals, serving mixed portfolios therefore giving existing businesses a run for their market share. According to Statista, the property management industry dipped from  reached $75.82 billion USD in 2019. With a low barrier to entry and high opportunity it’s no surprise the amount of new businesses entering the industry. Currently there are hundreds of thousands of active property management companies across North America.

In a 2018 survey, approximately 26% of property management companies indicated that growth was a challenge they faced. To help expand their portfolio, organization’s can focus on improving brand recognition, credibility, and trust. By developing a recognizable brand, prospects deciding between your company and a competitor will have more reason to choose your company based on feelings of familiarity and trust.

Referrals, recommendations, and reviews are often not regarded marketing in the traditional sense, but they can deliver high value to companies trying to capture new leads. Forbes confirms that out of a variety of marketing strategies including email campaigns, inbound marketing, and pay per click advertisement, referrals have the highest return on investment because they require minimal capital investments but bring in valuable leads. In Nielsen’s Harris Poll, 82% of people indicated that they would seek out recommendations from their network before making a purchase.

Conversion rates are metric of how many people who receive your marketing material respond to a call to action essentially it measures how well your marketing is getting people to do what your material is asking them to do. Converting a lead can look different depending on your marketing material or advertising, it can be calling a number to request information, signing up for a subscription, opening an email, downloading resources and so much more. In digital marketing, conversion rates allows to closely track the performance of their professional material.

User-generated content (UGC) is content that promotes a brand that is created independently by customers not commissioned by a company itself. UGC is created by consumers and customers who genuinely believe in a product or service. The type of content created can range anywhere from websites, blogs, photos, videos, testimonials, or social media posts.

Having vacancies for too long can be bad for business, they can reduce cashflow, customer satisfaction, and employee morale. No matter how well you advertise or how well you maintain your customer relationships there will be turnover and vacancies. While it’s less than ideal, it’s not an impossible situation, here are 5 strategies to reduce the time units spend vacant.

When properties have vacancies, the goal is to fill them as fast as possible otherwise cashflow is reduced. To fill vacancies property managers must first attract a pool of good tenants. When you have less options it’s more difficult to find the ideal tenant for your property management company and the lifestyle you provide. In 2015 to 2016, a Venngage study found marketers increased visual content by 130%, integrating strong visual components to vacancy marketing can enhance the effectiveness of advertising and draw in more prospects.