July 2, 2024 • 28 mins
In this episode of the Multifamily Innovation® Podcast, host Patrick Antrim sits down with Lynn Musil, CEO and Co-Founder of Pay Ready. Lynn shares his journey in the multifamily industry and the innovative solutions his company provides for managing post-move-out rent collections. The conversation delves into the origins of Pay Ready, highlighting the gaps it addresses in the multifamily industry, particularly in handling the move-out process.
Lynn provides an in-depth look at Pay Ready’s platform, discussing its features like automated outreach, flexible payment plans, and integrations with other systems to ensure seamless ledger reconciliation.
Lynn emphasizes how Pay Ready improves the experience for both property managers and former residents by making the rent collection process more efficient and less confrontational. He introduces innovative payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay and explains how the company uses a CRM approach to manage accounts receivable. Lynn underscores the importance of a customer-friendly communication strategy to preserve positive relationships even after residents move out.
The discussion also touches on the culture at Pay Ready, with Lynn sharing insights into building a strong, cohesive team and maintaining a flat organizational structure. He outlines his vision for the future of Pay Ready, including potential expansions and the careful balance of maintaining focus while exploring new product opportunities.
Lynn's approach to involving clients actively in the development process ensures that Pay Ready continues to meet the evolving needs of the multifamily industry.
Subscribe to the Multifamily Innovation® Podcast for more industry insights and updates. #multifamilyinnovation #rentcollection #propertymanagement #multifamilytechnology #PayReady
About the Multifamily Innovation® Council:
The Multifamily Innovation® Council is the executive level membership organization that makes a difference in your bottom line, drives a better experience for your employees, and allows you an experience that keeps demand strong for your company. The council is uniquely positioned to focus on the intersection of Leadership, Technology, AI, and Innovation.
The Multifamily Innovation® Council is for Multifamily Business leaders who want to unlock value inside their organization so they can create better experiences and drive profitability inside their company.
To learn more or to join, visit https://multifamilyinnovation.com.
For more information and to engage with leaders shaping the future of multifamily innovation, visit https://multifamilyinnovation.com/.
Connect:
Multifamily Innovation® Council: https://multifamilyinnovation.com/
Patrick Antrim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickantrim/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome back to another episode of the
Multifamily Innovation Podcast.
You know I've got a greatinterview for you.
We've got the CEO and founderof PayReady and a remarkable
human being who's built anorganization from the ground up
and has put together a reallygreat team to think through what
(00:22):
the customer needs in terms ofhow we collect and receive rent
after somebody moves out.
So you're looking at that wholesort of accounts receivable
system and process, fromcommunications to integrations
to collection agencies all ofthe platforms so you can make
(00:43):
payments frictionless and easyfor the customer.
All of that matters to yourability to keep money into the
business after somebody leaves.
Some really compelling thingsabout what he explored in terms
of the first 90 days aftersomebody moves out their
strategy and how to capture thatincome and then seamlessly
integrate that into otherapplications in the business,
(01:07):
seamlessly integrate that intoother applications in the
business and so manyrelationships that come together
with what they've put togetherin terms of creating value for
multifamily owners.
But most compelling is whatthey're doing to gap the
communication that we all knowis hard to get from multifamily
owners and operators because wehave turnover at our properties
and people really aren't trainedfor this and in so many ways
there's.
You know Lynn mentioned in theinterview so many ways.
(01:30):
It's difficult to navigatethese conversations, but when
you put a system and a processin place with technology, you
get to the answer faster.
You get to the money faster.
So with that, I hope you enjoythis interview.
Have a listen with Lynn.
So, lynn, welcome in.
I just want to get to know youa little bit more about what
(01:53):
you're working on with PayReady.
I know you're doing someinteresting things, so talk to
us a little bit about whatyou're working on.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, great to meet you and be here.
Yeah, great to meet you and behere.
Things like that are really thefocus right now, and some
product expansion as well.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean, you're speaking my language.
I think companies are lookingfor ways to become more
profitable, more efficient inhow they go about getting to
their yields.
Let's step back a little bitand tell me a little bit more
about you and what you'reworking on.
