Residents at Riverstone Residential Group’s Argenta community have the answer to any question at their fingertips.
For nearly a year, the 179-unit downtown San Francisco property has offered residents a unique apartment concierge service. Operated by a Dallas-based third-party personal assistant company, the service provides concierge assistants available 24-7 by phone, e-mail or text—and no request is too absurd.
Argenta Property Manager Greg Spezzano says residents are registered through their e-mail address in the community’s concierge VIP portal, which is included in the price of rent and gives residents direct access to a personal concierge. Argenta has served as Riverstone Residential Group’s pilot property for the service, which will likely be offered at additional properties in the future, says Katie Fleischer, Senior Vice President of Marketing. The service costs $3 to $4 per resident per month, and Spezzano says it has given Argenta a competitive edge in the Bay Area market.
“With the age of the mobile phone, having a 24-hour service has been great,” Spezzano says. “We are about to hit our first anniversary with the service and people have grown attached. It’s very personalized and they say they don’t want to move somewhere else and give that up.”
Contrary to concierge services that perform “glorified Google searches,” according to Spezzano, he says this company has a surprising amount of leverage and resources. One resident texted a concierge while vacationing in Las Vegas, eager to learn the location of an exclusive pool party. Within minutes, the concierge sent him directions.
Another resident took advantage of the service while planning a trip to Lake Tahoe. “The weather through the pass to Lake Tahoe can be very iffy, so a concierge assistant texted the resident an update every 15 minutes,” Spezzano says. “Our resident said that was huge because he didn’t have to use the phone while driving.”
Residents aren’t the only ones saving time and energy with Argenta’s concierge service. Spezzano says his staff sends bulk e-mails and texts through the VIP portal, a function that has increased office productivity. “We receive about 30 packages a day and we used to individually notify residents, but now we send one text that goes to all of those residents,” Spezzano says. “Instead of coming home to find a note on their door, residents receive the text during the day and can swing by the office on their way back from work to pick up their package.”
Staff members enter prospective residents in a separate visitor portal, which texts prospects minutes after touring the property. In addition to a personalized “thank you” message, prospective residents receive 20 free minutes of concierge service and a $25 dining card.
Prospects interested in unavailable units are texted when those apartments open, leading to several signed leases. “It’s a huge follow-up tool,” Spezzano says. “Two or three additional customized e-mails are sent out to prospective renters in the days following their visit and it provides an additional tool to enhance the relationship with our customers. And it’s one more amenity that’s separating us from the competition.”
Lauren Boston is NAA’s Staff Writer. She can be reached at lauren@naahq.org or call 703/797-0678.