Now, this could simply be the result of the pandemic and the rise of the tech-enabled in-home gym. But here’s the twist that even the savviest business person seems to be missing in my (admittedly very unscientific) poll—the secret to Peloton’s sauce doesn’t really have all that much to do with its product (which is amazing, obviously)—but it has everything to do with its experience. 

This oversight is exactly the problem that I’m seeing in the real estate industry today. Real estate developers and owner-operators have traditionally focused on their offering as a simple transaction: Here’s four walls, decorate them as you like. We’ll be back in touch in a year. Oh, and call this number if something breaks. All very cut-and-dry, right? And for as long as humans can remember, that’s pretty much how it’s worked.

But the Millennial generation—great disrupters that they are—expect more. And the accelerated change that we’ve all experienced during the pandemic has only served to heighten that. Today’s customer, influenced as we all are (whether we like it or not) by Millennials, wants more than this transactional relationship. Sure, they want the value of their product—the Peloton, if you will—but they also have expectations in terms of its value over time—not just the bike, but the technology, content, access and inspiration — the end-to-end experience —  that the brand unlocks. For many of its core customers, Peloton doesn’t mean all that much without the access it provides to a Cody Rigsby or Hannah Frankson—and their community of fellow riders.

In terms of real estate, it’s about creating more mutually beneficial value in the agreement between the owner-operator and their resident. While the industry struggles to keep up with this new customer mindset, Venn is leading change through our own model. As a company focused on helping owner-operators improve resident satisfaction and maximize their asset value, Venn looks beyond the individual rental space—the Peloton —and instead invests in the entire resident experience as an amenity. We do this by providing resources both on- and offline to help residents feel a sense of belonging where they live, programming to help people connect, and the services and spaces that add real value for both residents and owner-operators.

At Venn, the experience, not the product, is at the forefront of everything we do. When a resident opens the Life at Venn app, for example, they’ll see several events listed that they might be interested in, hand-picked by their local Venn Expert. This personalized, community-focused approach puts the individual resident at the center of the experience, so they come to value and rely upon the service.  

Dealing with resident turnover is always tough, but Venn’s model is having a major impact—benefitting both residents and owner-operators. When Venn residents participated in at least one event last year, they were 50% more likely to remain in their neighborhoods and put down roots. If they participated in more than one event, that number jumped to 90%. At a time when millions of Americans moved during the pandemic, mostly fleeing cities for more space, Venn saw a 37% reduction in people leaving their neighborhoods. We also saw a 20% jump in people moving in. (Source: Venn’s ‘Annual Impact Report, 2020’).