SmartRent

ECI Group Case Study

ECI Group, a large multifamily real estate company in the southeastern U.S., faced operational inefficiencies due to their CRM generating numerous duplicate maintenance work orders from repeated resident calls, overwhelming staff and prompting them to implement SmartRent solutions—including work management and automation tools—to streamline service requests and improve operational returns.

ECI Group is a prominent, privately owned real estate organization operating in the southeast United States. The company’s CRM was generating duplicate work orders and hurting returns—a problem ECI resolved by turning to SmartRent solutions.

Company Overview

  • Units: 9,300+
  • Collection Rate: 92%
  • Industry: Multifamily
  • Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
  • Products Used:
    • Work Management
    • Answer Automation
    • Audit Management
    • Inspection Management
    • Resident App & Experience

Client Testimonial

"Every time a resident picked up the phone and called in a maintenance request—even if it hadn’t been 10 minutes since their previous call—our system was generating a new ticket. We were getting 20-30 calls from one resident in the same week, and they were all for the same issue. We just could not keep up with the workload of triaging and fixing."

— Emily Mask, Associate VP of Operations and Revenue, ECI Group

The Challenge: Dysfunctional CRM Overloading Staff with Work Orders

ECI Group initially selected its CRM system to support the leasing side of operations for its on-site teams, but it soon became clear that the system was failing to meet the needs of ECI’s service teams.

Repeated maintenance requests from residents resulted in the CRM generating new tickets for each call, even if they were for the same issue. This led to an overwhelming number of duplicate work orders and an unmanageable workload for the staff.

Increasing Demands to Find the Right Solution Partner

Consistently duplicated work orders created chaos for even the most organized teams. The urgency for change peaked when HVAC issues at a newly acquired property resulted in over 300 service tickets in a single week, many of which were duplicates for the same problems.

“One service tech would come in and pick up a ticket for Apartment 101, and 10 minutes later a second service tech would pick up a ticket for the same issue in 101. They would arrive at the same home and wonder what they were both doing there. … That was the tipping point on the service side that clearly showed us that our platform wasn’t working for us."

— Emily Mask, Associate VP of Operations and Revenue, ECI Group

The Solution: Implement SmartRent’s Inspection Management Solution

A test phase with SmartRent’s Inspection Management Solution immediately demonstrated its value. ECI went live with the full SmartRent platform at five properties, focusing on service operations.

"We did an implementation with SmartRent, and everyone was like, ‘Wow! It does everything from our daily checklist and pool logs, up to a property inspection.’ Our teams were really thrilled with the functionality and interface of the platform for the CRM."

— Emily Mask

The Result: Improved Communication and Collections

SmartRent’s Work Management platform was tested during a plumbing emergency at an ECI property in Georgia. The platform enabled real-time messaging, reducing the number of calls and improving communication with residents.

"We were able to message on Work Management on the fly. That cut down on the number of calls we were receiving, because we could communicate clearly through the platform to let everyone know what was going on."

— Emily Mask

SmartRent allowed ECI to send direct messages to impacted residents and broadcast communications to the entire community, drastically improving the team’s ability to manage emergencies.

"Our biggest win with Work Management was being able to keep in constant communication with our residents and update them throughout the process, while also reducing our workload during that plumbing emergency. On our previous platforms, we wouldn’t have had any of those capabilities."

— Emily Mask

A Service Manager’s Dream

Work Management empowered service technicians to manage and close out their own tickets, a feature previously restricted to service managers. Service managers praised the new platform.

“SmartRent’s Work Management is great, user-friendly and makes it easy to schedule and assign work orders, as well as communicate with the residents. One of my favorite things about the platform is the fact that you can upload images to better communicate with the team and residents.”

— Carlos Guzman, Service Manager at ECI’s The Cliftwood Sandy Springs, Ga.

Benefits of SmartRent Solutions for ECI Group

  • Improved efficiencies: Leasing teams can focus on customer service, improving collections rates and reducing payment delinquencies.
  • Elimination of duplicated efforts: Redundant service tickets eliminated; transparent communication and status updates during emergencies.
  • Enhanced contactless service: Protected service teams during COVID-19 by enabling contact-free communication and information gathering.
  • Reduced delinquency rates: Communities using SmartRent have the lowest delinquency rates in the company.
  • Flexible workspaces: Separate workspaces for maintenance teams, including preventive maintenance.
  • Mobile maintenance: User-friendly interface available on iOS and Android for mobile and tablet devices.
  • Advanced reporting: Easy data export for deeper analysis.

Expectations Exceeded

Properties using SmartRent’s Audit Management reported better delinquent account collections and the lowest delinquency rates in the company. While the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) tracker showed an average collection rate of 84%, ECI achieved almost 92%.

“I think part of it is that our leasing teams are no longer forced to work with service orders and can focus their time on receivables and customer service. Our office teams are inundated right now with collecting rent and learning virtual leasing. Our service teams at the sites that have Work Management are completely handling service issues, so our office teams have one less thing on their plates.

Our properties [using SmartRent solutions] are handling [work orders] easier because the resident can see the status of their service request and communicate directly within the app. Our service teams are ecstatic because the service requests are going directly to their phones and we’re able to reduce the communication that [would normally] take place in person.”

— Emily Mask

ECI Group plans to roll out the SmartRent solutions suite at the rest of its properties in the near future.