I currently live at The Courtyards which is known more for its proximity to campus and not so much for luxury. The apartments come furnished, but the provided furniture isn't the best in terms of both quality and cosmetics. The furniture is a little older and should probably be replaced. I saw this as a potential opportunity for The Courtyards. It's a problem that they should probably solve and, although it would be expensive to buy new furniture for all of its apartments, it would also be worth their while considering they could charge people a little more per month for that upgrade.
As a result, I asked five random residents at The Courtyards, none of which I know personally, what their thoughts were on the issue and if they would be willing to pay a little extra every month, assuming that they were provided new and better quality furniture. If so, how much extra? My phone was actually stolen two days ago so I do not have a camera to record the interviews with. Instead, I wrote down their responses below.
Interviewee #1: It doesn't really bother me much that the furniture is old, although it would certainly be nice if The Courtyards actually replaced the current furniture in our apartment.
Interviewee #2: The furniture in our apartment actually seems fairly new to me and I like it. But, to be fair, our apartment used to be the model apartment two years ago so we lucked out and I know that other apartments didn't get so lucky with their furniture.
Interviewee #3: I would LOVE new furniture! Ours is really old and crappy and has a bunch of stains all over. I've asked the leasing office for new furniture before, but they just told me that they can't guarantee anything and, of course, nothing ended up happening.
Interviewee #4: I don't spend much time in my apartment so I don't really mind it, but it looks nice when friends come over if the furniture looked decent. Other than that though, I don't really care too much.
Interviewee #5: This is my third year at The Courtyards and I've heard people complain about the furniture before and I agree with them. It isn't the best. I chose The Courtyards because of how close it is to campus, definitely not for the actual apartments. They need to upgrade.
I asked each one of them if they would be willing to pay a little bit extra per month for newer furniture and how much extra. All of them except interviewee #4 said yes with responses ranging from $15-30 more per month. Interviewee #2, who happened to have newer furniture specified that if he had older furniture, he would "certainly" pay a little more to have newer furniture, saying that it's important to them and how they apartment looks. Overall, this opportunity seems like one that would be worth while for the Courtyards to look into.
The interviews themselves went fine. I'm very comfortable speaking with people, even people like this who I do not know. This definitely made it easier to get my ideas across and made the questioning a little more clear and smooth.
As a result, I asked five random residents at The Courtyards, none of which I know personally, what their thoughts were on the issue and if they would be willing to pay a little extra every month, assuming that they were provided new and better quality furniture. If so, how much extra? My phone was actually stolen two days ago so I do not have a camera to record the interviews with. Instead, I wrote down their responses below.
Interviewee #1: It doesn't really bother me much that the furniture is old, although it would certainly be nice if The Courtyards actually replaced the current furniture in our apartment.
Interviewee #2: The furniture in our apartment actually seems fairly new to me and I like it. But, to be fair, our apartment used to be the model apartment two years ago so we lucked out and I know that other apartments didn't get so lucky with their furniture.
Interviewee #3: I would LOVE new furniture! Ours is really old and crappy and has a bunch of stains all over. I've asked the leasing office for new furniture before, but they just told me that they can't guarantee anything and, of course, nothing ended up happening.
Interviewee #4: I don't spend much time in my apartment so I don't really mind it, but it looks nice when friends come over if the furniture looked decent. Other than that though, I don't really care too much.
Interviewee #5: This is my third year at The Courtyards and I've heard people complain about the furniture before and I agree with them. It isn't the best. I chose The Courtyards because of how close it is to campus, definitely not for the actual apartments. They need to upgrade.
I asked each one of them if they would be willing to pay a little bit extra per month for newer furniture and how much extra. All of them except interviewee #4 said yes with responses ranging from $15-30 more per month. Interviewee #2, who happened to have newer furniture specified that if he had older furniture, he would "certainly" pay a little more to have newer furniture, saying that it's important to them and how they apartment looks. Overall, this opportunity seems like one that would be worth while for the Courtyards to look into.
The interviews themselves went fine. I'm very comfortable speaking with people, even people like this who I do not know. This definitely made it easier to get my ideas across and made the questioning a little more clear and smooth.
Hey Abraham, great idea you have here! I am sure many students would appreciate new furniture in where they can feel comfortable, after all students deserve it. I like where you are going with your opportunity, you saw a need of which you can relate too and interviewed other individuals who shared your same interest. Your post is very well written and you described both your opportunity and the interviews very well. Sorry to hear that your phone has been stolen, but you did a great job with the resources you had and described everything very well. Here is the link to my post, you are welcome to go check it out: http://susanamorales0129.blogspot.com/2016/01/customer-interviews-no1.html
ReplyDeleteSometimes you can find good deals on cragslist if you look hard enough. I liked the idea and the fact that you're actually gonna do something. I can't really relate though because I had to provide the furniture for my own apt. One quick suggestion with surveys is to acquire as much data as you can to present to management. Do a random sample (have you taken stats?) of the residents currently living there, making sure the sample size is large enough and is resemblant of the population. Then ask specific, unbiased questions such as, "are you satisfied or unsatisfied with the provided furniture in your apt?" "would you pay an additional monthly charge to have your furniture improved?" "If so, how much extra (then provide a couple different ranges of values for them to select)." Once you have this data, you can create a plan to send to the management company and will be much more persuasive in your argument. Good luck!
ReplyDeletehttp://prestonkirkpatrick.blogspot.com/2016/01/interviewing-customers.html
I know that in a college town like Gainesville a lot of students stress about/put a lot of thought into choosing a place to live. I like that the opportunity you addressed was the living conditions at the Courtyards here in Gainesville. Personally, I have a lot of friends who live in/have lived in the Courtyards and they would love new furniture and would also be willing to pay more for said furniture.
ReplyDelete