As of May 2023, 11.9% of full-time employees in the United States were exclusively working from home. Another 29.4% were working in hybrid models.
Upwork estimates that by 2025, an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, equivalent to roughly 22% of the workforce.
The numbers don’t lie. Remote work is here to stay.
So what does this mean for the multifamily industry? It means residents will continue to need more places where they can comfortably and efficiently conduct business.
Chicago is no exception. Tamina Sheikh, senior regional property manager at Chicago’s Lincoln Property Company, says, “In my properties, we see a revolving door in common spaces. It’s not the same people every single day, but I would say, on any given day, it’s about 20 - 30% of the property that is working from home.”
To cope with this increased demand for remote work space, multifamily property residents have started getting creative with where they conduct business (think golf simulators and mail rooms). This is forcing properties to create flexible communal spaces that are comfortable for both work and recreation.
According to Sheikh, “I think it’s still very important to have robust amenity offerings, but it’s also crucial to think through how somebody might work from each of those individualized spaces. Because they will.”
How exactly are properties making existing amenity spaces flexible? Here are three examples:
As a more permanent solution to the need for dedicated coworking spaces, many properties are investing in full retrofits of outdated business centers or underutilized amenity spaces (theaters are a common one).
If a retrofit is in your future, consider these key investments as you build your budget:
Thoughtful FF&E and design aesthetics are critical in creating great coworking spaces, but technology is, frankly, non-negotiable. Where is your money best spent? Here are four smart investments:
To help reduce the burden of vendor management, it’s advantageous to work with platform companies that offer multiple solutions.
WithMe falls into that category, offering elevated printing and coffee amenities with perks for residents and on-site teams.
PrintWithMe’s all-inclusive packages make budgeting easy, while outsourced technical support and auto-shipped supplies reduce the burden on property management teams. Residents love having 24/7 access to reliable printing and live support if they ever run into issues. It’s been a huge hit at The Paragon in South Loop.
SipWithMe also boasts budget-friendly, all-inclusive pricing and outsourced technical support. Residents love being able to order 20+ roast-to-order beverages in the comfort of their own building.. Not only has SipWithMe helped to elevate the resident experience at 6 Class A properties in Chicago, it’s also reduced their coffee expenses by 49%!
When you’re ready to invest in elevated printer and coffee amenities for your remote workers (and the rest of your deserving residents), click here to schedule a conversation with us!
ZRS Management recently hosted their annual ZRS Education & Discovery Conference (ZED) in Hollywood, Florida. ZED was specifically designed to educate property managers, leasing professionals and the corporate team about the incredible difference technology can make in areas such as leasing, amenities and marketing.
Dozens of multifamily vendors, including WithMe, showcased tech-enabled amenities, products and software designed to grow business, support property management teams and increase resident satisfaction.
Here are 3 key takeaways from ZED 2023:
1. Invest in the technology that's right for you and your property.
We have all been known to think we can cut costs and even do things better on our own, but that isn’t always the case. In many instances, technology can not only help you reduce expenses, it can also make life better. Don’t get so set in your ways that you neglect to consider the positive value of investing in technology.
How exactly do you go about finding the technology that will give you the greatest return on your investment?
First and foremost, identify the amenities or the tasks that cause you the most stress, time and expense.
Once you’ve identified your pain points, start researching! At conferences and trade shows, make time to visit with exhibitors. Ask your colleagues for insight on what’s been working for them. Keep an eye on trade publications for product announcements, reviews and case studies.
Technology isn’t one-size-fits all. Take time to find the solutions that increase your efficiency, provide the highest ROI and improve your quality of life.
2. Always provide exceptional service and maintain a high standard of professionalism.
When selecting vendors and products, stop to evaluate the impact on the overall quality of the service you’re providing. Automation and centralization can certainly maximize efficiency, but they can also end up creating a cold and impersonal experience. At the end of the day, your residents are people, too, and they deserve to feel valued and important.
3. Use amenities to reduce employee stress and burnout.
Attracting residents is tough. But right now, attracting and retaining great multifamily employees is arguably even tougher.
Your team shouldn’t have to sacrifice their sanity to keep residents happy. It’s important to identify amenity solutions that work for you, not against you.
While showcasing SipWithMe at ZED, the WithMe team received multiple comments from property managers about how helpful it would be to have a fixed cost for their coffee amenity. Budgeting season is just around the corner. Wouldn’t it be nice to have fewer line items to scrutinize and blindly forecast? Tech-enabled amenities can make that possible!
Tech-enabled amenities can also reduce time-consuming tasks that create stress and major headaches. Dealing with supplies, for example. Your team has better things to do than try to remember to monitor supply levels and make emergency trips to the store when they forget to reorder things on time. Services like PrintWithMe remotely monitor supply levels and ship them right to your door, right when you need them.
