Renter Boom Has Property Managers Seeking an Edge

SEATTLE—With multifamily housing development reaching new heights and more people renting now than at any point in the last 50 years, the multifamily housing market is larger and more competitive than ever. This requires having a competitive edge and unique renter offerings.

One Seattle-based company is offering that leg up through CRM and communications to improve the marketing and sales performance of apartment buildings. This company, Knock, is currently used by clients including Milestone, FPI, ZRS and the Carroll Organization. The platform also serves as a partner to management software companies, including Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, ResMan, AMSI and MRI.

“More people are renting now more than ever before and multifamily development is at an all-time high, which means greater competition among multifamily property managers to attract and retain tenants,” Tom Petry, Knock co-founder and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com. “Knock has focused on building a CRM and analytics platform that is essential to effectively minimize tenant turnover and maximize NOI in this competitive environment.”

The tech firm recently raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Madrona Venture Group and brings the company’s total capital raised to $15.5 million. Knock will use the investment to scale its go-to-market organization and accelerate investments in product, engineering and data science.

The new capital will also support Knock in accelerating its investments in data science and analytics features to help property managers improve rental yields. Tenant turnover prediction and yield optimization are examples of areas where Knock can help property managers make better decisions to improve occupancy and profitability.

“Attracting and retaining the best tenants is crucial to the financial success of an apartment building, and yet, before Knock, property managers did not have access to the modern CRM tools available to their peers in other industries,” said Scott Jacobson, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, who joined the Knock board in conjunction with the financing. “The Knock team deeply understands the nuances of the multifamily housing market and has developed industry-leading CRM and communications technology that help property managers improve their business and their tenants’ experience.”

The funding comes on the heels of a growth period for the company. During the past two years, Knock has experienced 11 times revenue growth, tripled its team and moved to a new headquarters in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.

Last year, Knock hired former A Place for Mom executive Ted Ellis as chief technology officer and rolled out a national field-sales organization nationwide in Seattle, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Chicago, Washington, DC and Boston. Knock plans to double its employee headcount in 2019 to fuel further growth.

The company touts itself as the only multifamily housing platform to provide marketing, automated communication, real-time performance management and messaging capabilities all in one place. Knock provides property managers with the tools needed to convert leads into prospects, prospects into leases and leases into renewals. As a result, property managers can better manage relationships with prospects and tenants, and ultimately, boost profits.

“Multifamily sales and marketing is complex and multifaceted,” said Petry. “Apartment owners and managers need more insights into their sales performance, while renters expect easy communication.”

To be sure, more multifamily marketers will utilize a wide variety of lifestyle data to understand statistics such as residents’ energy usage, how often they use a car or public transit or where they’re spending the most time in the complex. This kind of data gives actionable insight to marketers that can either impact the building’s footprint or marketing efforts in general, according to LCP360.