Customer story: Wagner Ejendomme

Our customer Wagner Ejendomme is a real estate company based in Aalborg, Denmark with a history dating back to 1965. As a real estate company who wants to be creating places where people enjoy living, it is only natural that one of the latest additions to improve the lives of their tenants and employees has been the introduction of the Hococo Tenant Experience and Operations platform, made available for all inhabitants in their residential units in February 2022.

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Wagner Ejendomme: quick facts

• Portfolio includes approximately 500 residential units and 100 commercial properties.
  
  
• Strategy covers both the construction of new housing and the renovation of old properties – with respect to the historical buildings of the old city of Aalborg.
  
  
• Objective in both commercial and residential is the same: all the properties should be places, where people enjoy living and working in. 
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An enhanced service experience and community building in focus

The importance of the tenant experience is well recognised at Wagner Ejendomme, whose primary goal in adopting a digital solution was to offer more comprehensive service to their tenants. 

"It is clear that a positive tenant experience and satisfaction are directly linked to tenant retention," says Britta Nielsen, Property Manager at Wagner Ejendomme.

With a digital platform, tenants are able to access important information quickly and communicate faster and more effectively with the landlord. All this improves tenant experience but also saves time, and as a result, money – savings that no business can afford to overlook in these times.

Another goal for Wagner Ejendomme is to be able to facilitate the formation of a community inside the properties – which has a strong link to people’s well-being, but also to tenant retention. While the community undeniably promotes an individual's comfort, well-being and mental health, many studies show that tenants are more likely to renew their contracts if they have friends in the building.

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The app unlocks information and improves communication

During the first months, Hococo’s digital solution has already proven its usefulness to Wagner Ejendomme's residents and staff alike, here are few examples, how.

• Providing information has become easier, as property managers can send important updates for tenants with quick notifications in the app instead of the traditional way with phone calls and emails.
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• Information can be sent to all tenants at once as a service message together with a push notification on their phones. Messages can be also for example energy-saving tips or reminders to check the batteries of the fire alarm – real-life examples of messages at Wagner Ejendomme.
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• Tenants can find a great deal of information independently in the app’s Q&A section, which reduces the need for individual queries directly to the property manager.
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• However, when there is a need to send a message or report an issue, tenants can also do it via the app.
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• Issues reported via the Resident App will appear in the ticket flow in Wagner Ejendomme’s Operations app, where it is easy to reassign it to the right service person – and thus the problems are solved even faster.
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• Wagner Ejendomme also helps tenants to take better care of their property by adding explanatory videos in the Q&A section, such as how to clean your drain or maintain certain electronic appliances in their apartments.

“Automatisation and tenants’ independent sourcing of information is taking a lot of work off our table, but without forgetting the personal contact. We actually see, that the app brings it to another level and creates new links between tenants and property management. The feedback from tenants has been very positive, and especially the younger tenants have praised how it makes communication much smoother", Nielsen describes the benefits.
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Not just bricks and mortar, but a thriving community

One of Wagner Ejendomme's goals is to use the digital platform to create a vibrant community of residents. The next step will be to introduce the new Community Channels -feature to their tenants.

With Community Channels, residents can form groups around their interests, share home decorating tips, recycle old furniture, find a jogging buddy, ask for help with walking their dog, or set up a dinner club – just to name some of the opportunities. Community Channels bring the walls of the building to life by connecting the people inside them with the help of modern technology.

“We want our tenants to feel as comfortable and at home as possible. Knowing your neighbours and having a feeling of belonging to a community definitely elevates the experience adding a social layer to it”, Nielsen explains. 

This feature provides tenants with a secure and restricted platform that differs from other global social media giants and is more controllable and moderated by the property manager, which has a growing value today.

Smooth collaboration and app adaptation from the get-go

Implementing a new platform is always a project in itself, but Nielsen praises the smoothness of the venture. “Hococo staff have helped us to tailor the solution to fit our needs and trained our staff to use it. The application brings particular value to our property administrators, who need to have important apartment-specific information at their fingertips when responding to tasks on the move”, Nielsen says. 

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Hococo meets the needs of both tenants and landlords

"The choice fell on Hococo, as the app can be continuously adapted to the wishes of both the tenant and the landlord - and Hococo has a number of features in the pipeline that we also find exciting," says Britta Nielsen.
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Wagner Ejendomme’s tips for using a digital solution:

Having used the solution now for some months, Wagner Ejendomme wants to share a few tips for others who are planning to transform their tenant experience digital:

1. It is easy to send broadcasts to tenants, but remember to think about quality over quantity – nobody wants to receive messages from their landlord every day.
   
   
2. In the beginning, the tenants also need some training and reminders to use the app and find all its benefits: remind them about it when they contact you via traditional ways, or for example with notes on the bulletin board of the properties.
   
   
3. Take time, in the beginning, to create workflows, add information in the FAQ and for instance think about a good flow in the ticket system – the better groundwork you do, the faster you can feel the time-saving benefits.

If you want to know, how our digital solution could help your property thrive, contact us today and book a free demo!