Michele Bettinazzi, Customer Experience Manager,  plays a crucial role leading PeakMade’s pursuit of understanding customer needs and leveraging customer feedback to influence all aspects of the business. Through her leadership, PeakMade has positioned themselves as a leader in creating a robust customer experience platform that tracks trends across the student housing industry and adapts to the evolving landscape of various markets across the country.

As a result of their initial partnership with Reputation in 2013, PeakMade has experienced significant growth in reputation scores and review volume, creating exceptional leasing velocity while reducing costs across the organization.

Within this case study you will find:

• Overview of PeakMade’s Unique Customer Experience Platform and Strategy
• Recent Results and ROI Across the Portfolio and in the Industry
• Impact on PeakMade’s Growing Business

Using Unique Deliverables to Drive Success

At PeakMade, success is defined by embodying their mindsets: People Matter Most, Do The Right Thing, Create Moments, Own It, and Evolve. These mindsets are the cornerstone of how PeakMade develops and implements an exceptional customer experience to their residents throughout their communities.

The Customer Knowledge program is the foundation for understanding customers’ needs, identifying business opportunities, and adapting our company culture to evolve our business. Unique to PeakMade, the CK platform was created to collect resident feedback and curate solutions that solve for our customers’ needs – ultimately ensuring that our customers feel fulfilled resulting in improved resident recruitment, referral, rate growth, and retention while creating efficiencies for their teams.

The Customer Knowledge platform is not limited to specific departments within PeakMade. The data, findings and ideas are shared across departments to ensure that every aspect of the business focuses on customer needs. Executives and department leaders regularly meet to discuss findings from the program and identify areas of improvement. High-achieving properties are partnered with those needing assistance, allowing them to share best practices and brainstorm ideas for improvement.

This program solicits feedback through online reviews, customer surveys, customer care inquiries, and focus groups. Using the data collected, PeakMade has established ways to build brand value, manage, and maintain online reputations for their properties.

Exceptional Results and ROI

• Increased Reputation Score: Since partnering with Reputation, PeakMade has increased its Reputation Score as a portfolio from 515 to 690 (147 points above industry average). This demonstrates the improved perception and trustworthiness of their brand among customers and stakeholders.
• Recognition and Awards: PeakMade has been consistently recognized for their online reputation as a top student housing management company. They debuted on J. Turner Research’s Top Ten Student Housing Managers list at number 9 in 2019 and improved YOY – 8 in 2020, 6 in 2021. PeakMade broke into the Top 5 at number 4 in 2022. The PeakMade portfolio average sits at 66.62 while the J.Turner National Average is 63.31. This recognition highlights their commitment to customer satisfaction and excellence in the industry.
  • 56% of the PeakMade portfolio is above J. Turner’s ORA industry average.
• High Leasing Achievements: At the end of the last leasing cycle, over 70% of PeakMade’s real estate portfolio received a High Achievers Award by meeting or exceeding budgeted occupancy. Moreover, 55% of properties entered the prestigious Diamond Club status, achieving 100% occupancy.
• Increased Review Volume: PeakMade’s dedication to customer feedback and online reputation management has led to consistently increasing review volumes year over year, with a remarkable 96%+ response rate. The commitment to listen to customers and evolve the business based on their needs has been a driving force behind these outstanding achievements.
  • Additionally, on June 8th, 2023 (Reputation’s first ever National Leave a Review Day) PeakMade launched a campaign to encourage their residents, prospects, and even PeakMade associates to leave reviews for their communities and company so they could lean into feedback about their experiences and take action where needed. They saw a 300% increase in review volume attributed to this national holiday with a positive sentiment of 80%!

• 800 Award Winners: PeakMade was honored to have 7 properties achieve the 800 Award from Reputation in 2022. This recognition showcases their dedication to improving reputation scores and sets a target for further growth.
  • Efforts in 2023 have increased the number of properties to: 20 properties in the first 10 months of the year. 
  • Continued astonishing Rep Score achievements:
    • 52% of portfolio at 750-800+ Rep Score
    • 11% of portfolio at 700-750 Rep Score
    • 92% of portfolio above industry average Rep Score.

Ultimate Business Impact

By leveraging Reputation and implementing a comprehensive reputation management strategy, PeakMade has achieved remarkable business impacts: 

• Customer Satisfaction and Leasing Success: In 2022 and 2023, PeakMade experienced their best leasing years yet, with high customer satisfaction, leasing velocity, occupancy rates, and rent growth.
  • These achievements can be attributed to their customer-centric approach and continuous improvement efforts.
• Long-Term Advocacy: PeakMade’s dedication to listening to their customers and providing an exceptional customer experience has resulted in long-term customers who advocate for the brand.
  • This advocacy strengthens their reputation and attracts new customers.

Conclusion

PeakMade’s dedication to enhancing every facet of the customer experience within the infinity loop has made a substantial impact. From attracting new residents to fostering long-lasting loyalty, the PeakMade team is heavily focused on being intentional at every part of the customer journey. The collaboration between PeakMade and Reputation, along with the successful integration of the Customer Knowledge platform, has transformed the way we interact with our customers and made the customer experience a core component of our award-winning platform.

By anticipating the needs of our customers, PeakMade has achieved remarkable enhancements in its Reputation Scores creating a surge in leasing success that contributes to our company’s overall expansion. PeakMade’s commitment to challenging the status quo and being a disruptor in our industry drives our pursuit of excellence positions the company for another thriving year in 2024 and beyond.