Unfolding the AI Transformation in Multifamily Leasing and Management with Brock MacLean

We're back for another episode of the multifamily innovation podcast. And we are part of our meet the sponsor series. I'm here with Lise Haack. We have Brock McLean on the show today. He is the chief revenue officer and executive vice president of Lise Haack and has been part of some really big things in multifamily over the years from technology, innovation, and really the whole journey the customer goes on. So he has a deep Understanding of the technology impact on business. And that's why we brought him on today because he'll be speaking at the Multifamily Innovation Summit coming up and presenting as part of the Multifamily Innovation Showcase. And the goal there is we give owners, managers, operators, a look here approach on look, what are the next five or six decisions in your business that are going to move the needle, make an impact, move you to more efficient operations. Profitability and organization, and it's at the business level as much as a property. Now, Barack has a deep understanding of not only the technology working for some of the most innovative companies throughout his career, but here at Leasehawk, they're working on some technologies and innovations that are keeping up with the pace of the world, right? That's one of the things that's always hard to do as an executive. And, when you think of AI, there's a lot of noise. And when I say noise, it just means that the pace of change is happening so fast. Computers are being programmed. The world is moving fast, but companies sometimes are moving slower. So we're bringing Brock on to help us understand what a company like lease Hawk and his Leadership team are doing around the future of multifamily. Now, listen, Leasehawk has been historically doing AI for a long, long before we even were thinking and talking about it. And so there's a very big difference between modern GPT AI and what they've been building over the years and then folding all that together for a great customer experience. So with us today is Brock McLean. Brock, welcome to the show. Hey, Patrick, great to be here. Appreciate you having me. Yeah, absolutely. And one for a lot of people know you already, but for those that don't listening in give us a sense of, what does LeaseHawk do for multifamily companies? This talk, I think, is really designed to be complimentary from very top of funnel digital marketing as a really a creative addition to your leasing strategy. You mentioned that noise around AI or even tech innovation as a whole, and it can be intimidating, and it can be, daunting to consider directionally where to go. And I think the first and foremost thing is to think about it as Complimentary to what you're already doing. So you're adding depth of feature functionality, reach, convenience, all those things that are instrumental to today's apartment hunter, as they're going through the self discovery process and finding their next home. Specifically we're deploying AI solutions across. traditional voice, text, chat and lead nurturing to compliment what is already an effective and efficient leasing process, but to be able to really handle a lot of those repetitious tasks that we typically have to deploy people against and give our owners and operators the ability to take their people. Put them on higher value tasks while still ensuring that the the velocity of the leasing process, the engagement with prospects is handled in an incredibly efficient way, also driving some cost effectiveness for portfolio operators today. That's great. And I know there's, you can go to leasehawk. com and there's all kinds of information, case studies. Their team does a great job of putting all that together because buyers are doing their own research today. They want to know that you've worked with other companies and robust companies and these types of tools and solutions would work for someone's portfolio. So definitely a lot of great education learning on, on, on the blog. Thank you. They're at least hawk. com. Is there, for those that have been following lease Hawks journey and are well aware that you guys have been innovators in the space anything new that you can talk to us about any updates we're approaching the fourth quarter we're in the fourth quarter here. So you're right. The velocity of change is certainly not slowing down. And that's it's really exciting. And I think AI, as you mentioned, these talks have been at it for a long time. We've deployed AI at scale in the industry. So there's. Yeah there's, I think having AI solutions and then there's having the track record of scale reporting and results that I think are critical there but there's continued to be advancements. And I think even the level of quality of AI has dramatically changed even just year over year. Up until, even now here over the next week, and even including today, we're deploying, advanced voices that are part of the Google suite of services so that while we're not trying to make people believe that they're speaking to a human, the nuance the conversational element, the really relatable experience now that prospects can have in engaging with AI is truly incredible. And I think, We are all becoming so accustomed, especially, as you look out over the past few years since our shared COVID experience, we're very comfortable going through self discovery from our couch. And the more comfortable we are with technology, the more we lean into all the advancements that are there and