You have a great background,obviously, in multifamily and
technology, building teams,culture, enterprise, value.
(03:00):
Give me a sense of where thisall originated.
Where did you get the idea forthis?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
sure, yeah, um, yeah, I've been.
I've been in multi-familiessince the late 90s, I guess it
is um.
Primarily.
My background had been in umresident screening and then um
lease automation online leaseautomation with a company called
Onsite several years ago.
But the idea of pay ready wasreally born from that background
(03:31):
where in the screening worldyou're looking at trying to
determine who's going to performwell in the rent and prevent
bad outcomes and that kind ofthing.
But there really hadn't been asolution to help handle the
move-out process in terms ofresident communication,
(03:54):
follow-up, payment processing,all of those things that go with
that.
Traditionally, what we saw whenI decided to start PayReady was
that most of the software isreally unit-centric.
It's unit-based and there's amove out.
You're trying to make ready andget the system cleaned out and
(04:16):
oftentimes even small balances,ledger reconciliation was
happening kind of off the booksand it wasn't a system to sort
of track everything.
Outreach to the resident a lotof times is manual, by leasing
staff at that point and theneven further down the road,
eventually there's this gap incommunication where you know
(04:39):
there could be a lot of positiveoutreach to the resident but
there's gaps in communicationthat were happening, and then
some of them would end up in acollection state and that would
be frustrating for the residentand untrackable for the operator
as well.
So that was the gap that we sawwhen we first started PayReady.
(05:00):
It really just started as a CRMplatform for a couple of
clients', internal accounts,receivable teams, just as a
system of record to keep trackof things.
And then they asked us to buildin a payment portal and then it
just built from there.
There's layers that were builtfrom there, but it was all
started as a bootstrap startup,just partnering with some
(05:25):
clients and seeing if we couldbuild something.
So it's been a really funadventure.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, that's impressive, and tell me a little
bit more.
Can you take me through more ofthe product, the service, what
customers experience whenthey're on the platform you
mentioned?
I love how you said that sortof like an accounts payable or
receivable.
I should say right, crm, right,and then pairing that with
payments.
This has been a challenge.
(05:51):
So take me through the actualproduct.
Anything you want to sharethere?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah.
So I mean the way it workstoday.
With the maturity that we're atwith the product as of now,
it's really a turnkey process.
So once a resident moves out,the move out statements created.
All of that information is thenpopulated into the pay ready
platform.
There's ledger reconciliationthat happens there.
(06:18):
There's integrations withdeposit alternatives and those
types of things to make surethat we get the ledger cleaned
up and correct If there's anoutstanding balance.
There's automated outreach thatstarts to the resident.
So there's emails and textmessages in some cases voice
outreach to just remind themthat they still have a balance
due and give them an easy way topay.
(06:39):
We've worked really hard to havea lot of flexibility and
payment types and payment plansand there's a lot of structure
in the background behind that.
We just recently released ApplePay, google Pay, for example,
and then there's what we callthe first party process, so that
(06:59):
first 90 days is a verycustomer-friendly, brand-centric
communication style, bothautomated and through call
center outreach to help clearbalances.
And then, if there's still abalance due 90 days later, there
are around a dozen approvedcollection agencies that we've
(07:22):
certified to live in ourplatform that we assign those
accounts to, that all operatewithin the parameters that the
operators have agreed to and allpayments are still made through
the platform.
So the operator gets to havecomplete visibility into
everything that's been collected.
The finances are reconciled ona monthly basis.
(07:44):
The finances are reconciled ona monthly basis.
There's no questions.
There's about you know what'sbeen received and what hasn't,
what the charges have been andthat sort of thing, and it all
gets updated real time in theplatform for the operator.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, in those
first 90 days our well, becausenow they're in another ecosystem
, another communication channeland I love how you said that.
(08:24):
Where so this integration orthis facilitation of that sort
of tougher collection processafter the 90 days still happens
on the platform?
Did I hear that right?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
That's correct.
Yeah, and yeah, it's really.
It's great for the operatorsbecause they don't have to.
You know there's a test agencyagainst one another, which would
typically happen.
