Attention: All Community Managers and RPMs

Improving Customer Survey Response Rates
The Kingsley Resident Survey Program is used company wide to survey our customers throughout the various touch points of their experiences with us. In an effort to increase Kingsley survey response rates, the Divisional Managers and Marketing collaborated to make improvements. These changes are effective Tuesday, June 13. 

Of our five Kingsley surveys, the prospect survey has the lowest response rate, so we are beginning our survey revamp here. If response rates improve according to our expectations, then we will make further changes to the remaining four surveys. 

For more details on response rate statistics for 2016, please refer to the below table.

New Email Invitation Format for Prospect Survey
The first point of contact our prospects will receive from Kingsley is the email invitation for the prospect survey, which also has a new format. 

The changes we implemented are:

• New subject line.  The previous subject line simply stated, "[Community Name] - Survey." The new subject line is more friendly and personalized. It reads, "[Prospect Name], how was your recent visit to [Community Name]?"
• New banner image. The previous banner showed Kingsley's logo only. The new banner image prominently features the Essex logo, with a smaller version of Kingsley's logo.
• First question appears within email body.  In the previous version, the call to action was a large button that stated "TAKE THE SURVEY." In the new version, the first question of the survey appears in the body of the email. Once a user clicks on a response within the email, their browser will open to the full survey. 
• Short, concise text. The invitation gets to the point a lot faster and friendlier!
• Time required. As a best practice for surveys, time required to complete is always indicated. The survey itself is now shorter, taking less than one minute to complete.

Here is what the prospect survey email invitation will look like:

New Format for Prospect Survey
The prospect survey, formally called the "Essex Initial Impressions Survey," has extensive changes in order to improve response rate as well as capture the most actionable data.

The changes we implemented are:

• First question populated from email. Users can respond to the first survey question within the body of the email, which will then populate in the full-version of the survey in their web browser.
• Shorter survey. The previous survey had 20 questions, whereas the new version has a concise 4.
  • To make the survey more brief, we removed the following items:
  • Ad source question
  • Community visit section
  • Demographic information section
  • Any non-actionable data (i.e. "What type of floor plan do you prefer?")
• The new survey questions are:
  • Based upon your recent visit, how would you rate your overall impression of [Community]? Tell us why? 
  • What was your overall impression of the leasing staff?
  • Have you made your leasing decision?
  • Are there any specific issues or concerns about which you would like to be contacted by community management?

Here is what the new Kingsley prospect survey looks like:

Results to be shared in Q3
We will monitor the impact of these changes and share statistics and other details with you in Q3. Until then, please feel free to contact marketing@essex.com with any questions or comments you may have.