The sharing economy has taken away lots of our daily struggles and changed the way we live, work and travel: from giants such as AirBnb or Blablacar to local initiatives, one of the drivers behind the sharing economy movement is technology.
Looking at the coliving industry, there are many ways to embrace technology into our lives.
Technology is becoming a crucial necessity to foster automation, scalability and memorable, secure experiences within coliving spaces, especially for business models that need to manage beyond one location.
The main questions that arise when applying technology to coliving are:
- How can coliving spaces automate their operations while keeping the human at its center?
- How can one create security in publicly shared spaces such as coliving
and where are the boundaries? - How can technology not only improve the customer experience but also the level of involvement (and ownership) of a resident?
To answer these questions, I sat down with Christian Schmitz, overseeing the Coliving and PBSA vertical at SALTO Systems, a cloud-based access control solution that can be integrated with any management tool.
How would an ideal customer experience look like? Let’s imagine it.
The Perfect Customer Journey
Imagine a new tenant just signed up to live for an x amount of time in your coliving space. He or she has used your APP to do a virtual site visit and afterward booked online through your website or app. It’s a nice touch you were actually able to make a personal phone call to confirm the booking with your new customer. Technology enabled you to do this: You now have more time to work on a personal relationship with your customers from the first minute.
Building up to the arrival: A week before the actual move the tenant gets an automated message saying it’s almost time to pack the bags. There could even be a checklist involved that states what to keep in mind before and while traveling to your space. What the weather is like. What the currency is. Emergency numbers etc. All the information that is needed to make the move as smooth as possible.
The tenant packs his or her bags with help from your compound personalized checklist, and has all information like boarding passes stored in the app: all set to go!
After a long flight, the tenant arrives in the unknown city in the middle of the night. When he pulls out his phone he is happy to see the automated push notification welcoming him to this new adventure with a Google maps link that exactly tells how to get to the coliving space where his nicely made bed awaits and a suggestion for car sharing.
Automatic the onboarding process: Tired and hungry the tenant orders an Uber using the app and gets to the coliving space, where he bypasses the front desk: Having access to the building checks him in automatically. This triggers a new push notification saying he is now also allowed to get food and beverages from the shared cafe. No worry about the bill: The app allows you to open a tab.
After grabbing a longed-for sandwich and cold water from the shared fridge the tenant gets into the elevator that brings him up to the right floor. He walks up to his door and taps the lock: The door opens, the lights switch on and with a satisfied grin the tenant can finally rest his head.
Creating a greater user experience: The ideal customer experience doesn’t have to end here. Now is when technology can be used to optimize the customer journey. For example, the bed can be connected to the alarm clock, and wake up the tenant when his sleep cycle ends.
One day after arrival, the tenant receives a nice welcoming message from the community manager, asking him to grab a coffee and discuss how to optimize his stay. Moreover, the app automatically updates neighbors in the building and promote all upcoming events.
Where else could technology be implemented?
Whether access to private fridges, unlocking your bike, or making reservations for the coworking space rooms, there is a lot of ground to play with.
Some might say technology is ripping our society apart: Estranging us from when another. But actually, technology can help to bring us closer together.
Take for instance community managers at a coliving space: they now have more time to make a human connection with their tenants since technology is taking care of most operational aspects. This results in an environment where tenants feel safe and secure but also fulfilled from a human perspective.
Technology is becoming more crucial to foster automation, scalability and a memorable, secure individual experience within coliving spaces.
How are YOU using technology in your space?
Comment below and let us know!
About the Author: Christian Schmitz is head of coliving & PBSA operations at SALTO, which is gaining popularity at coliving spaces by integrating this access control solution with favorite management tool. SALTO KS serves a wide arena of Management tools like Obeyo, Resharmonics, One4all, Bisner, Nexudus, Zapfloor, Risebuildings, Coherent and Office RD.
