Grey Modern Photo Annual Report (6)

2019
/20
S A L E S & M A R K E T I N G
P R O P O S A L
2019/20

ates in
Occupancy
and
Manchester
rates in
Occupancy
to be at
Liverpool
strategy to ensure we follow through with the
Our
as set above will be to adopt a more
objectives
rates in
Occupancy
to be at
Newcastle
sales approach for all sites. Pushing our
aggressive
adverts, ad words and dwell Student Living
online
to ensure they are streamlined and in keeping
website
the dwell brand.
with
new application portal has been designed to give a
A
transition from our website to our booking
seamless
This new platform is mobile friendly therefore
platform.
the chances of people following through from
increase
01
Executive
Summary
The overall objective for our Sales & Marketing Strategy is;
98%
90%
65%
Bristol to be at 98%
90%
65%
visiting our website to actually booking.

The Class of 2018
02

With Us
Sticking
Re Booker
20%
Gender
1287
56%
1023
44%
New
80%
Year of Study
Place of Study

have representatives from 70 countries around the world down by 5 from 2017/18. Our top 5 countries
We
below, with British students holding our majority at 57%, closely followed by Chinese at 26%, which is
are
3% higher than previous years
Irish
comparison to previous years our non eu students has risen
In
by 5% as have our eu students by the same percent. We
slightly
however seen a drop in uk students by 8% but this is due to
have
occupancy issues we have found in Liverpool.
the
Nationalities
650
520
390
260
130
0
Norwegian
French
Romanian
Greek
Bulgarian
Lithuanian
Cypriot
Hungarian
Latvian
Belarusian
Estonian
Algerian
Danish
Icelandic
Slovak
Turkish
Chinese
Indian
Korean
Nigerian
Bangladeshi
Taiwanese
Iranian
Nepalese
Thai
Australian
Japanese
Philippine
EU
10%
UK
57%
NON EU
33%

all sites we offer a variety of contract lengths. From 13 week stays
Across
51 weeks depending on the location of the property. Our shorter
to
dwelling for how long?
contracts are predominately in Liverpool and Newcastle.
1,400
1,050
700
350
0
13 18 38 42
44 48 51 STL

Lessons Learnt
03

are three stages to the booking process, before, during and after. To help identify successes and
There
for improvements we have broken down our lessons learnt with this in mind.
areas
marketing campaign for the 2018/19 year was all about film and movies, I’ll be back theme. This was
Our
out using video marketing, posters and leaflets. The videos we produced were well received and to
rolled
we have over 5000 views on both facebook and YouTube. This reach is the best campaign we have
date
to date for marketing efforts and shows video marketing really works.
had
the marketing campaign gained interest for the 2019/20 we are taking things back to basics and
Although
more on what makes our brand different. A no frills, no filter approach is our new direction as
concentrating
is what our students associate with us. Our brand is about little things done well, simple things making a
this
difference and this is how we are gearing our marketing efforts for the year.
big
in today’s market explore more on our social media first before visiting websites so a real focus on
Students
content and advertising to attract our target audience worked well with our pages interactions
improving
that we are looking to improve on for the 2019/20 year is to have more sponsored ads on social
Areas
to help drive traffic to our website. We will also be promoting our hashtags more using the #live well
media
made to the website have improved traffic flow with a lower bounce rate being shown on
Enhancements
pages we have adapted for both Cathedral Campus and Garth Heads. We believe the clearer layout of
the
sites has led to a higher conversion rate and more enquiries. With these site changes we are now
these
able to identify what room type’s people are viewing and how long they are interacting on each room
also
the improvements made to date have worked a further area in which we will be looking to change
Although
our features sections. From our survey results students stated price, travel time to place of study,
is
and quality, safety and security and finally bedroom space. When asked what they thought was
condition
or worse than expected we scored highly as follows in the above areas;
better
Before, discovering the brand
Marketing
Social Media
improving tenfold.
live dwell. This will be included in all our marketing campaigns to help get more people following us online.
Website
page.

