Hospitality Influences Multifamily in a Big Way

AUSTIN, TX—Concierge and housekeeping services that mirror the hospitality industry are increasingly catching on in the multifamily world. One hotel-inspired services firm, Spruce, allows residents to access an array of services including daily chores, housekeeping, pet care (dog walking, pet sitting, etc.), along with laundry and dry cleaning through its app.

Spruce’s daily chores service includes more than 15 unique services such as folding clothes, washing dishes, making the bed, cleaning a single room, decluttering and more. Chores are priced between $10 and $30.

In this exclusive, Laurie Frias, southwest director of marketing for Lincoln, discusses new services offered by Spruce, the appeal of lifestyle services, and how these services enhance amenity offerings and renewal rates.

GlobeSt.com: What are some examples of lifestyle services–meaning services that help residents take care of their daily chores and responsibilities–that you now offer your residents?

Frias: We offer a wide array of these kinds of services. Through Spruce, we give residents access to services like laundry, dry cleaning, dog walking and housekeeping. Residents also can hire service providers to do their daily chores such as folding clothes, washing dishes, making the bed, cleaning a single room, watering plants and decluttering spaces.

GlobeSt.com: How would you describe the general enthusiasm with which these lifestyle services have been received?

Frias: Residents genuinely love lifestyle services. Once those services are given to our residents, we can never take them away. People are willing to pay more to get those types of services on-site. Things like dog walking or folding clothes may seem small, but they make a big impact on our residents’ quality of life.

Today’s renters often lead extremely hectic, busy lives and view typical chores as something they can outsource in favor of experiences, spending time with their friends and family, or just binge watching the latest season of Homeland.

GlobeSt.com: Generally speaking, how do these kinds of services enhance your amenity offerings? How do they complement physical amenities such as fitness centers, pools, socializing spaces, etc.?

Frias: It is a powerful selling point for our leasing professionals when they have to close on a prospect. It makes our properties stand out when we’re able to offer those services. They give us a real competitive advantage, as do our other features and amenities like concierge and valet services, package lockers and fitness classes.

And certainly not every community can help residents with isolated tasks like oven cleaning and interior window cleaning, which we can do. It’s always great to be able to differentiate yourself from competitors with these kinds of services.

GlobeSt.com: What has been the impact of these lifestyle services on your renewal rates?

Frias: These lifestyle services have actually had an important impact on our renewal rates. We realize that people want to have a concierge who remembers their name when they come back home from a business trip and they do get attached to their community concierge. Same for other types of services like valet, dry cleaning, etc.

According to Spruce’s internal review of data from all its clients, apartment residents who use lifestyle services are significantly more likely to renew their leases than those who don’t. The study showed that residents who purchase at least two lifestyle services have a renewal rate of 81.4%. When apartment renters purchase more than 20 lifestyle services, their renewal rate jumps to nearly 90%. On the flip side, residents who didn’t purchase services at the same communities renewed at a rate of just 68%.

GlobeSt.com: Why do you think these services lead to higher renewal rates?

Frias: I don’t think it’s any secret: residents get used to these services and their service providers who get to know their unique preferences like how to make their bed and where their dog likes to walk and sniff. They deeply appreciate them and come to rely on them. So when shopping around for other communities, they quickly realize that not every competitor offers the services they get at their current property.