As a property manager, your days are filled with signing leases, keeping your units full and managing move-ins and move-outs. But what do you really know about your current and prospective residents’ wants and needs? Making improvements in how you and your team serve your residents could result in them staying longer and referring their friends and coworkers to your community.

Mary Kaye O’Brien has managed tens of thousands of consumer surveys at Zillow Group and talks about using surveys to identify areas of improvement. Her presentation, now shared with you exclusively, explains the steps needed to create and administer a successful survey, including:

• How to set an objective for your survey
• Who to survey and how to reach them
• How to write effective questions
• How to scale your survey and rank your questions and answers

Be sure to read the presentation notes as well to learn how to gather useful information from casual conversations with your residents, how to expand on and replicate your research to keep improving, and what tools are available to help you conduct your surveys.