Empowering your tenants to adopt a digital mindset

You might be on the verge of a digital transformation, or you might have already made that change but are concerned that your customers may not be willing or able to keep up, so how do you encourage them to adopt a digital-first mindset?

Engage with tenants across multiple channels

A simple way to encourage your customers to develop a digital mindset is to communicate across different channels. Ask your tenants for feedback via social media, email and short surveys – listening to your tenants will show you what areas of your organisation you could improve. Not only will this help you as an organisation, but it will also build trust between you and your tenants. Working with your tenants to develop your services will have a hugely positive impact on your digital transformation programme.

Regularly update your IT systems and software

Keeping your IT systems up to date will help reduce the risk of outages and data security issues, which in turn will help your organisation and your tenants have the best possible experience with digital. The digital landscape is constantly evolving so it’s critical to make sure you’re staying one step ahead with your online systems - especially any that are tenant facing. Ultimately, dated IT software can cost you both you and your tenants time and effort. If you’re consistent and regular with your updates then your tenants are more likely to embrace a digital-first mindset.

Provide engaging and informative resources

It’s going to be easier for your tenants to get onboard with your digital transformation agenda if you can provide them with engaging and informative resources on your website or tenant portal. This could be things like ebooks, advice and guidance, self-diagnosis repair walkthroughs and how-to videos. The more you offer your customers online, the more likely they are to return to your website and engage.

Update your website

There’s nothing more off-putting than a slow or out-of-date website. It’s all well and good creating a grand digital plan but if your website isn’t focussed on providing a great experience for customers then you may find yourself struggling to get more of your tenants transacting online. When was the last time you had a website refresh? Or checked the speed of your site? It’s a good idea to analyse the functionality of your website before you take any of the above steps.

Involve customer facing teams in your efforts

Empowering your tenants to adopt a digital mindset is much easier if your staff are also onboard your organisation’s digital vision – especially those that are customer facing. For any effective change to take place, you need staff who will contribute valuable insight and promote and encourage digital when they’re communicating with customers and out working within the community.

Plan ahead

Investing time in expanding not only your tenant’s digital capability but your housing organisation’s as a whole will help you stay ahead of the curve in a competitive business environment. If you’re constantly putting digital front of mind while maintaining a customer-centric culture, you should start to see more of your tenants welcoming a digital transition.

Need more guidance on getting your tenants to adopt a digital mindset? Download An Introduction to Franklin to learn more about self-service portals and how they can help transition your customers from offline to online.