PrintWithMe and SipWithMe may or may not be the right solutions for your property, but the point is that it’s important to implement technology that makes life better for everyone in your community, and that includes your staff. When your team members are happy, they’re more engaged. And when they’re more engaged, you’re more likely to retain them.
We hope these takeaways are helpful as you formulate future property management and resident acquisition strategies, and we hope to see you at ZED 2024!
Woody Stone, Cushman & Wakefield’s president of U.S. multifamily asset services, recently went on record to discuss the company’s goal to use technology and proptech to improve the team member experience.
“Today’s staffing challenges, both in finding and retaining staff and in the escalating payroll costs, are pushing us to innovate,” Stone tells Multifamily Executive.
One proptech solution being used by several Cushman & Wakefield properties is PrintWithMe, a printer amenity that offers residents an elevated wireless printing experience.
The service has proven to be an ideal fit for Cushman & Wakefield’s culture. In the words of Stone, “We are committed to creating a culture where we ‘Care First and Care Most’ for our clients, residents, and team members. This is what defines us.”
PrintWithMe takes care of Cushman & Wakefield residents by giving them 24/7 access to an amenity they love (take it from the Wall Street Journal), while keeping their personal information protected.
The solution takes care of property management teams by outsourcing all technical support, automatically shipping paper and toner when supplies are running low, and simplifying the budgeting process. Removing these operational burdens has helped reduce staff stress, prevent burnout and allow team members to focus on more important and more valuable tasks.
WithMe’s mission is to make lives better every day, and we are proud to be helping Custhman & Wakefield keep its promise to Care First and Care Most about its teams and its residents.
Interested in elevating the printer amenity at your property? Click here to find out how to become a PrintWithMe partner.
Multifamily proptech company partners with Torke Coffee to bring its innovative coffee amenity to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Rochester, Minn., and Milwaukee.
Chicago - (May 30, 2023) SipWithMe, the elevated coffee amenity for multifamily properties, has officially launched in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Rochester. Committed to supporting local roasters, SipWithMe has hand-selected Torke Coffee as its exclusive coffee supplier in the three markets.
“We are excited to not only bring SipWithMe to properties across Minnesota and Wisconsin, but to partner with a roaster that is such an iconic part of the region’s history,” says Jim Carbone, vice president of operations. “Our devices were specifically designed to give residents a memorable experience, and working with Torke Coffee will help make this happen.”
SipWithMe has been elevating resident coffee amenities in multifamily properties since 2021. Every SipWithMe machine is stocked with fresh, locally sourced beans and can craft more than 20 roast-to-order, barista-quality beverages in seconds. Residents can conveniently order through their electronic devices or on the machine’s HD display.
SipWithMe was also designed with property managers in mind, offering proprietary technology to limit excessive consumption, inventory management assistance and robust support.
Torke Coffee, the local coffee supplier for SipWithMe devices in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has been honing their craft for over 80 years. A true family affair, Torke Coffee was started in 1941 by a father and son duo who delivered hand-roasted coffee with a horse and buggy. Four generations later, the business the two built is still going strong. Passionate about philanthropy, Torke Coffee has donated over $1.5 million dollars to organizations hand-selected by their team and their customers.
“Our family is thrilled about forming a long-term partnership with SipWithMe,” says Jay Torke, president. ”The Torke Family Coffee Roasters, renowned for our meticulous craftsmanship and unwavering pursuit of perfection, has found a kindred spirit in WithMe, whose commitment to excellence mirrors our own. Their visionary approach and our company’s expertise promise to create a caffeinated experience of not only unparalleled taste, but also innovation. We are most excited to collaborate and push the boundaries of coffee artistry, weaving together flavors and aromas that captivate even the most discerning palates.”
In addition to the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area, SipWithMe is available in Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, South Florida and Washington, D.C. Additional target markets for 2023 include Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa.
About Torke Coffee
Torke Coffee is a family-owned and operated Wisconsin coffee roaster offering a wide variety of products, including light, medium and dark roasts in a variety of flavors and brewing options for home and business. Their differentiation is their service - service to their communities and to their business customers. Learn more at https://www.torkecoffee.com/.
About WithMe, Inc.
WithMe, Inc. makes people's lives better every day through convenient, technology-powered amenities for the multifamily industry and beyond. WithMe’s PrintWithMe and SipWithMe solutions make resident printing and coffee simple, helping property management leaders deliver an elevated living experience and meet evolving resident needs for remote/hybrid work spaces, while simultaneously decreasing spend, controlling costs and saving time for staff. PrintWithMe powers printer amenities and staff solutions at thousands of multifamily, cafe and coworking locations across all 50 states. SipWithMe, which is now available in major markets, is disrupting the coffee amenity category. WithMe is an Inc. 5000 fastest growing company, appearing on both the 2021 and 2022 lists. Learn more at www.withme.com.
