Resident satisfaction is a driving force behind everything we do at Invitation Homes. Throughout the year we seek input from our residents about things like our maintenance performance, the move-in and move-out process, and the ways in which we can make their lives easier.
We receive resident feedback through two primary methods: we conduct internal surveys and collect direct feedback through conversations and focus groups with our residents; and we closely track our online customer review scores on Google, Yelp and other similar social platforms. Together, these metrics represent an important marker for how our residents feel about us, and we’ve worked very hard to directly incorporate this feedback into everything we do.
Measuring Resident Satisfaction Through Internal Surveys and Direct Feedback
The primary way we seek resident feedback is through internal surveys and direct conversations with our residents. On average, we receive input from more than 50,000 resident surveys annually. These surveys cover topics such as the leasing, move-in and move-out processes; maintenance service; and our residents’ overall Invitation Homes experience.
We have been pleased that our already strong scores continue to move in the right direction. As we continued to make improvements based on our residents’ feedback, we saw our scores steadily climb throughout 2019. For the full year, our residents gave us an average satisfaction score of 4.3 out of 5 across all experiences. Further, we track whether our residents promote and recommend us to their friends and family through a metric known as “Net Promoter Score” (NPS). Everyone in the company is accountable for NPS, and we experienced a steady increase in our score over the course of 2019 as we implemented improved processes and optimized our services.
We also receive feedback through direct conversations, including day-to-day interaction and dedicated focus group discussions. Annual focus groups in many of our markets give us opportunities to run ideas by our residents, collect their opinions on potential service offerings, and hear them connect with each other.
Several telling measurements are captured through our residents’ actions. Residents remain in our homes about three years on average, about twice as long as most people stay in a multi-unit rental property. Further, roughly 70 percent of our residents renew their leases, which we believe is the ultimate scorecard of resident satisfaction. On average, we maintain about a 96 percent occupancy rate, which demonstrates a strong appetite for the choice and experience we provide. We will continue to work hard to drive these statistics in the right direction.
Receiving Resident Feedback Through Online Reviews
We also actively monitor and respond to our online reviews. And since we began tracking our monthly Google and Yelp statistics, we’ve found that both our satisfaction scores and the volume of reviews have increased.
For example, from December 2018 to December 2019, our combined Google and Yelp scores increased significantly. In December 2019, 13 of our 16 markets posted monthly reputation scores of at least 4.0 out of 5.0.
We recognize that not all facets of living in a home can be captured in numbers. We want to ensure residents feel safe, connected, and happy in their homes. We use the review feedback in conjunction with scores to enhance their experience and to live up to our mission of working together to make their house feel like a home.
Continuing These Trends in 2020
As the nation’s premier home leasing company, we will continue to strive to earn high marks from our residents by directly incorporating their feedback into everything we do and addressing any issues head on. We’ll also continue to encourage all of our residents to share their input with Invitation Homes. Most importantly, we look forward to working with each of our residents to ensure they experience a worry-free lifestyle that warrants continued high satisfaction scores.