(January 15, 2003)—RealPage, Inc., a leading provider of products and services to the multifamily industry, today announced that it has acquired Resident Awards, a dynamic, web-based incentive program that offers property managers and owners an alternative to the rent concessions that are in wide use today in the industry.
“Most property owners and managers will agree that the worst two words heard lately in the multifamily industry are ‘free rent!’” said Steve Winn, chief executive officer of RealPage. “Yet, rental concessions have become a prolific tool for generating leases, encouraging renewals and maintaining occupancy rates. Resident Awards provides an alternative to higher and higher concessions.”
The Resident Awards program, which will now be offered as part of RealPage’s OneSite© integrated suite of web-based products, correlates directly to a popular trend employed in other industries: the notion of accumulating award points for airline mile redemption or for the purchase of desired items. It is a customizable incentive program that can be labeled privately to create uniformity across a portfolio.
With Resident Awards, management companies and properties can purchase point cards at wholesale prices in various denominations. Points can then be awarded to their residents for key actions such as new leases, renewals or referrals. Once an account is established, points can be banked for future use or redeemed for airline miles with major carriers or for gifts across more than 20 categories.
Brock MacLean, principal of Resident Awards, has joined the company as vice president of sales. MacLean will head up sales of RealPage’s OneSite property marketing systems, which help property managers capture more leads and convert a higher percentage of those leads into leases.
According to MacLean, “A customizable incentive program like Resident Awards offers the opportunity for endless creativity and individuality. The options for private labeling range from having a property logo printed on the award point cards to a custom, company-specific awards web site. Within this framework, a management company can develop a branding strategy and a club atmosphere that transcends both a community and a portfolio. This strategy has clearly been successful in a number of other industry sectors, including the airline, hotel and rental car industries. It engenders not only brand awareness, but also strong brand loyalty.”
“The program helps management companies and industry vendors strengthen existing relationships and create new ones through creative marketing that brings real value to all parties,” said Mark Case, vice president of multifamily sales at RealPage. “Whether used for lease incentives, renewals, employee appreciation or other opportunities, Resident Awards points translate into residual benefits that will impact an entire portfolio.”
RealPage is located in Carrollton, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. More than 21,000 apartment communities across the United States use RealPage’s products and services, which are offered in three major areas. Enterprise systems automate back-office accounting, portfolio management and revenue management of large and mid-size property owners and managers. Property management systems automate site-based business processes such as screening, leasing, rent management, maintenance and purchasing. Property marketing systems help capture and close more leads, thereby stimulating demand for vacant apartment units.