the way that we can derive consistent quality answers to what we're looking for. On a timely basis in the way in the communication channel that we prefer. It's incredibly powerful for digital marketers to have that as part of what they're doing today. And it's something that I think has become not a nice to have, but really a critical component of an overall leasing strategy. Are you seeing this as more of the trends moving forward? And, you've mentioned a couple of things. You've got the customer that they would benefit from this experience, as you mentioned, it's happening around the world anyway, not just in multifamily. And then you have the investor that has different reasons around protecting capital risk tackling challenges, finding. People giving a more interesting path to yield. And then you have the owner operators that are looking at, how do I retain employees and give them work that is meaningful. We're getting the redundant tasks that are more unfun and they're showing up in a more sales you mentioned complimenting this AI compliments. So now you're like improved sales results when you work together with technology, not just use it to, Replace or just innovate. Yeah, it is really intriguing. And there's throughout my career, multifamily there, there really hasn't been a time where I've seen an application of technology that has. A number of benefits that are unique to the various constituents. And by that, from a prospect perspective, I've got ultimate flexibility now, right? I can certainly communicate with the property, but if I want to, I can, from the comfort of my couch, I can text and chat and call and go through the self discovery all the way, including to, booking tours and appointments to handle that all on my own, if that's how I'm so inclined. As a prospect, I can really identify with that brand if they offer that functionality that speaks to me and makes the most sense for me from a leasing standpoint, you're creating efficiency, right? Leasing staff now can focus on those high intent to rent prospects who have engaged with AI. We know statistically that they converted a much higher rate than those that don't because they've gone through this self discovery process. So the efficiency for the leasing team to say, Wow, yeah. Patrick, came to us as a lead through an AI engagement. His intent to transact is likely really high. I'm going to probably be sure to give him the optimal attention because he's likely to transact here very quickly. From an owner operator standpoint, you're really solving a bunch of things. An engaged prospect that enjoys their experience. and efficient leasing team that you can really look at and say, I can point my people to higher value tasks. And does that afford me some adjacent benefits, right? Maybe some yield through accomplishing my leasing strategy with fewer people and using tech to drive some of those resources employee satisfaction by offering things like maybe I don't staff Sundays because I'm utilizing AI to engage with prospects book tours and ultimately go through the self discovery process. So as the market. Incur some bumpier times around occupancy and maybe less increase from a rental rate perspective. Things like these benefits around cost effectiveness maybe staff impact to staff and how I can more maximize that potential and then yield driven through things like maybe not staffing on a given Sunday or something like that. Those are incremental adjacent benefits. To deploying tech like AI that compliment the core, which is obviously 24 by seven feature functionality and engagement for prospect looking for the next home. I love this word compliment you've been using because, oftentimes trying something new sometimes can. feel scary. And, but when you mention those two, the prospect, the staff, the teams and the owner perspectives on the benefits playing out, and it really is a, it's created a powerful three level when they're and if the start to think about the costs of not. Doing something right. Staying the same, maybe even staffing your team on Sundays, if that's an issue, what's that costing you doing the math on that or missed opportunities or missed call all these things, or maybe the customer that truly enjoys this type of experience we're missing those opportunities and no one's really doing the math on that at that scale, this complimenting thing really helps people, I think move into. Trying something new, even if it's re envisioning a new model of even leasing, and it sounds like you're, you can be flexible with the portfolio if they have their traditional ways and this is how we do it, this works and complements and makes life better for all. If it's, we're going to try a new model here and test our assumptions about what we really need. This could be a safe on ramp to something like that. And then ultimately on the more aggressive, more forward thinking and innovative companies out there, it could be supportive in a new model of a whole centralized approach to leasing and all of that stuff. What are you guys doing internally to shape through those conversations? Yeah. And that's, what's really exciting about the conversation because depending on the, either the corporate culture of our customer or what their, some of their goals are. We can tailor an approach that makes the most sense. And we've seen some of those efficiencies bear out, logically, if you think about a lease up property, if you could deploy AI to really handle a lot of that prospect engagement, while you're still coming out of