The science-fiction writer William Gibson coined the phrase ‘the future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.’ It’s a phrase that has been on our minds in the MyResidentLinc HQ when writing this series.
When we set about creating our mobile platform, knocking on doors and interviewing the multifamily industry, mobile apps were something multifamily companies were completely dismissive of or planning in the future, but not now.
It’s several years later, and the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed. In the past year, we’ve seen a noticeable shift in executives and property manager’s openness to discussing how mobile technology can improve their business (further highlighted by this year’s NAA Edu conference.) The above brings us to what we’ve always been saying, having a mobile app is no longer a case of if, but when.
What we haven’t discussed on this blog is why multifamily properties have been slow to adopt mobile apps. To do so, we have to first explain a well-known graph in technology.
Adoption Life Cycle
As defined by our friend Wikipedia, the Adoption Life Cycle is:
‘a sociological model that describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. The process of adoption over time is typically illustrated as a classical normal distribution or “bell curve”. The model indicates that the first group of people to use a new product is called “innovators“, followed by “early adopters“. Next come the early majority and late majority, and the last group to eventually adopt a product are called “laggards”.’
Here is a graph to illustrate further,
Source (Wikipedia)
In this series already, we’ve given you 10 reasons why your multifamily properties need a mobile app:
5 Reasons Your Multifamily Properties Need A Mobile App
5 More Reasons Your Multifamily Properties Need A Mobile App
We’ve also explored the many ways having a mobile app can help you to attract prospective residents, retain residents, and optimize how you run your property, all helping you to reduce costs and increase profits. By introducing the Innovation Adoption Lifecycle graph, our intention is to provide an overall explanation for why the multifamily industry has been slow to adopt mobile technology.
It’s twofold:
- A lack of education (hence this series and free guide we’ll be giving you)
- A lack of faith in the current mobile technology and its ability to deal with the multifamily industry (something we’re addressing in a roundabout way.)
We’re confident that this blog and our social media is becoming the best resource for learning about mobile technology and the impact it can have on your business.
