Master Yardi Chat IQ

Maximizing the value of Yardi Chat IQ

Yardi Chat IQ is an indispensable tool for property management teams and remote leasing consultants, designed to enhance communication with both current residents and prospective residents. For existing Yardi and Yardi RentCafe customers, building out a Yardi Chat IQ management strategy will create positive impacts along the every aspect of property management and operations.

For property management teams, Yardi Chat IQ provides mid-range chat platform to enhance leasing sales funnel performance and resident satisfaction. Quick response times and easy communication is the key here - and when done properly is massively effective.

Yardi Chat IQ Technical Considerations

If you are using Yardi Chat IQ, it’s essentially a given that you are using it on a Yardi RENTCafe built website provided by Yardi. The Yardi rep and support team will do some of the initialization of the Yardi Chat IQ system for you as part of the onboarding, but there are many technical considerations to make.

Integration with Existing Systems

• Yardi Voyager Compatibility: Ensure that Yardi Chat IQ is compatible with your version of Yardi Voyager or other property management systems you are using. It runs on Version 7, and has some enhancements on Version 8. Proper integration is crucial for seamless data exchange.

• APIs and Data Flow: Verify the API connections between Yardi Chat IQ and other systems like you CRM, payment gateways, and maintenance platforms are made correctly.

Security and Compliance

• Data Privacy: Yardi Chat IQ complies with data protection regulations by default (like GDPR or CCPA)., but can have some non-compliance issues when customized. Check how resident data is stored, processed, and protected.

• Access Control: Implement strict access controls to limit who can configure and manage the Chat IQ settings, reducing the risk of unauthorized changes.

Customization and Configuration

• AI Training and Customization: Yardi Chat IQ’s AI can be trained and customized to meet specific needs. This might include tailoring responses to common resident inquiries for your particular properties, or integrating property-specific information that isn’t directly available within the PMS.

• User Interface Customization: Modify the Chat interface colors and look/feel to align with your property branding. Also keep in mind how visually attractive and the CTA buttons are, and if it’s obviously what they do.

Performance and Scalability

• Load Handling: Assess the platform’s ability to handle peak loads, especially if you manage a large portfolio of properties with high volumes of resident interactions. In general Yardi Chat IQ can handle large volume without issues, but it can be prudent to speak with your sales rep about this.

Reporting and Analytics

• Data Analytics Integration: Ensure that Yardi Chat IQ can integrate with your reporting tools to track key metrics like response times, resolution rates, and user satisfaction. This can be the built in metrics that Yardi provides, or an add-on Leasing Journey Data Intelligence Platform like ours.

• Performance Monitoring: Regularly monitor the performance of the chatbot (load times, time to first draw, etc) to identify areas for improvement.

User Experience and Training

• Resident Interaction: Test the chatbot’s interaction flow from a resident’s perspective. Be honest here, and role play many scenarios to get a feel for the real-world experience of your customers. Make sure the conversations are intuitive and user-friendly.

• Staff Training: Train your staff on how to manage and oversee the chatbot, including how to intervene in conversations when necessary. More on this below…..

Support and Maintenance

• Vendor Support: Confirm with your Yardi rep what level of support and problem solving you can expect from Yardi. This will be dictated by your SLA with them. They should provide guidelines on response times and availability. Ongoing vendor support is critical for addressing the technical issues that WILL arise.

• Regular Updates: Stay updated with the latest features and patches released by Yardi. Speak to your rep regularly to see if there are new roll-outs to take advantage of. Yardi rolls features out slowly to different groups, so you need to be proactive to get all the latest features.

Yardi Chat IQ Staff Training

Training your staff to use Yardi Chat IQ correctly requires a comprehensive approach and many considerations. Live Chat management is different than on-site resident communications.

For remote leasing consultants, Yardi Chat IQ is a powerful tool to assist prospective residents. It enables instant, personalized responses to inquiries, automating initial greetings and common responses to save time. Sharing detailed information about the property, including floor plans, pricing, and virtual tour links, helps prospects make informed decisions. Real-time answers to any questions about the community, lease terms, or the application process further enhance the leasing experience.

Automated responses for common queries save time and creates consistency, while personalized interactions—like addressing residents by name and tailoring responses to their specific needs—can significantly enhance the user experience.

Introduction to Yardi Chat IQ

• Overview of Chat IQ: Start with a high-level explanation of Yardi Chat IQ, including its purpose, how it works, and the benefits it provides to both staff and residents (e.g., reducing workload, providing quick responses to resident inquiries).

• Understanding AI & Chatbots: Provide a basic understanding of how AI-driven chatbots work and what types of queries they can handle. Clarify that the chatbot is designed to automate routine inquiries but may need human intervention for complex issues.

System Navigation and Interface

• Platform Walkthrough: Conduct a step-by-step tour of the Yardi Chat IQ interface, showing staff where they can access conversation logs, settings, and reporting.