the ground with your asset and you're not quite ready to lease, you can see how that efficiency is gained in that scenario. And then you can quickly see. Wow. If I deployed that against my core, or my, my stabilized assets, are there some incremental efficiencies that I can find not only in, in how I'm operating, but that are really speaking to today's consumer anyway. And we have a lot of digital marketers that say we've got a very white glove approach to our engagement with prospects. And I'm always responding with, you should absolutely keep that. If that's resonating with your prospects, keep that. But have these other options available because there are equally as many prospects who want the kind of quality living experience they're going to have in your community, but are happily to have that without ever actually talking to anybody. And so I think the idea is to add diversity and flexibility to your overall marketing strategy. And then as you're garnering results and seeing the impact that AI is having in your leasing strategy, you can begin to tailor an evolution of your own organization accordingly, whether that's something more centralized, whether that's Pointing your people to higher value tasks and having AI handle a lot of the leasing velocity. It gives you insights and results with which to hone your organization without having to guess what the impact may or may not be. Yeah. And it keeps going back to that compliment conversation that even if that is this, the space that you operate in and you still can diversify that stack of or process really even when you think about. There are other products out in the marketplace that are doing one of the things that you do and, or maybe like even an all in one, like it comes with the other things I've bought. And that seems easier for me now. What's the real problem with that in that you guys are focused on this as a main idea, main product and a main experience to talk to me about. The balancing that should I go with a Leasehawk or do I go with something that's folded into something else or it's only does one of the things, take me through that. Yeah, I think you're seeing an evolution also in real time here in the space where some of the large tech stacks that have products in almost every category you can think of those, the product set is very wide. And within that product set, some are rather deep because there's historical expertise associated. Others are not. They're wide, but very limited either through because that product set is new or there just hasn't been the level of attention given to it. It's very difficult to be wide and deep in every category that we have in our industry today. And that's why I think you see a lot of point solution tech companies not just AI related, but in a number of our categories. Having success because they're really heavily focused on that category, adding innovation to something that until really the last couple of years didn't have a lot of innovation in it. So they're going while narrow, potentially going very deep there. So if you are a customer now, you can make the choice to have it all in one solution and you have to be comfortable knowing that some subset of those products that you have incorporated into your single stack are going to be. May be good enough, but they're probably not as good as they could be, but they're probably not giving you a lot of the benefit that you could derive from a point solution provider that's out there. So I think you've got a lot of savvy marketer saying I know that makes sense. And there's probably some pricing power associated with buying a wider suite. If I lean into some of these point solutions, knowing that they are very tightly integrated, very seamless in terms of their operation. Not big list in terms of training and resource intensive, and I can derive efficiency, not only what they provide for my end user in this case, somebody looking for their next apartment home, but also some adjacent benefits around efficiencies of staff cost effectiveness and so on. Then I think it gives that, that, that owner, that operator pause to consider, is there a a solution where I've got my core functionality, but I'm really plugging and playing some best of breed solutions that are adding incremental yield in ways that I couldn't accomplish in a single stack. I understand that completely because, as it. Asset managers and owners owners on behalf of investor or operators on behalf of investors, it's, we get really good at understanding the market fundamentals, the transaction elements of the business. And I like this idea of bilinguals. In other words, people that understand the real estate, which the owners and operators are really great at. They build a lot of wealth, protect a lot of wealth that way, but also this understanding of technology. In other words, The incremental value that sometimes is missed by just going with what's easy, maybe folded in, or it's, it seems like it's less friction in terms of the implementation and things like that. But the reality is with having these deep integrations that you guys have and also offering that sort of what you mentioned, the best in breed. Plays out to me, like even when I drive a car, the, for years, the automakers, and I've said this before, the automakers try to do everything, right? The radios they weren't so good, right? So you'd go to an aftermarket place to get a better radio because it wasn't best in breed, but it was like folded in, right? They could just, it came with it. Now in