Market Surveys That Make A Difference

Market surveys have a reputation for being tedious—but for community managers and regional managers, they’re one of the most important tools in your toolkit. They do more than gather rent comparisons; they give you the knowledge to speak with confidence about your market, defend your pricing, and tell the story of your community to leadership.

Your leadership team isn’t walking your comps. They’re relying on you to paint the picture. If you can’t explain why your competitor’s homes are renting faster, or why your occupancy is under pressure, decisions will get made without the full context. That’s why understanding your market—and being able to clearly communicate it—is a skill every manager should master.

Why Managers Must Know Their Market

Community managers and regionals are the boots on the ground. You see what prospects see and hear what residents talk about. That makes you the best source for understanding how your community stacks up.

• Credibility with leadership. When you can explain why your rents are set where they are, your recommendations carry weight.

• Confidence in pricing. Instead of “I think we’re too high,” you can say, “Our comps are $50 higher, but they’re offering X amenity—we’re winning on Y.”

• Sales edge. Knowing your comps arms your leasing team to address objections before a prospect even voices them.

The Act of Doing a Market Survey

A good market survey isn’t just about calling for a rent sheet. It’s about gathering the kind of details that can’t be captured on paper.

• Visit in person. Observe curb appeal, amenities, and the leasing experience.

• Secret shop. Pay attention to how staff interact with you—would you want to lease from them?

• Take detailed notes. Document everything from home quality to signage to resident culture.

• Repeat consistently. Markets shift quickly; one round of surveys isn’t enough.

The goal isn’t to collect data for the sake of it—it’s to collect insights you can communicate upward.

Using AI to Strengthen Your Story

The hardest part of market surveys is often turning observations into something usable for your leadership team. That’s where tools like ChatGPT come in:

• Turn notes into professional reports. Drop in your observations, and get back a polished, board-ready summary.

• Spot themes across multiple surveys. Instead of drowning in detail, AI can highlight patterns.

• Roleplay prospect decision-making. Ask ChatGPT to “think like” a renter choosing between your community and a competitor.

With AI, managers spend less time formatting reports and more time understanding the insights.

Why Storytelling Matters to Leadership

Your leadership team doesn’t just want numbers; they want context. The “so what” behind the data.

Instead of:

“Our rents are $25 lower than Competitor A.”

They need to hear:

“Our rents are $25 lower than Competitor A, but they just renovated their clubhouse and added a playground. Unless we plan to upgrade, we risk losing families. That said, we’re winning on location and service.”

That’s a story. And it’s one leadership can act on.

The Bottom Line

For community managers and regionals, market surveys are more than a task to check off. They’re your opportunity to show leadership that you understand your market, can defend your decisions, and can spot trends before they become problems.

When you combine the act of physically visiting competitors with the efficiency of AI-driven reporting, you position yourself not just as a manager—but as a strategist.

Because at the end of the day, leadership makes better decisions when you give them more than numbers. You give them a story.

Parish Consulting’s Edge

At Parish Consulting, we train teams to approach market surveys with confidence, sharpen their competitive storytelling, and use technology to save time in the process.

If you want your managers equipped to speak about their markets like experts, we’d love to help.