Pretty Good Friends
How tenants, landlords, and neighbourhoods
can benefit from each other.
Municipal housing companies are back in vogue. They are tasked with creating liveable housing for middle-income tenants at affordable rates. Given the rising costs in the construction industry, this is almost like squaring the circle. Precisely our challenge.
THE UNKNOWN ENTITIES
Who exactly are our tenants, and how can we segment them effectively? How can we improve their experiences and identify potential new business areas related to housing? This is not trivial with more than 100,000 tenants.
DATA PROTECTION MEETS
CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
It is remarkable how little data a municipal company is allowed to have about its tenants. Nevertheless, there are annual satisfaction studies that provide a structured overview. According to these studies, tenant satisfaction is highly dependent on the structure, location, and quality of the residential neighbourhood. But what do the tenants themselves say about this?
BETTER TO VISIT, OBSERVE, AND ASK
Our qualitative studies thrive on context. Therefore, we visited selected neighbourhoods, took photographs, and conducted around 50 in-depth interviews with tenants and service staff of the housing association. A whole new world opened up.
“New services and business models that are relevant to tenants, strengthen the neighbourhood, and open up additional revenue streams.”
PROVIDING APPROACHES, REASONS, AND IDEAS
FOR DEVELOPMENT POTENTIALS
How can the findings be made transparent and actionable? We developed tenant personas and target-specific segmentations of tenants based on “jobs-to-be-done” or Sinus Milieus. This allowed us to present concrete reasons and approaches for improving existing services. Additionally, we proposed more than 20 well-founded ideas for new business areas.
FINDING CONNECTIVE ACTION FIELDS
Tenant satisfaction and the scope for landlords go beyond traditional tenant services. Social contacts among tenants, opportunities for involvement in shaping the living environment, and the availability and design of communal spaces in the neighbourhood provide the foundation for tenant satisfaction and future business models.