Worse
4%
Worse
20%
Better
12%
Better
44%
Neutral
52%
Neutral
68%
Value for Money
Travel Time to Study
Worse
23%
Better
20%
Worse
11%
Better
32%
Neutral
57%
Neutral
57%
Building Security
Condition & Quality
Worse
10%
Better
35%
Neutral
55%
Bedroom Space

time to study was the area we scored highest in for better than expected, this would be a sign we
Travel
under selling our locations. Our bedroom space also scored highly with 35% saying their room
are
was better than expected, again we may be under selling this area on our website. Finally
space
security scored 25% in the better than expected rating, this was a surprise as a larger portion of
building
terms of aspects of our accommodation that our students rated most highly three areas stood out
In
our most recent survey. Location to both study and local amenities and the range of local
from
From this we will be looking at having more information about the local area and city on our
amenities.
so people know what to expect when they moving to our sites.
website
large proportion of the students before booking a room with us prefer to come and view the site and
A
a feel for its location, quality and room sizes. This year across all our sites we booked in 1232
get
to view our properties, 832 of those booked in turned up for their viewing and 332 booked a
people
with us after viewing.
room
the table below detailing each sites booked, attended, no shows and conversion rate it has given
From
a clear indication on the sites that are performing well and those that may need assistance with
us
the sites aren’t offering 24/7 service.
Viewings
further training.
1,300
Group Overall
975
650
325
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked

had 457 viewings
Overall
in, out of those 318
booked
the site. With 160
visited
on to book a room with
going
had 154 viewings
Overall
in, out of
booked
95 visited the site. With
those
going on to book a room
22
had 197 viewings
Overall
in, out of
booked
117 visited the site.
those
21 going on to book a
With
had 86 viewings
Overall
in, out of
booked
44 visited the site.
those
15 going on to book a
With
500
MSV
375
250
125
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
us.
Conversion Rate, 50.3%
200
MSV South
150
100
50
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
room with us.
Conversion Rate, 17.9%
200
The Grafton
150
100
50
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
with us.
Conversion Rate, 23.2%
Weston Court
90
60
30
room with us.
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
Conversion Rate, 23.2%

had 70 viewings
Overall
in, out of those
booked
visited the site.
62
28 going on to book a
With
had 108 viewings
Overall
in, out of those 86
booked
the site. With 37 going
visited
to book a room with us.
on
had 160 viewings
Overall
in, out of those 125
booked
the site. With 49 going
visited
to book a room with us.
on
50.3% 17.9%
150
Cathedral Campus
100
50
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
Conversion Rate, 43%
70
Garth Heads
56
42
28
14
room with us.
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
Conversion Rate, 45.2%
200
150
Hotwells House
100
50
0
Overall Attended No Show Booked
Conversion Rate, 39.2%
Highest Conversion Rate
Lowest Conversion Rate

at the conversation rates for sites, which is what is most important for us in terms of bookings
Looking
South is clearly struggling. With a 17.9% conversion rate it is well below group averages which is
MSV
number of no shows for viewings is a concern however as the data we have is reliant on staff to
The
details it may be slightly mid leading. That being said, we will be looking at improving this score for
enter
19/20 sales period by having no show follow ups, more communication with the viewer before their
the
and ensuring sites update trackers regularly.
arrival
are a really important part of the sales process as this plays a large part in whether the viewer
Viewings
book with us or our competitors. For two months we carried out a survey on those who viewed our
will
viewers during the months of April and May were contacted and asked to take part in our viewing
All
The questions asked were as below and scored out of 10 with average scores created per site
survey.
How would you rate the introduction from the site team?
1.
How would you rate the cleanliness of the reception?
2.
How would you rate the facilities?
3.
How would rate the room you were shown?
4.
the site introduction Cathedral Campus rating scored the highest across the portfolio averaging 9.5,
For
also scored high in room space and likelihood of booking with an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10. This
they
a good reflection that the site team are giving the viewer a good experience and projecting the brand
is
site well.
and
impressions are important and the cleanliness of the site is central to building someone’s first
First
of dwell. MSV scored highest in this area closely followed by Hotwells House and MSV South.
impression
is worth noting Cathedral Campus site has had an ongoing rolling refurbishment for the year which will
It
affected this rating.
have
39.3%. In comparison MSV, Cathedral Campus and Garth Heads all have an above average.
properties to understand what areas we can improve on for viewings.
per question.
5. How likely are you to book a room at site name?

