How Willow Bridge's Hybrid Leasing Approach Makes Prospects Happy
“Realync is going to be a part of our long-term marketing plan. We love how the platform is evolving throughout the years. I believe Realync has the best training team in the industry.”
Irini Boeder
Vice President of Marketing, Willow Bridge
Opportunity
Willow Bridge, formerly known as Lincoln Property Company, is the second-largest multifamily manager in the United States. For over 10 years, Irini Boeder, Vice President of Marketing for Willow Bridge’s Midwest region, has looked for new solutions to streamline processes and meet her on-site teams’ needs.
So, when Irini’s teams received an influx of site-unseen requests, it was important for Irini to partner with the right vendor to equip her teams for success. During the same time, they even saw a trend in requests for multiple tours with prospects’ roommates and families who wanted to virtually tour Willow Bridge’s luxury communities.
Solution
In 2019, K2 Apartments, located in the Chicago West Loop, was one of the first properties to leverage the Realync platform. Realizing their success with Realync, Willow Bridge expanded the platform to over 76 properties.
What started as a solution for site-unseen live video tours soon turned into other use cases for Irini’s on-site teams.
Teams leveraged the Realync platform to create maintenance how-to videos, especially when K2 Apartments stopped all non-emergency maintenance requests in 2020. Residents even requested those videos and said if maintenance just showed them how to change the filter over video, for example, they’ll do it themselves!
Results
Willow Bridge meets prospects’ preferences. How? By using video in over 18,000 units as an in-person tour enhancement and substitute to in person touring. As Willow Bridge’s on-site teams showcased their creativity in 2019, they didn’t slow down in 2020.
In 2020, K2 Apartments and other Willow Bridge communities upped their usage with Realync to support leasing efforts when their leasing doors closed for a few months.
By March of 2020, on-site teams created over 2,000 videos and hosted over 2,100 live video tours with over 64,770 video views… It’s safe to say Willow Bridge teams were busy!
In late 2020, Irini’s teams still received requests for virtual tours even when in person touring resumed. That’s when the balance between in-person tours and virtual tours started to creep in. Alongside Willow Bridge’s in-person touring strategy, on-site teams continue providing video tours, over 2,010 from March 2020 until May 2021.
“Now that we’re in a hybrid state, our on-site teams love offering in-person and video tours to our clients because they get to tailor to their client’s needs. It’s one of those options that now that we have video touring… we would never think to take it away. Virtual leasing is here to stay, and people expect it as an option.”
Irini Boeder
Vice President of Marketing, Willow Bridge
About Willow Bridge
Willow Bridge is one of the largest and most diversified real estate companies in the United States, offering a comprehensive suite of value-added services for its clients, including asset and property management, construction management, development, and build-to-suit services, investments/acquisitions, and landlord representation. Willow Bridge is highly regarded within the real estate community and among its clientele: investors, lenders, tenants, and owners of commercial real estate. Additionally, its experienced team and ownership mentality uniquely position Willow Bridge as one of the most trusted real estate partners among institutional real estate investors.
About Realync
Realync is a multifamily video engagement platform unlocking authentic experiences that connect and convert across the entire prospect and resident lifecycle. Realync’s all-in-one video solution enables multifamily teams to create memorable experiences, lease efficiently and communicate effectively with current and prospective residents. Realync partners with many of the nation’s largest property owners and managers and is actively being used in over 500,000 units today. To learn more, please visit us at www.realync.com
