The ROI of investing in tenant satisfaction

Improving tenant experience starts by building a great tenant engagement strategy that will increase satisfaction. Here, the top goals for property managers include:

Improve tenant satisfaction via seamless and continuous communication
Ensure buildings are commute worthy by giving tenants exactly what they want – while making certain investments are ROI-positive

1. Building communication: improve tenant satisfaction

When we asked property managers their most common method for communicating with tenants, most said email (86%). Here, CRE property managers are missing an opportunity to streamline building operations and save time by cutting out manual tasks such as emailing.

Additionally, amplifying satisfaction means your tenant engagement strategy should take a cross-channel approach. No two tenants are the same. Therefore, property managers need to communicate with tenants on their terms, using the channels tenants prefer. And all your communication channels need to be used in a seamless, consistent way to interact with all tenants effectively.

What is your most common method for communicating with tenants?

Email

Notifications via a tenant app

Text message/chat bot

Digital signage/bulletin board

Phone call

n=133; percentages rounded

Only 8% of property managers are using a tenant app to engage with tenants, missing an opportunity to cut out manual tasks and streamline building operations.

For those property managers who are working to improve tenant experience this year, it’s time to take stock of your tenant engagement strategy.

The key for property managers is to have a tenant engagement strategy in place that is easy for teams and tenants to use across various communication mediums in order to provide real-time status updates on issue resolutions.

2. Give tenants what they want – The ROI way

You won’t know how to make your buildings commute-worthy without first knowing exactly what tenants want (or don’t want). To do that, you’ll need tenant data to give you insight into where you should be investing to increase tenant satisfaction and retention.

When we asked property managers whether they use tenant survey or polling data to help guide business decisions – for instance, to decide what types of amenities to add to buildings – over half said no (53%).

In order to make the smartest business decisions, property managers need an easy way to gather tenant feedback and understand their satisfaction with the building. Property managers can use that data to determine how tenants are using their space and leveraging building amenities.

A tenant app is a good place to start. With this technology, every event registration, booked resource, and tenant survey sheds light on what your tenants love — and what they don’t. You can use this real-time data to remain proactive about your office programs and amenities.

Are you currently using tenant survey or polling data to help guide your business decisions?

No

Yes

Not sure

n = 133

Speaking of amenities…

The research also shows that property managers are split on whether amenities are important to add to buildings over the next few years.

These results perhaps aren’t surprising, considering over half of property managers aren’t polling or surveying their tenants about amenities. It could be that the 63% of property managers who aren’t adding amenities or aren’t sure yet just don’t have the right insight into what they need to do.

However, research shows that those who don’t have new amenities on the radar could be leaving money on the table. In a recent study, JLL found that come 2025 there will be 12% higher demand for buildings with tenant amenities. Over the next few years, property teams might want to consider exactly what amenities will lead to a positive ROI for their buildings. Again, to do that, you’ll need actionable insights gleaned from tenant data.

Do you have plans to add new amenities for tenants in your building(s) over the next few years?

Yes

No

Not sure

n = 133

What amenities will property managers add to buildings?

We asked the 37% of property managers who said yes to adding amenities to share their top priorities. Below are some of the most common amenities being added to CRE buildings, according to our research.