ecent surveys taken by our residents who lived with us for the 2017/18 year we scored well on our
From
process and this will be reviewed again in the October for our 2018/19 process.
applications
of 391 students who responded to our survey 74% scored us good or very good, with only 2% stating
Out
had a bad booking experience. We would like to think this would be slightly higher again for the
they
at individual site data as shown below out of those sites we have more data on Hotwells House
Looking
the worst for booking process. However on the whole our ratings are positive.
scored
when comparing our application process to the marketing and University halls we are a little
However,
in the ratings. With our new portal X going live for July 2018 we are hoping this will help improve
behind
During, the application process
2018/19 students who are surveyed.
scores and will see a more balanced ranking with our competitors.

impressions are always important and we try to ensure the arrival and check in process is a happy
First
enjoyable experience. This is for some the first time they will experience the brand so it’s important
and
looking at the survey for our 2017/18 in take we can see the majority of our tenants found check
Again
to be a good one and the ratings reflect this with 65% rating us Very Good or Good. More interestingly
in
was evenly balanced for EU, Non Eu and Uk tenants showing our check in experience is
this
welcoming.
you ensure your arrival and check in experience goes well you are more likely to have re booking
If
and this is shown below. Weston Court performed best for overall check in experience and also
students
above data is why we put so much effort in to ensuring the information we email l out to tenants and
The
welcome pack we give them is fun but informative.
the
looking at individual areas of the arrival experience our students rated our top five areas to be, ease
From
finding reception, ease of finding accommodation, check in information, staff welcome and
of
Our staff welcome scored 74% for very good and good which is an amazing first impression
organisation.
the dwell brand. Our best performing site in this area were Hotwells House and MSV, who scored 82
of
is important to learn from the check in experience and to try and improve it year on year, some areas I
It
suggest need improving from feedback are cleanliness and our opportunity for student interaction,
would
After, living the dwell brand
to get this right.
has the highest re booker rating for 2018/19, this is the case even though we put rents up by 10%.
and 80% respectively.
both areas scored low.

the most important thing to know is what our students want and what they would like to see
Finally,
on our sites. At MSV South the highest rating improvement needing was laundry facilities
improved
50%, which we have now put in place on site. MSVs highest rating was no surprise with students
scoring
us to improve our kitchen sizes with 51% asking for this. Cathedral Campus had three areas that are
asking
evenly matched in things to improve, with condition and quality, internet and laundry all scoring 37%.
very
our refurbishment being completed the condition and quality should now have been addressed and
With
we will see an improvement in this rating. At Hotwells House our students seem generally happy with
I
they are given, with this site scoring the best for keep the same in nearly every area. This reflects well
what
the speed in which Hotwells House sold out for the 2018/19 campaign. Lastly at Weston Court our
on
want better security on site with a score of 52% this by far was the highest.
students
the results of the survey we are hoping we can understand what our students want and how to
With
our sites better and use its strengths as pointed out by our residents. Add a little bit of body text
market

Market Review
04

accommodation is growing with the number of PBSA rising year on year. Liverpool is one of the
Student
overpopulated in terms of beds and is well above the UK average. Manchester and Newcastle are
most
on level with the UK average and Bristol falls under, this would explain why the demand for beds in this
both
is so high.
market
rates in the cities we are operating varies with Bristol showing the highest rent per bed per week at
Rental
This is expected due to its southern location. Liverpool has the lowest and is again expected due to
£154.
the sheer number of beds in the city prices are dropping for a more competitive nature.

are becoming a lot more price sensitive and this is high on their decision making criteria. Price
Students
rated highest by our students as a criteria when exploring term time accommodation options. This is
was
shown across the market with rooms priced highest in the studio and ensuite market saw less than a
also
rental growth whereas lower priced ensuites and shared facility rooms saw an average increase of
1%
numbers grown for the 2018/19 academic year. In comparison to the 2017 in take EU numbers
Student
risen 6%, however for the 2017 year there was a 9% decrease. NON EU students has again increased
have
academic reputation is important to our students, 68% of our students said this was a deciding
University
in choosing what University to attend, followed by 64% being course reputation. Therefore it is a
factor
John Moores University increased 16 places in the rankings, this will hopefully mean an
Liverpool
in international students, which may help increase our international numbers at our Cathedral
increase
3.7%.
rising by 4%, of those NON EU students China now equates 13.5% of this market.
positive that the cities we are operating in have seen an increase in rankings for its Universities;
Campus site.

Sales & Marketing
Strategy
05