I've thought about doing something like this for a long while. Finally I had an apartment complex a couple years ago that allowed you to pay online (e-checks only), so maybe the industry is finally ready for this.
Expect a lot of resistance to landlords letting tenants pay with anything but e-checks, though. Think about adding something like automatically sending out emails to tenants to remind them to pay the rent (opt-in on first payment)?
Oh, and I think you might be underpricing yourself.
the problem is that most property owners aren't tech savvy. Most of them don't even have a webpage. And I'm not talking about the 1-2 unit owners...I'm talking about multi building companies with $600K in yearly revenue who haven't even bothered to setup a 1 page site with their phone # and hours of operation. If you are going to take on this market, you are going to need a direct on the ground sales team.
you would think this is the case, and yes, an on the ground sales team will be helpful in addition to our affiliate program and partnerships, but these days are starting to phase out. These people are starting to realize they can't operate their companies the same way they did 10 years ago, and as the younger generation steps up the ladder in these companies, it's getting more attention.
Additionally, since the aforementioned demographics on property owners and management companies is accurate, you should consider alternative tactics.
What about modifying the initial workflow from the Tenants perspective and allow Tenants to make rent payments to Landloards who are not yet even on this site?
Seems like the easiest way to address your potential market (landlords) since there is certainly a huge demographic of renters who would like to use this service from the payment perspective. Changing the focus on the landing page to be directed at the Tenant -- as in PAY YOUR RENT NOW, and focusing on the benefits to the tenant as part of your conversion process.
This looks great! Do you have any thoughts on lower tiers? I have 1 rental unit. On the one hand, $9/month is pretty low; on the other hand, paying the same as someone with 15 units is psychologically painful =). If it was like $20/unit/year for 1-4 units, that'd be pretty cool.
We've considered a very small free plan, and will think more on that. As per the rent collection for these accounts, it doesn't become profitable for us at these smaller numbers, so this is why the $9 plan exists.
the problem is that most property owners aren't tech savvy. Most of them don't even have a webpage. And I'm not talking about the 1-2 unit owners...I'm talking about multi building companies with $600K in yearly revenue who haven't even bothered to setup a 1 page site with their phone # and hours of operation. If you are going to take on this market, you are going to need a direct on the ground sales team.
you would think this is the case, and yes, an on the ground sales team will be helpful in addition to our affiliate program and partnerships, but these days are starting to phase out. These people are starting to realize they can't operate their companies the same way they did 10 years ago, and as the younger generation steps up the ladder in these companies, it's getting more attention.
You completely dismissed the parent, who is 100% correct. While you think these days are "starting to phase out" you are incorrect. Despite younger managers taking over, this is an industry where even younger people are not as tech savvy. Take your technical blinders off, step back, and look at the big picture. A 100% awesome tech experience is not going to matter when you don't have users.
This looks absolutely incredible - I would love it if you could get landlords to use it.
Unfortunately both of my previous two lacked even an email address. My job has a contact email for employment verification and I had to get a special phone number from HR for my landlord because they didn't use email. This company probably has two dozen properties around town (each with multiple units) and doesn't even have email. Sometimes its amazing when we step out of our tech field and see how normal people live and work.
That being said - if you could convince landlords to give you 20 minutes for a demo, I bet you could sell a lot of them on it. You would probably need a sales team for that though.
you would think this is the case, and yes, an on the ground sales team will be helpful in addition to our affiliate program and partnerships, but these days are starting to phase out. These people are starting to realize they can't operate their companies the same way they did 10 years ago, and as the younger generation steps up the ladder in these companies, it's getting more attention.
Additionally, since the aforementioned demographics on property owners and management companies is accurate, you should consider alternative tactics. What about modifying the initial workflow from the Tenants perspective and allow Tenants to make rent payments to Landloards who are not yet even on this site? Seems like the easiest way to address your potential market (landlords) since there is certainly a huge demogr…
YES, but there are SERIOUS issues to doing this with regards to payments. You essentially have to be a registered bank or approved status in order to aggregate payments in order to support this. It's very complicated, expensive, and there is tons of red tape. This is where we wanted to go from the start before addressing many of these concerns.
you would think this is the case, and yes, an on the ground sales team will be helpful in addition to our affiliate program and partnerships, but these days are starting to phase out. These people are starting to realize they can't operate their companies the same way they did 10 years ago, and as the younger generation steps up the ladder in these companies, it's getting more attention.
You completely dismissed the parent, who is 100% correct. While you think these days are "starting to phase out" you are incorrect. Despite younger managers taking over, this is an industry where even younger people are not as tech savvy. Take your technical blinders off, step back, and look at the big picture. A 100% awesome tech experience is not going to matter when you don't have users.
we won't get entire market saturation over night, no. So, yes, you are right, there are technical hurdles, but we believe that the market is large enough right now, at it's current state to support this company. Our competitors agree, and our traction thus far hasn't proved any different. This is something we will address as we grow, but for now, we are pleased with our traction.
the problem is that most property owners aren't tech savvy. Most of them don't even have a webpage. And I'm not talking about the 1-2 unit owners...I'm talking about multi building companies with $600K in yearly revenue who haven't even bothered to setup a 1 page site with their phone # and hours of operation. If you are going to take on this market, you are going to need a direct on the ground sales team.
I just forwarded it to my manager, it would not surprise me if i'm not the only one doing the advertising for them.
I would change the "Few Goodies" wording on the Take the Tour page; it feels like there's very few goodies. "Highlights" or even "A Few Goodies" works better.