Apartmentalize 2023, hosted by The National Apartment Association, is just around the corner. Boasting more than 75 educational sessions and a seemingly endless array of networking opportunities, figuring out the best way to maximize your time can be daunting. But don’t fret. We’ve got you covered with 6 tips to ensure you have a great experience:
1. Come on, get app-y.
Well before you ever leave for Atlanta, familiarize yourself with the Apartmentalize 2023 app, available for iOS and Android.
Before using the app, you’ll need to create a myNAA Planner account using your registration email address and the ID number from your Apartmentalize confirmation.
Once you’ve created a myNAA account, you can log in to the app, and you’ll be able to look up education sessions, exhibitors and activities and add them to your itinerary.
At the conference, you can use the app’s interactive map to find exhibitors, access session handouts and even take notes.
2. Dress for success and to impress.
Most attendees will be in business casual attire. The days will be long, so be sure you’re comfortable, but also remember you’re representing your organization - and yourself! Take pride in your appearance.
Conference floors and meeting rooms can get chilly. Dress in layers to be sure you’ll always be comfortable.
3. Wear comfortable shoes.
Enough said.
4. Pack your bags.
Be sure you always have these two items with you during the conference:
5. Get social.
NAA does an incredible job populating their social profiles with helpful information. Before heading to the conference, be sure you are following #Apartmentalize on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram. Lean into the conversation on your favorite platform for an insider’s view of what is trending before, during and even after the conference.
6. Be flexible.
This may initially strike you as an impolite gesture, but if a session is not working for you, it’s okay to leave! NAA actually encourages that mentality!
Find another session that interests you. Meet up with peers outside the conference room who want to network and engage in dialogue about other topics. Invest your time wisely!
7. Visit the WithMe team (and all of the other amazing vendors)!
Fuel up with a cup of delicious SipWithMe coffee and find out how WithMe’s amenities can help you elevate your resident experience, save staff time and hassle, decrease your spend and control costs.
Here’s where you can find us:
Booth 508
June 8: 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
June 9: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Prefer the VIP treatment? Schedule a time to meet with us here.
Feel like doing a little recon before Apartmentalize? Browse the LinkedIn profiles of everyone who will be attending:
We clearly like to toot our own horn, but seriously, take the time to visit with vendors that interest you. You will likely uncover new products and services that can help you elevate your property and improve operations!
We can’t wait to connect with you June 7-9 in Atlanta!
As remote work and hybrid work models only continue to increase, multifamily property managers have been challenged to act quickly to accommodate residents’ work-from-home needs. In this e-book, we’ll cover:
Jonathan Treble, WithMe CEO, recently sat down with renowned author, speaker and recruiting executive Jeff Hyman to discuss how his strategy for building the WithMe team has evolved with exponential growth.
This is Treble’s second appearance on Hyman’s “Recruit Rockstars” podcast, and in the year that elapsed between his visits, WithMe underwent significant changes. Amidst those changes, Treble learned many valuable lessons. “The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster,” says Treble. “That’s startup or scale-up life. That’s just business. It’s going to happen.”
One of the most significant changes at WithMe was the introduction of SipWithMe, an innovative multifamily coffee amenity offering premium drinks made from fresh, locally sourced beans.
The inspiration for SipWithMe originated with a conversation between Treble and a PrintWithMe client. At one point, the client casually mentioned the coffee amenity space was in dire need of transformation. Armed with that information, Treble began intensely researching coffee. He notes he discovered that “coffee is a very important perk. According to Multifamily Design+Construction, it’s the #3 requested amenity, after community lounges and in-unit washers and dryers. Many U.S. markets have coffee as a standard amenity in their buildings.” After six months of tireless work, SipWithMe beta was launched in Chicago.
The introduction of SipWithMe prompted another significant change to PrintWithMe - a full refresh of the company’s image. Treble ultimately dropped the nod to the company’s printing roots and rebranded as WithMe, intending to add service line names to the moniker as the company continues to innovate and expand. “The industry really resonated with the branding change. They liked it,” says Treble.
In addition to requiring a rebrand, the rollout of a new product also brought with it the need to hire additional team members. In the podcast, Treble hones in on how his mindset for sales recruiting and interviewing has shifted as the company has grown. He chronicles his current non-negotiable values and personality traits, as well as his thoughts on the need for reps to have industry experience.
Treble also touches on how building a distributed team has supported one of the company’s core values - diversity. “I’m a big remote-first person. I love that we’re fully remote. That gave us the muscle to be able to look overseas for certain roles, and now we have four people working for us outside of the country.”
