THE DIGIBLE DUDE

Welcome back to another interesting episode of the Digible Dudes podcast. This week’s episode is all about motivation. Throughout the conversation, David and Reid talk about phases of motivation, consistency, having a purpose, adapting to changes, and more.

The desire for change, either in oneself or in one's surroundings, is known as motivation. Starting the conversation, Reid explains the three phases of motivation according to the book ‘Drive’ by Daniel H. Pink: survival, extrinsic, and intrinsic.

Are you extrinsically or intrinsically motivated? According to Reid, he was not intrinsically motivated at first until he became good enough to provide for his family. For David, it’s intrinsic from the beginning and about doing interesting things. We further dive into why most companies are motivating extrinsically out there and how they avoid finding out about themselves.

Setting up your priorities as leaders is important because your employees will learn how to be smart and make their time worthwhile at the workplace. Sometimes setting priorities feels like being disrespectful, but once they understand what’s necessary, the transition is going to be successful.

Sometimes constant change ruins the momentum. There has to be a certain level of consistency in order to become successful as a company. But, sometimes, the new trends make it so difficult not to change. Wrapping up the conversation, Reid shares his idea of finding the balance between constant change and staying consistent.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(02:24) Phases of motivation – Starting the conversation, Reid defines the three phases of motivation.

(10:52) Salary increase – We talk about the salary increase of Digible’s employees by 10% at the end of the year as intrinsic motivation.

(17:32) Intrinsic or extrinsic – David and Reid explain why they are intrinsically motivated by Digible.

(23:30) Demotivator – We discuss why people get demotivated when they are told what to do and what role autonomy plays in motivating people.

(29:48) Consistency – We talk about the importance of setting up priorities in the workplace.

(34:49) Purpose – Having a purpose makes you motivated. We talk about building purpose among the employees.

(44:42) Introducing change – Reid explains why a company needs to have a certain amount of consistency to be successful.

Resources

Book by Jack Stack, Bo

The Great Game of

goodreads.com/en/book/show/138298

Books by Daniel H. Pink

The Power of Regret: How

goodreads.com/en/book/show/58446721

Drive: The Surprising

goodreads.com/en/book/show/6452796

It’s been six years! This April marks the six-year anniversary of Digible. This episode features David, Digible's President and Co-Founder, Nicole Staley, Chief Experience Officer, and Reid Wicoff, CEO. Throughout the conversation, we talk about coming up with a name for the podcast six years ago, challenges along the way, operational changes, protecting company culture, and what we're excited about for the next years to come.

Startups aren’t easy. You don’t know what challenges you have to overcome when you're at the beginning of them. But the ups and downs you overcome will make your efforts worth it at the end of the day. Reid begins the conversation by reflecting on his startup experience at Digible and why he would go through the challenges knowing or unknowingly.

Company culture is the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape a company’s employees and management to interact and perform business. Intrinsic motivation has a huge impact on culture. Reid discusses the importance of maintaining intrinsic motivation in the workplace to protect the culture, as well as what happens when motivation fades.

We all like to think about the future. We are curious and sometimes scared of what the future might bring. Wrapping up this week’s conversation, David, Reid, and Nicole share what they are most excited about for the next six years at Digible.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

 (01:26) Naming – Starting the conversation, we talk about how we came up with the name ‘The Digible Dudes’ for the podcast six years ago.

(08:33) Challenges along the way – Reid shares his idea about facing new challenges through the years at Digible and how he feels about it looking back now.

(16:27) Operational change – David and Reid talk about how their focus shifted from technical things to things like building a great company culture and putting systems in place.

(26:30) Protecting culture – David shares his concern for maintaining intrinsic motivation among the employees at Digible to protect the company culture for another four to five years.

(37:41) Looking forward to – We talk about what we are looking forward to achieving in the next five years at Digible.

(44:14) Learning – We go over what we've learned the most in our six years at Digible.

(49:13) Next six years – We share what we are most excited about for the next six years at Digible.

(55:16) Pre-Digible self – Wrapping up today’s conversation, we talk about the values we wish to add to Digible in our pre-Digible self.