• Hands-On Practice: Allow staff to interact with a test version of the chatbot. This can help them understand how the system processes queries, and how they can track and monitor conversations.

• Mobile and Desktop Versions: Make sure staff is comfortable navigating Yardi Chat IQ from both desktop (in-office) and mobile devices. The workflow is a little different depending on the device.

Handling Conversations

• Chatbot & Human Handoff: Train staff on how and when to step into a conversation when the chatbot cannot resolve a prospect or resident’s issue. They should be comfortable with the escalation process and taking over live chats. Our Yardi Chat IQ Chat Handoff service can be extremely helpful here.

• Reviewing Chat History: Show staff how to review past conversations to understand resident concerns and learn how to better respond in the future.

• Common Resident Issues: Identify the most frequent types of inquiries (e.g., rent payments, maintenance requests, lease renewals) and how Chat IQ handles these. Staff should know what the common hand-off questions are, and how to transition to live chat surrounding these issues.

Customizing Responses

• Tailoring the Chatbot: Teach staff how to update or adjust the chatbot’s response database. This could include adding new FAQs, improving existing answers, or customizing responses to align with property policies. In general a dedicated team member who specializes in this will be a huge asset.

• Handling Specific Property Needs: Staff should understand how to configure property-specific information (e.g., property amenities, event announcements, or emergency protocols) so that residents receive accurate information as much as possible. There will ALWAYS be inaccuracies when dealing with a Chatbot, but reducing them is important.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Monitoring Chat Performance: Train staff how to use the Yardi Chat IQ dashboards to monitor performance, conversation logs, resident feedback, and metrics like response time and resolution rates.

• Reporting Issues: Set up a clear protocol for staff to report issues (e.g., inaccurate responses, system glitches). Make sure there is a pathway to contact Yardi support or a Live Chat Management service if needed.

Customer Service Focus

• Maintaining a Positive Experience: Stress the importance of providing excellent customer service, even in chatbot interactions. Teach staff how to maintain a professional tone, show empathy, and provide clear and helpful answers when they take over chats.

• Resident Engagement: Encourage staff to understand resident preferences and personalize conversations when taking over from the chatbot. This can help create a more personal experience.

Ongoing Training and Updates

• Regular Refresher Training: Plan quarterly ongoing training sessions to keep staff updated on any new features or changes in Yardi Chat IQ.

• User Feedback Integration: Allow staff to provide feedback on how the chatbot is working for their property - especially after they’ve had experience with live interactions.

Simulations and Role-Playing

• Practice Scenarios: Create real-life scenarios and simulate resident interactions where staff need to take over conversations or troubleshoot chatbot issues. This will build their confidence and help them think quickly during live interactions.

• Team Collaboration: Encourage teamwork by having experienced users share tips and strategies with newer staff. Peer learning can be an great way to build expertise.

Managing Prospect & Resident Information in Yardi Chat IQ

Managing customer information with Yardi Chat IQ requires handling data securely, having conversational protocols in place, and guaranteeing compliance with privacy regulations. Here’s how you can manage customer information responsibly:

Data Collection and Storage

• Automated Data Capture: Yardi Chat IQ automatically captures relevant information from resident interactions, like inquiries, service requests, and contact details. Make sure the chat system is connected correctly, and is configured to store this data securely in compliance with your organization’s data management policies.

• Centralized Database: Make sure all customer data collected through Yardi Chat IQ is integrated into your centralized property management database, (most likely) Yardi Voyager. This centralization helps maintain up-to-date records and facilitates better customer service.

Data Privacy and Compliance

• Compliance with Regulations: Make sure that the management of customer information via Yardi Chat IQ complies with data protection laws, such as GDPR, CCPA, or other relevant regulations. This includes ensuring that residents are informed about how their data is being used and stored.

• Consent Management: Implement procedures to obtain and record residents' consent for data collection through Yardi Chat IQ. This could be part of the initial chatbot interaction, where residents are informed of data usage policies. It an also be done through a Privacy Policy on the website, or as part of the cookie authorization messages on your RENTCafe property website.

• Access Control: Restrict access to customer data to authorized personnel only. This minimizes the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches.

Data Accuracy and Maintenance

• Regular Updates: Regularly review and update customer information to ensure its accuracy. This includes verifying resident details during interactions and updating records when residents provide new information. Chat IQ can do some of this, but is notoriously bad at it.

• Duplicate Management: Implement processes to identify and merge duplicate records. This helps maintain a clean and accurate database, preventing confusion and ensuring that residents receive consistent service.

Handling Sensitive Information

• Sensitive Data Management: Don’t allow Yardi Chat IQ’s chatbot to ask for, collect, or store sensitive information like social security numbers, financial details, or other personally identifiable information (PII) beyond what is necessary. This should all be handled directly by a Contact Center with Live Leasing Agents.

