Being an expert in the Resident Experience for master-planned communities (MPCs) around lifestyle programming, and now seeing the opportunity to change the entire customer experience through data and technology, I feel ready to tackle the next decade with a refreshed focus.
Over the last month, I’ve had numerous conversations with former clients and industry partners about my new role as Chief Commercial Officer for Cecilian Partners.
During those conversations, there have been two consistent themes centered around community engagement.
1. How can MPCs evolve the resident experience through Social Capital?
2. Through technology, how can MPCs perfect the consumer experience in a more modern and thoughtful way?
The first theme focuses on the evolution of lifestyle programming and amenity designs. Over the past decade, community developers across the country have realized the intrinsic value of “social capital.” This is the key understanding of how social groups work together to create a shared understanding of “community” have trust, cooperation, and reciprocity. Leveraging the theme of social capital brings the MPCs vision to life, activates amenities, and helps to drive intentional sales traffic.
The early adopters and those who truly understand its value, definitely got the most bang for their buck in outpacing their competitors. At present, having a formal lifestyle programming plan or some form of it, is the absolute norm for any MPC. Consumers have come to expect it.
However, the answer to where community engagement is headed is the fundamental reason why I joined Cecilian Partners.
Having played a pivotal role in the social capital shift for the real estate industry, how can we evaluate the resident experience? How can we better engage our prospects? The answer is using data and technology. Now, I have the ability to work with clients big and small to leverage consumer data to shape the social capital within the community. Having this information available can influence the way developers make decisions on amenity planning, marketing, and social engagement pre and post-purchase.
When it comes to consumer engagement, Community Developers need to apply intuitive technology to make researching for a new home as convenient as reserving movie tickets or shopping online. Cecilian Partners’ technology — The XO — consumer-facing map allows developers and builders to create a better consumer experience when it comes to the sales process by meeting the home-buying prospects on their terms.
The XO platform gives consumers the ability to narrow down where they want to live within the community (lot/lots), identify which builder(s), and schedule an appointment for a tour (all from their phone)! This feature also brings the community to life virtually by highlighting points of interest, events, amenities, and more. This approach of leveraging technology to engage consumers is a must for any active selling community.
As we start 2020, let’s take the opportunity to work together leveraging data and using technology to make a positive impact on social capital and change the consumer experience in MPCs.