Resources

Connect with David, Reid,

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/davidwstaley/

                  linkedin.com/in/rwicoff/

                  linkedin.com/in/nicole-brennan/

Today's episode of Digible Dudes Podcast features Kristi Fickert, VP of Enterprise Growth at Realync. Realync is the fabric of real-time real estate, connecting the world's real estate marketplaces and streamlining and improving the touring process. In other words, it is the top video leasing and engagement solution for multifamily buildings, offering live video tours, live virtual open houses, and DIY pre-made videos of properties.

Throughout today's podcast, Kristi discusses Realync's role in simplifying and enhancing the touring process for real estate markets through real-time solutions such as live video tours, virtual open houses, and pre-recorded videos. The conversation delves into matters such as the momentum of virtual leasing agent businesses during the pandemic and success metrics during client onboarding. Kristi also discusses the potential risk of a competitor copying the company's technology and the unique differentiators that set Realync apart. The conversation also touches on setting expectations for owners and leasing agents, with Kristi outlining a timeline for becoming proficient with new platforms or technologies. Additionally, Kristi shares her contrarian ideas or "hot takes" on the industry.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(04:18) Introduction – Introducing herself to the conversation, Kristi speaks about Realync and its services.

(09:45) Impact of Pandemic -. Will people realize the importance of a virtual leasing agent tool, even though they are no longer in lockdown and can meet people in person?

(15:06) Distinctive Differentiators - We explore the distinctive differentiators of Realync and its optimal portfolio size and asset class.

(26:10) Client Onboarding Process - Success metrics during the client onboarding process.

(35:35) Kristi's Motivation – Kristi's inspirations as a leasing agent.

(40:17) Challenges - We examine the problems Realync faces as they consider scaling.

(51:44) Future Vision – Kristi speculates on what the next ten years may hold for Realync and the industry and any emerging demands.

Resources:

Connect with Kristi:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristifickert/

Website: realync.com/

The Lens Video Course

Video Sample

Mentioned in the episode:

EP129: 2023 Multifamily Industry Predictions: digible.com/ep129-2023-multifamily-industry-predictions/

Today's successful brands put extra effort into providing a seamless, enjoyable, consistent customer experience across all touchpoints. However, a company's web presence is the natural starting point. A company's website is a hub for details about its wares and services, as well as any relevant news or updates. There, they can make purchases, and potential clients can end up as paying customers. However, the website can also be a possible "pain point" for the consumer or the most unpleasant part of the process. Digible's Web product manager, Chelsea Schonhaut, is here to talk about her work, her findings regarding websites, the upcoming design and features of Digible websites, and what you can anticipate from the new Digible website product offerings.

Chelsea starts the discussion by mentioning how they identified the voids in the market. She goes on to say that customer satisfaction is one of these crucial factors. Furthermore, we explore the proportion of responsibility for the delay that can be placed on the vendor versus the customer. We also investigate both the good and adverse reactions of customers following the launch. Chelsea outlines the speculations regarding integrations and the consensus on the style of multifamily websites. There we deep dive into integrations and their impact.

Competition analysis and bundling are two different topics we cover in depth. We also describe the services and the features we hope to implement in the future. Following that, Chelsea explains what ADA compliance is and why it matters. Finally, we take a high-level look at everything the brand-new Digible website service has to offer.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(11:30) Client Experience – Chelsea explains how they identified the gaps in the sector that they intend to fill. She further mentions that client experience is one of these significant factors.

(13:34) Vendor-Driven vs. Client-Driven -  Who should be held accountable for website development or rollout delays?

(20:09) Client Reactions -  We discuss clients' positive and negative feedback after the launch.

(26:50) Integrations -  How many individuals launch websites without requiring integrations? How crucial is tour schedule integration? Would you pay a premium for it?

(43:27) Competitive Intelligence – We explore the applicability of competitive intelligence and bundling in web development. Chelsea then points out what ADA compliance is and why it is substantial.

(59:38) Newest Website Offering – We look at the latest website offering from Digible, analyzing its numerous unique selling points, such as its enhanced usability and pricing model.

Resources:

Connect with Chelsea Schonhaut:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chelsea-schonhaut/

This week’s episode of The Digible Dudes Podcast is all about predictions. David and Reid discuss the predictions they had for multifamily in 2022 and their predictions for 2023.

AI marketing is the use of artificial intelligence to make automated decisions and communicate with customers without the intervention of team members. We start the conversation with David’s prediction that AI marketing is a marketing hack, not a real AI. He goes on to explain how it is programmed to respond in some way.