the world today, you have integrations between brands that have chosen to be like, if it's Bose or Harman Kardon, whatever that brand is that is saying we're going to own this domain, but we're also going to integrate into the purchasing experience so that the customer gets what they want. I look at having that best in breed. Concept with those integrations where you can make it easy for the customer to become a customer, right? Like it'll go into their system and talk to their CRMs and, all those things and also get the best in breed. And I challenge people to really take another look because things move fast. I know you guys have updated. I can't even keep up and I've had you on the show, a few times and it's exciting because I know you've got really. a strong team behind you. And that best in breed thought is, and that complimentary approach really, I think our themes to what I'm hearing from you here talk to me about, so I'm gonna parlay that into what we're doing at the innovation summit. So at the innovation summit, we're trying to help more. Really good asset managers, owners, and operators that are understand their market conditions their debt environments, equity, their partnerships, and all the challenges that are upon them and give them the opportunity to understand that technology can be also a way through minimizing risk, creating that experience, solving some problems, even for talent, and also getting faster paths to yield in a more diverse way. And so this idea of having this dual. Understanding of not just tech or not just real estate, but also technology. And I know we're going to bring you in as part of the multifamily innovation showcase. Now we only do this for, we don't have a big trade show. It's not an, it's not a sea of decisions. It's like we've curated. What is going to move the needle mostly in our business, if we looked at the next four to five decisions, talk to us a little bit about, and maybe tease, you don't have to give reveal here because we'll not only have that at the summit, but I'd love to talk to you here today about what are you intending on sharing at this innovation showcase? What are your thoughts? I think at the core, product aside, functionality aside, even industry trend aside, right? We're in the industry. We're continuing to look for ways to be more effective at what we do. Maybe do more with less. Find ways to create and drive asset value beyond the core block and tackling of multifamily. And by that adjacent benefits to tech that you may deploy. And so I think the idea is to for those that may be in the audience that might say, Wow, I know I need to migrate to some of these forward looking tech advancements, but it's. It's daunting for whatever the reason may be, and rather than thinking about the things that may or may not be intimidating because it's new and advanced tech, what are the things in my business I want to solve for efficiency, cost effectiveness, adjacent value, yield creation, and is there tech that is readily deployable with a track record and results to point to those very things. And really that's, I think the direction that I want to convey, which is. There are ways and means to improve your profitability, your effectiveness as a owner operator in your portfolio today. And they're, and it's the kind of things that not only will enhance your core goals, but are going to create and enable a better experience for the prospect who's looking for their next home. Therefore, they're going to identify with your brand and they're going to feel connected to it because you are. Deploying at scale, the kinds of expectations that we all have as consumers today in our decision making process. So you're accomplishing your core goals that are probably been tried and true for years. But you're enhancing those core goals by deploying tech. That's also going to be a complimentary and attractive to the people looking for their next home. And all those things, while they may be AI oriented. It's the residual value for all constituents that I think makes the most sense. I love that question. What do you want to solve for? And what tech is available ready for that? And also when you mentioned track record, can we book in this a little bit? Can you talk a little bit about that track record for those that maybe are not customers or haven't interacted with the brand? Yeah, I'll give you, I'll give you, one example. One of the things that under the idea of efficiency cost effectiveness is the idea of migrating from people based contact centers that have been around for a very long time in our space that are still rely heavily on the consumer experience and they too are having Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Staffing challenges and issues right that are predominantly there. But until really recently, there wasn't a lot of alternatives to handle that 24 by seven engagement for prospects who may not be able to be shopping and, the middle of the day. What is really interesting is AI has been able to step in and either compliment your existing contact center and, or give you an alternative that handles all that 24 by seven communication. In the way that a prospect wants to engage And it gives you a much more cost effective way to extend the reach of your leasing team in a way that really wasn't possible only but a handful of years ago, couple that with the results that are from there. And when you really start to measure the results, you can see that the results from an AI based experience and contact center. Are