CommonPlaces led the discovery and market research sessions with the Red Oak team to identify and document the current pain points, challenges, and the priorities of Red Oak for their website and resident portal. CommonPlaces then spoke with experienced staff to create a Customer Journey Map which provided helpful insight into making strategic decisions about the site layout, site search, navigation, and visual design.
Along with creating an engaging, responsive design Red Oak’s top priority was to maintain their unique approach to apartment search where the potential residents can see features and images of the exact apartment they would be renting when they search for homes. This was a tedious process for Red Oak in the Past, and CommonPlaces created automation so that apartments can be “shown” or “hidden” based on availability and upcoming availability dates. In addition, search functionality was updated so that queries would always return relevant results, even if all search criteria were not matched. This allowed potential residents to continue to browse options and make decisions based on apartment availability, location and options.
CommonPlaces also improved the overall usability and speed of Red Oak’s apartment search features, and online application process; along with integration for their property management self-service maintenance and payment portals through Yardi & Realpage. This overhaul also included improvements to their content management system which has streamlined the process of adding and updating their rental availability with a feature-rich real time apartment listing and search process.
One of the major pain points addressed was the fact that the individual apartment URLs were variable, and would update with a new date each and every day. This made it impossible to bookmark an apartment of interest for both future renters and sales staff. CommonPlaces resolved this issue by creating a static URL structure for every apartment listing.
With several properties spanning the New England area, Red Oak has four main offices in different regions. Based on customer location search results, relevant contact information is displayed in the header and other contact areas on the site. This includes the phone number and address of the local apartment management office so that tenants will know exactly the office they are contacting, and will know the correct leasing office to visit when looking at apartments. In the past, an operator would have to direct people to the correct office location based on information received, and this may not always be clearly understood. This dynamic content feature creates a good customer experience by eliminating confusion.
Red Oak can now lock in rates that are shown to applicants. This wasn’t always the case. The market rate of apartments is determined by a common third party service which keeps a fluctuating rental file available for all apartment communities. This means that rates can change daily. When potential residents fill out a rental application, the monthly rent can change by the time they are ready to sign the lease. This can deter people from leasing if the market rate goes up significantly. CommonPlaces was able to create a process where people can choose their lease options and length, see the market rate for their apartment lease, and fill out the rental application – which now saves the data to lock in the rate. This way, when they go to sign the lease, there are no surprises.