We talk about Costar, the leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, and news. According to David's prediction, they have $5 billion in cash on hand, which will be used to move into a single family.

An AI leasing assistant, which responds to questions from prospective renters, is a powerful artificial intelligence created to aid properties in streamlining the lease process. According to David’s prediction, AI leasing agents will surpass human agents in 2023. Then we talk about the need for human agents in certain areas that AIs can’t fulfill.

Digible’s Fiona Forward is an AI-powered digital marketing expert. a powerful partner for your apartment marketing. At the end of today’s episode, David talks about his intention to focus on Fiona in 2023 and what changes he would like to address.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(02:14) Marketing trick AI – We begin by discussing David's prediction of AI continuing as a marketing ploy rather than true AI.

(09:48) Self-guided tours – We discuss possible reasons for single-family homes to get into self-guided tours.

(17:02) IPO – David talks about his failed prediction about seeing an IPO in apartment prop tech.

(24:38) Costar acquisition prediction – We discuss David’s prediction on Costar moving to single family with 5 billion cash on hand.

(30:24) AI leasing agents – We talk about Reid’s prediction that AI leasing agents will surpass humans in 2023.

(35:35) Antitrust: We discuss the rise of antitrust laws and their impact on businesses.

(41:01) Startups for multifamily – David predicts 2023 is going to be the year of new startup findings for multifamily.

(49:04) Fiona Forward – We talk about David’s idea of focusing more on Fiona Forward in 2023.

Resources

ChatGPT - openai.com/

Digible - [email protected]

James C. Collins books -

goodreads.com/author/show/2826.James_C_Collins

There's no doubt effective recruitment is essential for hiring in the multifamily industry. It guarantees that the workforce possesses the necessary knowledge, expertise, and skills to meet the organization's present and future demands. This week’s episode of The Digible Dudes Podcast features Kelly Taylor, Recruiter at Digible, to talk about talent acquisition for the multifamily industry. Throughout the conversation, we dive into the interview process, screening, KPIs, shortlisting, job fairs, attracting diverse talent, and more.

Kelly begins the conversation by telling us about her background. She has been working as a recruiter for several years and previous position at a start-up.

Screening is one of the most important parts of the recruitment process. It ultimately provides the best candidate for the position you are looking for. According to Kelly, the background of the applicant, necessary qualifications, the candidate’s reason for wanting to join your company, and questions from the candidate are some of the things they are looking for when screening.

The process of shortlisting involves finding the applicants from your applicant pool that best fit the required and desired criteria. Most of the time, when you are recruiting, you get a lot of unqualified applications for the required positions. Kelly shares the importance of having a strategy to shortlist candidates. Further, she talks about how social media helps recruit the best candidates other than LinkedIn.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, people are used to working from home, which comes with a lot of benefits for the employees. Four-day work weeks, remote work, and both physical and mental health are some things people are drawn to when they are looking for a job, says Kelly.

The phrase "diversity, equality, and inclusion" (DEI) refers to policies and initiatives that support the participation and representation of many groups of people, including racial and ethnic groups, genders, abilities and impairments, and sexual orientations. Wrapping up the conversation, Kelly talks about how people don’t understand what DEI means and what ways you can get diverse talent for your organization.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(08:14) Kelly’s background – Starting the conversation, Kelly gives us a brief introduction of herself and what she did before joining Digible.

(13:28) Interview process – Kelly explains what she was surprised about the most in the recruitment process at Digible.

(14:00) Greenhouse – An applicant tracking system.

(17:28) Screening – Kelly shares what she looks for in applicants during the screening process.

(21:13) Key performance indicator – Kelly shares ‘time to hire’ as her biggest and most important KPI.

(27:28) Shortlisting  –  Kelly discusses how she prefers to get the best applications for recruitment rather than a large number of unqualified applications.

(33:23) The competition – Kelly shares the things that candidates are drawn to when searching for a job.

(42:03) Train wreck – We share some funny stories about Zoom interviews and mishaps.

[48:20) Job fairs – Kelly shares the value of job fairs.

(56:37) Diverse talent – Kelly shares the ways to attract diverse talent to an organization.

Resources

Connect with Kelly

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/kelly-taylor-870a91106/

Email - [email protected]

Greenhouse application tracking system - greenhouse.com/

New year. New goals. Welcome back to the Digible Dudes podcast. We are here this week with David and Reid to talk about our six goals for 2023. Throughout the conversation, we cover the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) model, marketing tactics, partnerships, new hire onboarding, and more.

