Laramar Overcomes Communication & Workflow Challenges

The Challenge: Unique logistics pose communication and workflow challenges

Local by Laramar is a division of the Laramar Group portfolio that includes smaller, historic buildings in urban locations, and these communities are operated out of a central leasing office. Communication—not only with residents but among associates—can be a challenge, particularly in Chicago, where Local by Laramar operates 55 properties spanning the city..

This challenge was exacerbated when the central office in Chicago closed as a result of to COVID-19 precautions. Though the office wasn’t on-site at a Local by Laramar location, its closure further reduced the opportunity for in-person communication. On the maintenance side, the lack of a dedicated technician on site at all times necessitated the coordination of a 14-member mobile maintenance crew—an undertaking that opened the door to inefficiencies.

"Inputting a service request to handle anything in a vacant apartment or in the buildings was really cumbersome,” said Stacy Valentine, the Laramar Group’s Vice President of Innovation and Technology. “Having to create a service request for every single task was just not optimal. We recognized there was an opportunity to really hone our efficiency in that market, and, because our techs are mobile, that includes monitoring drive times and parking times, as well as time taken to complete tasks.

“There were a number of areas where operations could have benefitted from a system that helped us manage and monitor all of the tasks, service requests, and communications on one platform. Task management and the ability to communicate with our residents is really important. With a team that services multiple communities of different size, type and location, proactive resident communication has its own unique challenges. It is important we offer a simple way for residents to quickly and easily communicate with our teams at any time.”

The Solution: SmartRent Work Management deployed to connect Laramar’s operational dots

Laramar found the comprehensive solution it was looking for when it conducted a demo with SmartRent Work Management during the 2019 National Multifamily Housing Council OPTECH Conference in Dallas.

“During the demo process, we saw that the easy integration with our property management system would allow us to push information,” Valentine said. “Also, the task management and the map functionality were pretty compelling. Being able to pin the tasks to specific locations for our maintenance teams and our vendors is big for us, because no two buildings are the same. We were very intrigued by that capability and functionality, but the maintenance efficiency side of it attracted us the most.”

Laramar wasted little time deploying the platform at its Local by Laramar properties in Chicago.

What Laramar loved about Work Management, Valentine said, is that the SmartRent team had walked in the shoes of the on-site personnel, the regional managers and all of the operations teams. Because of that, SmartRent understood the pains and challenges in the industry.

The Result: SmartRent’s Work Management streamlines operations and optimizes communications

By picking up where property-management software leaves off, SmartRent Work Management has not only enhanced operations for Laramar teams, but improved the living experiences of its residents.

Valentine said Work Management ushered in immediate advantages through its service-call recordings, its ability to send emergency notifications via text, and its masking of outgoing associate calls so that the Caller ID seen by residents shows up as the main property number. Work Management also enabled maintenance techs to use their mobile devices to communicate with the resident in real time, while in the unit.

Laramar exceeds service expectations with Work Management

In the first quarter of 2021, residents at 55 Local by Laramar communities created 3,067 maintenance tasks via SmartRent Work Management. The centralized maintenance team facilitated the closure of more than 3,000 of those tasks, achieving a task completion rate of 98%.

More importantly, there were zero negative ratings from residents on all of the tasks initiated.

With its previous property-management software, Laramar hadn’t always been able to deliver a good end-to-end experience to its residents. So the level of service the company attained with Work Management was amazing, Valentine said.

"From a business perspective, Work Management is really giving us enhanced solutions that we’ve needed for a long time and that property-management software hasn’t made a top priority,” Valentine said. “To be able to create a service task, quickly assign it over to our techs, and immediately notify them of the assigned task—that has been game-changing. And in our world at Local by Laramar, where we don’t have the ability to easily connect face-to-face with residents, that bi-directional communication around (specific resident requests) is huge.”

What Work Management does for the Laramar Group

Work Management makes the Laramar Group team’s job easier by offering the following:

• Easy communication: Team members and residents can connect seamlessly via voice, SMS, email or push notification.
• Easy-to-use workflow platform, available on both iOS and Android for mobile and tablet devices
• Elimination of duplicated efforts through the use of flexible virtual workspaces.
• Improved efficiencies, resulting in improved customer service and revenue-collections rates, and reduced payment delinquencies.
• Advanced reporting using filters and easily exportable data into third-party tools for deeper analysis.

The Laramar team’s favorite product features: Team management, scheduling, geofencing

Moving forward

The success of Work Management in the Chicago market was a clear indication to Laramar Group that SmartRent’s tech solution works in even the most challenging logistical environments. Consequently, Laramar has deployed Work Management beyond its Local by Laramar portfolio, and Valentine said the company plans to use Work Management to track efficiency, staffing needs and resident satisfaction.

“If there has been a complaint or a question from a resident, it has helped our management team to be able to quickly go in and look at the notes and determine whether there was miscommunication or if further service is needed,” Valentine said. “That really wasn’t something that we were able to do in an easy way prior to Work Management. It helps us to be able to keep a better eye on the status of the assigned maintenance tasks and to redirect resources if needed.