Business View Magazine November-December 2018

44 45 living in one of our communities, easier than somewhere else; how they can navigate our web- site; how they can find us on different platforms; how they can do the full leasing process online,” Pierce adds. “We know how busy our residents are and we want to make it easier for them.” “We invest a lot in technology,” says Brown. “Ev- ery year, we hold a technology conference for all of our folks to attend; we just had it a few weeks ago in Miami Beach.We flew in all of our manag- ers, top assistant managers, leasing people, and the entire corporate team – about 500 people. What we do is we educate all of our folks on the latest and greatest mobile applications, industry trends, etc. It’s an opportunity to rein- force our stance on technology and educate our folks that this is in the forefront of everything.” “The big thing now is voice recognition,” Brown continues. “We’re putting a lot of pres- sure on our partners to develop their skills for Amazon Alexa, so that residents can buzz peo- ple in from the gate through Alexa; they can have conversations with their neighbors with Alexa; they can ask Alexa who’s working in the leasing office; they can ask Alexa if there’s a package, downstairs. We’ve got a company that puts detectors on all the fitness equipment, so a resident can say, ‘Alexa, is there a treadmill available at the gym?’ And she can say, ‘Yes, there are three that are available.’ That’s real- ly our big focus because voice recognition has become so affordable.” The embrace of technology also extends to the ways in which ZRS operates as a company. We always come full circle Your residents. Our core. 1-800-678-0023 REZCOR.COM Property Maintenance Appliances Air Conditioning ZRS MANAGEMENT, LLC “From a business automation perspective, for the last several years, we have tried to find ways to go green, to have more paperless initiatives and more data and information at our fingertips,” says Impellitier. “So, a big focus for us has been investing in business intelligence software and trying to create a consistent platform that all of our assets are operating from, and that gives the executive level team more visibility into what’s happening at the properties. We have data that leads into a dashboard and we have customized different widgets and information that allow us to see where there are areas of improvement, areas of focus, red flags, and even areas where we’re excelling and exceeding. That has changed the way we run our business and what we focus on day-to-day.” While investment in technology is key to the company’s success, Pierce maintains that ZRS is still in the relationship business - including how the company acquires new clients. “Our business is all reputation and word-of-mouth,” he states. “It’s people that know us within the industry, that are either entering a new market where we operate, or toured some of our communi- ties and had great experiences – they’ll give us a call. All of our new business is relationship driven. So, as much as technology is changing the way that we do business, we still under- stand that what we do is very personal to the investors that we work with, as well as the residents. And we try to make sure that there is a connection between the technology side and the personal relationship side.”