The entrepreneurial operating system is an extensive business system that helps businesses of any size grow and thrive. Starting the conversation, Reid dives into Digible’s first goal for 2023, which is a new EOS system. Further, David and Reid talk about how they have developed as a company over the years.

Reid elaborates on how the culture can be affected if you are not careful due to the more significant number of prop-tech companies.

Reid and David conclude the conversation by discussing how far their company has come in four years. According to Reid, going backward is part of moving to the next level, and it’s not easy to say how far back they are willing to go.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(02:04) EOS model –Starting the conversation, Reid talks about Digible’s EOS system and the company’s growth.

(05:24) Marketing – David shares how they figured out certain outcomes of marketing and how it helped to narrow things down.

(08:44) Partnerships – We talk about adding strategic partnerships to Digible and the reasons behind them.

(14:11) Innovate on reporting – David and Reid talk about their fourth goal; innovate on reporting and add additional data points. Further, David shares why data reporting is important inside and outside the industry.

(23:26) Onboarding – We talk about the change in strategy in the onboarding process at Digible.

(26:18) Fiona Forward – We talk about Fiona Foward and what it means for the employees in the company and how it gives a sense of purpose other than fulfilling campaigns.

(32:00) Reaching the next level – David and Reid share positioning themselves to reach the next level as their biggest goal as a company.

Resources

Book by Simon Sinek –

The Infinite Game

goodreads.com/en/book/show/38390751

Everybody has brands they feel loyalty to. Brand loyalty is simply the dedication a customer feels about a specific product. Brands build loyalty and trust with their audience to purchase the product regardless of competitors or the price. This week's episode of The Digible Dudes podcast features Phil Matsuhashi, an entrepreneur, advisor, and consultant, to talk about brand loyalty. Throughout the conversation, we talk about brand loyalty in multifamily, consumer relationships, lifecycle stages, and personalization in consumer marketing.

We start the conversation with a quick look into Phil's career. Phil started his career in digital advertising and programmatic advertising. Then he walks us through how he started working at Amenify, a real estate technology company that offers cleaning, chores, housekeeping, dog walking, food delivery, and lifestyle services for multifamily residents.

Every brand needs a relationship with its consumers. Phil shares his idea on the lack of a holistic relationship between a resident and a property. According to him, in the context of multifamily, they haven't been able to develop a relationship between the consumer and property like other brands out there.

Lifecycle stages are essential for brands. They are designed to correspond to the phases of a customer's journey. Phil talks about the importance of lifecycle stages and why brands need to know about new movers.

Personalization and relevance are important factors when it comes to direct consumer marketing. Wrapping up the conversation, Phil talks about the importance of personalization in consumer marketing to brands out there. He further dives into what happens when a company delivers a message to a consumer at the wrong time.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

(14:01) Staying multifamily – Phil starts the conversation by walking us through his career journey and how he began working in Amenify.

(19:22) Consumers –Phil shares how consumers are more sophisticated toward brand loyalty than before.

(24:36) Brand loyalty in multifamily – Phil explains the consumer characteristics in multifamily and how Amenify fits into that standards.

(32:14) The gap – Phil explains the lack of a holistic relationship between consumers and multifamily like other well-known brands.

(38:37) Life stage change – Phil shares what happens when a consumer's stage in life changes to another level.

(45:03) The dynamic – Phil talks about the differences between various multifamily customers and their needs.

(50:04) The value - Phil shares his idea about the importance of lifecycle stages and their opportunities to enhance the living experience.

(55:09) Personalization – We discuss the importance of personalization and relevance in consumer marketing.

Resources:

Connect with Phil

LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/philmatsuhashi/

Hamilton Wright Helmer –

7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

goodreads.com/book/show/32816087-7-powers

The holiday season is almost here. We are back with our last episode before the holiday season this year. In this week's episode, we are joined by Allysa Whitebird, Senior Account Manager, and Eliot Meade; Senior Paid Media Strategist at Digible, to talk about the 2022 holiday season. Throughout the conversation, we dive into changes with paid media initiatives, follow-ups, channels, geo-fencing, google business profiles, organic social, and more.

