House Sharing: A Growth Gateway to More Customers for Your Brand
The rise of dedicated house sharing platforms is transforming the way people live, particularly in Australia's major cities. Often payments leaders see house-sharers as an extra risk to on-time payments, but approached the right way house sharing could just be the secret to long term growth.
The rise and rise of house sharing holds a secret advantage for many brands, and the fact is any existing household can become a share house at any time. Most leaders consider house sharing to be higher risk due to the complexity of payments being sourced from multiple people within a household but in fact house sharing can be a growth gateway to a wider customer base than they might initially realize.
Here's why house sharing should be seen as an opportunity to cultivate strong relationships with a new generation of potential long-term customers.
Beyond the Bill Payer: A Household Full of Potential
Traditionally, brands have focused their customer relationship management (CRM) efforts on the individual whose name appears on the bill. In a house sharing arrangement, however, this approach overlooks a valuable segment – the additional residents.
Think about it: house sharing is often a stepping stone for young professionals or students transitioning to independent living. Many will eventually move into their own rentals or even purchase property. By providing a positive experience for everyone in the house share, brands can build brand loyalty that extends beyond the current lease.
This hidden customer base presents a significant opportunity for brands in various sectors, including:
Energy providers: Housemates often split electricity, gas, and internet bills. By making it easy for these costs to be shared and paid conveniently (like HelpPay), energy providers can build positive associations with the entire household.
Insurance companies: Contents insurance or renters' insurance is crucial for house shares. Offering flexible policies that can be tailored to the specific needs of a multi-occupancy dwelling demonstrates a brand's understanding of this unique living situation.
Water companies: Similar to energy, water bills are often shared responsibilities in share house arrangement. Streamlining the process of splitting and paying water bills fosters a positive impression of the water company's customer-centric approach.
Local councils: House sharing can raise concerns about waste management and recycling. By providing clear information and resources tailored to shared households, councils can not only ensure responsible practices but also build trust with residents.
Streaming services: With multiple residents in a house share, the demand for entertainment can be high. Offering family or multi-user plans that cater to shared living arrangements demonstrates a brand's awareness of these evolving customer needs.
Unlocking the Potential: Strategies for Brands
Here are some practical steps brands can take to leverage the house sharing phenomenon:
Review and update processes: Analyze your current onboarding and account management procedures. Can housemates easily share accounts or split bills seamlessly? Implementing user-friendly features like adding authorized users or setting up split payments demonstrates your brand's commitment to modern living arrangements.
Embrace the multi-resident household: Consider offering incentives like discounts or introductory offers specifically for shared households. This caters to the immediate needs of the group while nurturing brand loyalty that can extend beyond the current living situation.
Building credit together: Many housemates might be young adults looking to establish their credit history. Explore the possibility of offering options where all housemates on the bill can benefit from on-time payments, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and positive brand association.
Think beyond the lease: Develop targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with house sharers. Focus on the benefits of using your brand not just in their current situation, but also in their future independent living arrangements. This ensures your brand stays top-of-mind as they move on to bigger and better things.
The House Sharing Advantage: A Win-Win Situation
By embracing the house sharing trend and making it easer for customers to do what they're already doing, brands can cultivate relationships with a wider customer base, and unlock entirely new streams of data that can be invaluable.
Gaining a new household to bill to, while retaining the existing property is the holy grail for energy and insurance providers - and treating share houses like three, four, five or more future customers is an excellent way to achieve growth and retention goals.
Offering innovative solutions and demonstrating an understanding of the unique needs of shared households fosters loyalty and trust. Ultimately, this translates to a win-win situation: housemates get a seamless, positive experience, and brands gain access to a valuable pool of potential long-term customers. So, the next time you think about house sharing, remember, it's not just about renting a room – it's about building lasting relationships with the future generation of independent renters and homeowners.
About HelpPay
HelpPay is a 100%Australian owned company focused on making helping easier.
HelpPay's app is free for anyone to download and the HelpPay Promise ensures that money received to be paid towards a bill only ever goes to pay that bill.
Best of all the HelpPay app keeps a track of how much has been paid so when the full amount owed has been paid it stops accepting payments, providing peace of mind that bills can't be overpaid.
Download the HelpPay app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store or use the web version of HelpPay, today.
