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Manage student accommodation incentives & consumables more effectively
Offering your tenants incentives to book is a great marketing tool, but how do you effectively manage and allocate student accommodation incentive codes and consumables?
In this Cloudfox guide, we'll be showing you how you can optimise your process using our recommended tech.
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Understanding student accommodation incentive codes and consumables
Student accommodation incentive codes are digital or printed codes that offer students or educational institutions discounts on accommodation services. They can cover various offerings, from reduced rent rates to additional amenities and services.
The consumables you offer depend on the amenities your PBSA provides. Standard consumables include bed packs, supplies and more. They can also go as far as tech devices like iPads!
The world is your oyster - but how do they benefit your property management business?
Benefits of offering incentive codes and consumables in PBSA
The inclusion of incentive codes in your PBSA strategy can yield a host of advantages. Here are a few key benefits:
- Attracting students - Incentive codes and consumables are attractive incentives for students and educational institutions, making your student accommodation a more appealing choice.
- Filling vacancies - Offering discounts during off-peak periods can help fill vacancies and ensure a consistent revenue stream.
- Building loyalty - Well-designed incentive code and consumable programs can foster loyalty among students, encouraging them to choose your accommodations for their studies.
- Early rebooking – Offering incentives for early rebooking, along with notifying tenants that prices will increase after the initial offering has ended, can generate a sense of urgency and excitement.
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing - Students who have positive experiences due to incentives are more likely to share their experiences with friends and family. This can lead to word-of-mouth marketing and referrals, attracting new tenants to your property.
What can I offer?
When it comes to student accommodation, incentive codes and consumables can be versatile. Consider these options:
- Discounted rent - Offer reduced rent rates during off-peak periods or rebooking phases to attract more students.
- No reservation fee for students who rebook.
- Complimentary services - Provide coupons for additional services like laundry, gym access, or transportation.
- Group bookings - Offer group discounts for students booking shared accommodation together.
- Early bird specials - Incentivise early bookings with exclusive incentive codes.
- Referral rewards - Create incentive codes for students who refer others to your accommodation.
- Vouchers or cashback cards - to help students pay for other things.
- iPads or other tech - to help students with their studies.
Remember, the key is to align your incentive code and consumable offerings with your PBSA's goals and the needs of your student community.
Choosing collaborations as an enhanced booking strategy
You don't have to market your offer all on your own; you can get partners involved. Collaboration can be a great way to reach your audience and benefit both parties.
Consider:
- Partnering with institutions - Contact universities, language schools and colleges directly to establish partnerships. Offer them exclusive deals in exchange for promoting your accommodation services to their students.
- Offer long-term partner contracts - Encourage universities to sign long-term contracts for student accommodation. That guarantees a steady flow of business for your company.
- Collaborate on seasonal promotions - Offer special promotions during peak enrolment seasons or events like graduation ceremonies. That can entice institutions to choose your accommodation services.
- Referral programs - Implement a referral program where educational institutions can earn additional discounts or benefits for referring other institutions to your services.
- Customised packages - Create packages that include accommodation and other amenities like meal plans or transportation options, making it a one-stop solution for students and universities.
Remember profitability in your strategy!
Remember, whatever you offer, you must build that into your base pricing; otherwise, it will affect your profitability.
Now that we've laid the groundwork let's explore the role of technology in managing these incentives effectively, which is vital for maximising their impact on your revenue.
The role of technology in managing incentives
The traditional method of handling incentives on paper or spreadsheets is a thing of the past. Here's how technology is reshaping incentive management:
- Automation - Modern property management systems (PMS) can automate the distribution and redemption of incentives. That reduces the scope for human error and ensures a seamless process.
- Personalisation - Technology enables you to tailor incentives to specific student demographics or booking patterns, making them more enticing.
- Real-time updates - Within your PMS and customer relationship management system (CRM), you can monitor the effectiveness of incentives in real-time, allowing you to tweak your strategy for optimal results. We have had great success doing this with Hubspot.
- Security - Digital solutions provide enhanced security, reducing the risk of incentive code fraud or misuse in particular.
- Inventory management - Integrated software solutions can track consumable inventory levels in real-time, alerting you when supplies run low.
- Automated reordering - Smart systems can automatically generate consumables reorders, ensuring you avoid disappointed tenants.
- Cost control - By monitoring your incentives digitally through your accounting software, you can identify trends and areas where cost savings are possible.
- Guest requests - Some systems enable students to request additional consumables via mobile apps, enhancing their tenant experience.
Leveraging your existing PMS
A robust PMS streamlines your PBSA operations, including incentive management. There are several advantages to this:
- Centralised control - You can manage all incentives from a central dashboard, simplifying oversight and reducing administrative overhead.
- Integration - PMS systems can seamlessly integrate with online booking platforms, ensuring that incentives are automatically applied during the booking process.
- Reporting and analytics - Detailed reporting allows you to gauge the effectiveness of each incentive, helping you refine your strategy for maximum impact.
Cloudfox recommendations for tech integrations
Remember - we can manage software migrations and implementations for you, and we can even cover your monthly bookkeeping needs! Contact us here.
Quick tech automation checklist for student accommodation incentive codes and consumables
There are many moving parts in your tenant workflows; managing promotions like incentive codes and consumables is just one of them. Let's look at a simple automation pipeline for delivery.
- Start with finalising your promotion details.
- Set deal stage field tags in your PMS to help you identify students who have coupons or consumables offered. Mirror these on your accounting and CRM software.
- Create allocation automation so communications and workflow tasks are allocated appropriately. Remember your timings here, as consumable allocations usually require students to remain tenants for at least the first month or first semester.
- Once Terms and conditions are met, move your new tenants to your allocation automation.
- As each deal is won, you must also automate tenant account set-up within your accounting system. That will allow you to invoice and record payments. In the case of incentives, it also allows you to track expenses and deposits per campaign and tenant under IFRS 15 in relation to your cash flow and revenue.
Student accommodation incentive codes and consumables: Are you managing them effectively?
October and November are busy periods for your PBSA business; managing student accommodation incentive codes and consumables is just one moving part. Proactively implementing the right strategy and tech will undoubtedly make a big difference in your staff's workload and your ability to report effectively.
Throughout this blog post, we hope we've given you plenty of food for thought on creating a set-up that works for you.
If you are looking for bespoke services to help you with this, contact us here. Otherwise, join the mailing list below for more property management tech and accounting tips!