Starting the conversation, we dive into how paid media changes in the last two months of the year. Eliot shares how they are changing their paid media strategies in the holiday season to maximize their spending during the competitive holiday season.

Creating a virtual geographic boundary using GPS or RFID technology triggers the software when a mobile device enters or exits a specific area, called geo-fencing. The most common use of geo-fencing is for location-based marketing and other location experiences. We dive into how Digible will try geo-fencing for the first time as a test in the coming holiday season.

Wrapping up the conversation, Eliot, Allysa, and David talk about their favorite toys when they were little.

Digible: ⁠https://digible.com/⁠

Fiona: ⁠https://www.myfiona.com//⁠

Leave a Spotify Review: ⁠https://spoti.fi/3LfoEdU⁠

Leave an Apple Review: ⁠https://apple.co/3AA2zRj⁠

[01.34] Changes with Paid Media – Starting the conversation, Eliot dives into the changes their paid media is going into for the holiday season.

[07.51] Follow-ups – Eliot dives into the importance of follow-ups like email campaigns to get in touch with customers.

[10.08] Channels – Allysa shares how their strategies change with social media and channels like TikTok and Spotify.

[13.24] Geo-fencing – We dive into geo-fencing and how Digible will try geofencing during the holidays.

[18.34] Fence types – Eliot shares her attitude on the importance of being creative when geo-fencing.

[22.38] Creativity – Eliot dives into how people can be creative in marketing.

[26.11] Google business profile – We dive into the importance of updating the google business profile and better user experience.

[29.45] Organic social – Eliot dives into the importance of shifting strategy to post more current updates about residents in organic social.

[32.34] Staying in the middle – It's essential to be aware of religious and festive events during the holiday season.

[35.49] Hot toy – Allysa, Eliot, and David share what kind of hot toys they had when they were little.Resources

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliot-meade-747799b3/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allysawhitebird/

Welcome back to the Digible Dudes podcast. We have another interesting episode this week, and our guest today is Michaela Derenne, Partner Success Manager at Engrain, a computer software in property touring and map visualization technology. We discuss how to support new tech partners to use their technology. Throughout the episode, we explore Michaela’s background, what Engrain is, supporting businesses, various business models, what’s outside of apartment living, ESG innovations, and more.

Starting the conversation, Michaela dives into her background where she started her career as a marketing manager for her dad, how she got into the real estate industry after school, how she joined Engrain as a partner success manager, and also what services Engrain provides its customers.

An ‘economic moat’ is the capability of a company to keep a competitive edge over its rivals to safeguard its long-term earnings. Michaela dives into what kind of defense mechanisms they hope to use against long-term business competitions for Engrain.

In the next phase of the conversation, Michaela shares what she likes about Engrain saying that it’s their mission to help businesses, to provide a better experience for their partners, and using client experiences to provide more value to them and be good at what they do. Wrapping up the conversation, Michaela dives into the industry’s heartaches from her point of view.

[08.02] Background – Michaela dives into her background, her position at Engrain, and the services Engrain provides its customers.

[12.59] Engrain – Michaela shares Engrains’ story, which was started as a marketing agency.

[18.17] Success – With 4.3 million units mapped with partnership programs and building out the ecosystem, Engrain is growing busy day by day. Michaela dives into what they are expecting for Engrain in the future and how they want to build a technology that is easy for customers to use.

[23.03] Scalability – Michaela shares how long it normally takes to deliver the unit map and sitemap to the partners.

[30.11] Moat for Engrain – Michaela talks about the defensive features they hope to use in terms of business competitors in the field.

[36.45] Helping businesses – According to Michaela, Engrain wants to add value to the multifamily industry at large and help their clients to have a better self-guided tour experience.

[43.37] Business model – Michaela dives into how they are operating their business model and revenue in Engrain.

[55.31] Descriptions - Michaela dives into providing data on their unit map platform.

[57.00] Outside of apartment living – Michaela shares what kind of map platforms they are going to start on other than apartment living.

[01.00.18] Heartache – Watching the industry shift away from floorplan search and changes with centralized leasing are the heartaches, according to Michaela.

[01.06.22] ESG Innovations – ESG investing focuses on investing that favors the best environmental, social, and governance outcomes or aspects.

Resources

www.linkedin.com/in/michaeladerenne

twitter.com/mderenne

[email protected]

www.linkedin.com/company/engrain

engrain.com