Business View Magazine November-December 2018

42 43 ZRS MANAGEMENT, LLC Pierce believes that ZRS is “that bridge between the asset owners and the end users,” whose job it is to maximize the end users’ willingness to pay higher rents by increasing the value of a property. “From a resident’s per- spective, it’s about the value that they get, the convenience, how it makes their lives better,” he explains. “It’s not just selling an apartment; it’s selling a lifestyle to them. By changing it from not just a place to live, but how one’s life and day-to-day activities will change by living in this community, we found that people’s willingness to pay will go up because of that. It’s about understanding the goals and ob- jectives of our clients and having those con- versations with them about how the property will best suit their lifestyle.” Company Partner and Vice President, Jeremy Brown, believes that ZRS differentiates itself from its competitors by its embrace of tech- nology–both in the ways in which prospec- tive renters can access the company, as well as in the ways technology makes their lives easier once they’ve moved in. “Eighty percent of our apartment shoppers begin their search online,” he notes. “So, everything from reviews, to YouTube videos, to Zillow, to Apartments. com, to our paid advertising with Google, Yahoo, Instagram, Facebook, and all the other channels that we use – that’s the consumer that we’re going after. Those consumers tend to be much more educated on the apartment market, itself, as well.” Another one of the channels that ZRS uses is Urbandoor, a global marketplace for fur- nished apartments specifically built for pro- fessionals. Its mission is to effortlessly con- nect professionals with their right apartment every time, anywhere. Unlike other furnished apartment marketplaces, there are no private homes or individual hosts on Urbandoor; all apartments and providers are vetted to meet standards profes- sionals expect. The platform currently offers more than 250,000 furnished apartments in 1300+ markets across 45 countries. So, with Urbandoor’s technology, property operators like ZRS can ac- cess business demand without inventory risk or additional operational burden. From a resident perspective, there is more online opportunity,” says Director of Operations, Jackie Impellitier. “They can go through the full process – identifying their unit, seeing photo- graphs of it, all the way to choosing a parking space, and signing their lease online. That rolls them into having the ability to do things on the fly from their mobile device and not having to be bogged down from a time perspective. It gives them visibility into their new home; it gives them digital documentation and an easy way to com- municate with us. So, we’re seeing a lot of col- laboration between the way we market and the way we service our residents through the whole lifecycle of the lease.” “We want to make the experience of anybody JACKIE IMPELLITIER DIRECTOR OF OPERA TIONS JEREMY BROWN VICE PRESIDENT DARREN PIERCE VICE PRESIDENT