as powerful, maybe more so than the people based one, including things like shortening the vacant days, right? For example the person who engaged with AI versus the person that doesn't about half to three quarters of a day, less time from first contact to application. The application rate is about 20 percent higher for those that engage with AI than those that don't primarily because. They've asked all their questions, right? They've done all their pre qualifying and they know that this community is going to accept my dog and it's got the gym that I want. And it's got proximity to maybe my workplace. I've looked at all the photos. I've booked my tour. I've done all the things. So by the time that prospect. Arrives at the property. As I mentioned earlier, the intent to transact for that prospect that's engaged with AI is substantially higher than one that didn't. So if I'm a leasing agent, rather than being intimidated by having AI as part of the workflow, I'm excited because now I'm not missing an opportunity and the prospects that did their likelihood to transact is very high. So these are the kind of data points and experience that we've seen that I think if I'm a listener to our session here today, or the session at the innovation summit, And I'm focused on efficiency and cost effective solutions that can point to that as a goal. This is one where there's a lot of really interesting data points that show better prospect engagement, converted a higher rate approval process or approval of applications is substantially higher, all those and vacancy days saved. All those things across an extensive portfolio really translate into significant dollars. If you're already attending our Multifamily Innovation Summit go see Brock while he's there. I know you'll have your team there. Also, do you have, any words of advice for companies that are looking to innovate or really respond to challenges in today's environment? Yeah, I think with every cycle that we've been in, right? There's challenges that we face that are, can be daunting. And while it's hard to do, lean into change, be excited about change, guy like me, who's been in this industry a long time, dating back to people finding their next apartment home in a magazine, right? And here I am talking to you about AI engagement. I'm probably testament to the idea of leaning into change, embracing it. While it is intimidating, know that it's there to create and drive. Additional value and really marry in with the core principles of the organization. And so whatever the headwinds are, and we're going to have some more unique ones, I would say, versus what we've had for the past handful of years, potentially around occupancy rates around just general increases of rental rates. There is exciting advancements in technology that will create a better experience, not only for your prospects and your residents, but for your internal teams as well. And then also drive that incremental yield for your portfolio when some of the core drivers may be under some pressure. And I think that's one of your differentiators too, is it's not just a product purchase. You stick with these customers before, during, and after the sale, right? It's, that change doesn't have to feel so hard. Yeah. That and if I know You're a former baseball player. So let's talk, early endings versus late endings. I think with all of the exciting things we're talking about here, I still think we're early innings right of things. And so if you embrace now and you build that foundation of enhanced tech to compliment what you're doing. With each ending, as we're, as we move into them, the advancements keep coming and you're able to benefit from those because you've institutionalized these advancements now so that as the game moves along, you're certainly better positioned for the win. Yeah, I'm excited for your talk, always a full house for those knowing the impact that the product makes on the portfolios and the companies and those companies that are there to think about how to create a healthy organization. So excited for that. I want to make sure I leave some room for any final thoughts that you may have any questions I should have asked I didn't ask or any final thoughts you may have. I would say we covered a lot of great things. I'm always excited and enjoy my conversation with you because I think it always gets. Gets my wheels turning to on, things that I I see, but conversation, I think, come up and are really exciting again. I'm look forward to the summit. And for those that attend, there's always a lot of great takeaways from all the folks that are there and. And I think the more we continue to lean into innovation and progress, the more exciting times ahead for our business. That's right. That's right. And for those of you listening in, we can get show notes to this@multifamilyinnovation.com. Just click on podcast. We'll put a link to Lease Hawk, it's lease hawk.com. You can learn more about Brock and the team, what they're doing over there. And then of course, at the Multifamily Innovation Summit that's coming up here soon. Make sure you get registered and you can see Brock in person. Always a great time to share with you. Always love to see doing new innovations that Leasehawks bringing to the industry and making life better for owners, investors, and the teams that get to do all that type of work. That's a wrap for today's show and we'll look forward to seeing you guys in the next one. Thank you, Brock. Appreciate you having me on. Appreciate it. All right.