• Secure Communication Channels: For sensitive inquiries that require residents to share personal information, ensure that Yardi Chat IQ either redirects them to a secure channel or securely encrypts the data before storage.

Data Retention and Deletion

• Retention Policies: Establish clear data retention policies, specifying how long customer information collected via Yardi Chat IQ should be stored.

• Automated Deletion: Configure Yardi Chat IQ to automatically delete or archive data after a certain period, in line with your data retention policy. This reduces the risk of retaining outdated or unnecessary information.

Data Access and Reporting

• User-Friendly Reporting: Yardi Chat IQ should allow for easy access to customer data and provide user-friendly reporting tools. Staff should be able to generate reports on resident interactions, inquiries.

• Audit Trails: Make sure all access to sensitive customer data is logged, Create an audit trail that can be reviewed if necessary.

Regular Audits and Updates

• Data Audits: Conduct regular audits of the customer information collected and stored via Yardi Chat IQ to ensure accuracy, security, and compliance with regulations.

• System Updates: Keep Yardi Chat IQ and any integrated systems updated with the latest security patches and features. Yardi support will generally handle this. Regular updates help protect against vulnerabilities that could compromise customer information.

Yardi Chat IQ Advanced Features

Yardi Chat IQ offers a few advanced features that can improve the way it functions out of the box. The goal is to increase engagement, serve prospects & residents, and have high satisfaction ratings afterwards. Here are some extra features you can take advantage of:

Customizable Chat Flows

• Tailored Conversations: You can customize chat flows to suit the specific needs of a property. This means creating personalized conversation paths beyond just the few basic questions Chat IQ is configured to respond to by default.

Integration with Yardi Voyager

• Seamless Data Syncing: Yardi Chat IQ integrates with Yardi Voyager, allowing real-time syncing of resident data, lease information, and payment histories.

• Automated Task Creation: When residents make requests through Chat IQ (e.g., maintenance requests), the system can automatically create tasks or work orders in Yardi Voyager.

AI and Machine Learning Enhancements

• Natural Language Processing (NLP): Yardi Chat IQ uses NLP to understand and respond to resident inquiries more accurately. The AI learns from each interaction, improving its responses over time. So feeding the chatbot with real users, and putting it to work, will gradually improve outcomes over time.

Multi-Language Support

• Language Options: Yardi Chat IQ supports multiple languages, allowing you to engage with residents in their preferred language.

Resident Portal Integration

• Enhanced Resident Services: If you use Yardi’s resident portal, Yardi Chat IQ can integrate seamlessly, providing residents with easy access to services like online payments, lease document reviews, and maintenance requests directly through the chat interface.

• Portal Navigation Assistance: The chatbot can guide residents through the portal, helping them find specific information or complete tasks.

Automated Lead Management

• Prospective Resident Engagement: Yardi Chat IQ can engage with prospective residents, answering questions about availability, pricing, and amenities. It can also capture lead information and integrate it with your CRM for follow-up.

• Appointment Scheduling: The chatbot can assist in scheduling tours or appointments for prospective residents, reducing the workload for leasing staff.

Real-Time Analytics and Reporting

• Performance Metrics: Yardi Chat IQ provides real-time analytics on chatbot interactions, including response times, conversation volumes, and resident satisfaction levels. This data can help you assess the effectiveness of the chatbot and identify areas for improvement.

• Custom Reports: Generate custom reports to track specific metrics, like the number of resolved issues or the types of inquiries most commonly received. This information can inform operational strategies.

Event and Announcement Management

• Automated Announcements: Use Yardi Chat IQ to automatically send out announcements about community events, policy changes, or emergency notifications to residents.

• Event Reminders: The chatbot can also send reminders for upcoming events or important deadlines, like rent payment dates, helping residents stay informed.

Maintenance Request Handling

• Self-Service Maintenance Requests: Residents can use Yardi Chat IQ to submit maintenance requests directly through the chat. The system can guide them through the process, ensuring all necessary information is captured.

• Request Tracking: Residents can check the status of their maintenance requests through the chatbot, reducing the need for follow-up calls or emails.

Enhanced Security Features

• Secure Authentication: Yardi Chat IQ can be configured to require authentication before providing sensitive information, ensuring that only authorized residents can access certain data.

• Privacy Controls: Implement privacy controls to limit the types of information the chatbot can access or display, protecting resident data.

Survey and Feedback Collection

• Resident Feedback: After interactions, Yardi Chat IQ can prompt residents to provide feedback on their experience. This feedback can be used to improve both the chatbot and property management services in-office.

Conclusions

If you are new to Yardi Chat IQ, this should have given you a good outline of what it can do, how it can benefit you, and how to Master Yardi Chat IQ.