Committed to hiring the very best candidates at every level, Treble has come to recognize the paramount importance of hiring exceptional CSRs. Over the past year, the company has promoted seven team members, and three of those promotions were within the customer service team. “If we didn’t have such talented CSRs with high potential, we would have been floundering to replace people who had left.”
If you think PrintWithMe or SipWithMe would be a good fit for your business, shoot us an email at sales@withme.com.
CHICAGO, September 9, 2021 - Today, PrintWithMe announced that WithMe, Inc would serve as a holding company for its business. This reorganization of their corporate structure comes after years of significant revenue growth and expands the WithMe enterprise mission to deliver innovative technologies beyond wireless printing on-demand.
"The reorganization of our corporate structure solidifies our expanding mission and signals a new wave of exciting technology solutions we will bring to clients and end-users," said Jonathan Treble, WithMe, Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer, "Our team has grown in numbers and in talent with several new members joining us every month and we are excited to launch new offerings in the coming months."
The move to the new structure headed by WithMe, Inc. supports the firm's accelerated expansion into new verticals and sets the stage for a diversified product offering. PrintWithMe will be joined by WithMe in supporting new offerings to the WithMe enterprise core client verticals with its new offerings: multifamily apartment communities, shared offices, and retailers.
About WithMe, Inc.
WithMe, Inc. is a diversified physical technology services holding company. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, PrintWithMe LLC, is ranked #659th by the 2021 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America and provides wireless printing services. Its mission is to provide simple and convenient technologies across retail, multifamily, shared offices, and other verticals. For more information, please visit withmeinc.co or follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Media Contact:
Kasie Valenti
kasie.valenti@printwithme.com
Jonathan Treble, our CEO, had the chance to sit down and catch up with Brad Kirshenbaum, Director of Innovation at CA Ventures and get his thoughts on the current trends, perspectives, and future outlooks for multifamily. We covered a lot of ground, including:
Brad is always full of new perspectives and we always walk away with new ideas. We hope you listen in and enjoy the conversation.
CHICAGO, December 16, 2020 (Newswire.com) - With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing millions of Americans to work from home, apartment renters are increasingly in need of printing services, and they're willing to pay for the convenience of having those capabilities in their communities, according to a recent survey of over 500 apartment renters. PrintWithMe, the leading self-service wireless printer tech, offers this amenity to apartment renters in 49 states.
The November 2020 survey conducted by Satisfacts, titled Working From Apartments: What Residents Say They Need, sought to gain a better understanding of renters' remote working and distance learning requirements and preferences. When asked which apartment amenities would best accommodate their current needs, 50% of respondents listed printing services - second only to faster internet options (54.5%). On an overall value scale, respondents rated faster internet service and printer/copier/scanner services almost equally.
"It is always important for apartment operators to stay up to date on resident sentiment, but especially when we see such a dramatic shift in resident needs and priorities, as we have during the pandemic," said Lia Nichole Smith, Vice President of Education and Performance at ApartmentRatings and SatisFacts. "Residents' needs aren't the same as they were 10 months ago, especially for those who are now working or schooling from home. It's vital for operators to reach out to learn what those current needs are, and reassess what they're doing to accommodate residents."
PrintWithMe Founder and CEO Jonathan Treble said renters are leaning heavily on their apartment communities to make working and schooling from home feasible.
"We're seeing a transition in renter preferences, away from design and space and toward function and convenience," Treble said. "Apartment residents who now find themselves working or studying from home still require the equipment and capabilities that were previously provided at their workplace or educational institution. It's not surprising to see internet strength and printing capabilities top their list of necessities because those are the technologies that employees and students utilize on a regular basis."
In fact. 51.8% of survey respondents said that their printing needs have increased or held steady in 2020, despite moving to at-home settings for work or school. The survey showed that 57.4% of residents print more than 10 pages each month, and another 47.1% said they would use a community printer often or daily, if it was available, compared to only 12% who said they would use a co-working space on a daily basis.
"The survey certainly reflects what we're seeing at the property level," said LuAnne Acton Ross, Partner and Executive Vice President for JMG Realty. "Residents feel better about working from the comfort and safety of their own homes, rather than in a shared amenity space. But they still have a need for a reliable printer, scanner, and copier. We have seen a dramatic increase in our printer usage since the start of the pandemic, and with more of our residents planning to continue working from home post-pandemic, we expect that the trend is here to stay."
Property management companies are quickly realizing that a paperless business model isn't feasible for either their teams or their residents. Fortunately for operators who are thinking long-term, renters are also agreeable to paying for the amenities that allow them to work or conduct coursework from home.
Faster internet service (49%) was the top amenity that survey respondents were willing to pay for. Coming in second, at 40.8%, was wireless self-service printing, copying, and scanning. Conversely, only 13.9% of respondents indicated that they would pay for more co-working spaces.