Right, If you're looking atperformance and that sort of
thing, because we're doing thaton their behalf and from an
agency standpoint, you knowyou're getting all the data and
(08:57):
all the documentation that youneed to perform well, so
everybody gets to focus on whatthey do best.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And in those first 90 days you had mentioned
something around brand and itsounded like you've been in
conversations and you want tostill know, at the end of the
day, that property has arelationship with a customer and
you're extending that in thatprocess, in terms of the
(09:23):
platform, to where the main goalis to collect the rent but at
the same time, is to protectrisk as well.
I imagine in that communication, what are you hearing inside of
your sort of sales calls orwith your current customers
about that experience?
Is that something theycustomize or they have control
over?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yes, they do.
So I mean there'srecommendations that we can make
, obviously, but they completelycustomize the templated
outreach, the payment plan,delivery, scripting, messaging,
all those kinds of things arecompletely controlled by the
operator.
Ultimately, scripting,messaging, all those kinds of
things are completely controlledby the operator.
(10:06):
Ultimately and again like toyour point, not only brand
friendly but the insurer'scompliance.
You know you don't have, you'renot relying on leasing staff
that's maybe untrained on whatthey're allowed to say and not
say and those kinds of things.
But also, you know, in the pastit was the last, really the
last communication that aleasing staff generally wants to
have the uncomfortable move outmoney owed conversations and
(10:28):
that's why it would just sort ofsit in limbo until maybe a
collection agency finds it.
And from a brand perspective,you've put all this work into
resident relationship and itleaves a big opening to put a
bad taste in their mouth rightat the tail end, and you could
see that in reviews, and sowe've gotten a lot of really
(10:51):
positive feedback on that frontas well.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, I would imagine most people that are in that
situation where they have thatbalance.
I would assume that they wouldwant this to be resolved.
They may not have the abilityto resolve it and I'm curious to
you, from an innovationstandpoint, that providing this
type of platform and this sortof integrated process, even post
(11:15):
90 days, is in a sort of I'lljust say in a psychological way
a better way to approachcollections than the
confrontation of a call thatgets avoided or a letter that we
don't open, or a notice thatdoesn't get seen on a door.
All these things Like doesproviding the things that you've
(11:37):
done, like the Apple Pay.
You mentioned the differentways to facilitate payment plans
, those types of things.
That's obviously in thestrategy.
How is that playing out for youguys?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, it's playing out really well.
I mean, to your point, we'realso, I think, living in a
culture where people prefer tointeract with technology in a
lot of cases.
Where people prefer to interactwith technology in a lot of
cases, Maybe they're tooembarrassed or frustrated to
have certain kinds ofconversations or calls and that
kind of thing.
So having a system that's ableto help navigate that certainly
(12:13):
is an increased overall recoverywithout having that sort of
friction that's created in thosekinds of conversations.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You're right about that.
I mean, it's so interestingbecause people are very prideful
about things.
You end up with the story yeah,I'll pay tomorrow, and it's
like they just want you off thephone.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, you have to even answer the phone, right?
Who answers phone calls thesedays?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And you mentioned voice and text and all these
different things.
So you're coming at them withwhatever, whatever's going to
give the property the ability tohave that system.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
That's correct, yep.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
That's great.
So what are people saying, Likewhat are you hearing from
customers?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I mean, what I'm hearing from customers is they
love the idea that they neverhave to really think about this
again.
You know there's a holisticapproach, that they're not
having to do individual testingand rethink integrations.
You do one integration.
There's several different waysto test, there's complete
transparency, the communicationtools with the residents our
(13:20):
clients really like as well, andyou know, integrations like
posting back into the softwareand making all that seamless has
been great too, so thefeedback's been really positive.
We've grown a lot over theseven years.
We've got about three millionunits on board and we're still
(13:40):
growing.
So, yeah, the feedback has beengreat.
Of course, everyone's askingabout you know what do we do
next as far as you know, aiintegration and further.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You know, say, account scoring and things like
that prioritization, and there'sa lot of that happening in the
background as well.
Yeah, that's interesting and itsounds like a true partnership,
where it's never done.
We always keep making thingsbetter.
What would you say?
So there are other providersthat do similar things, or even
(14:14):
you mentioned collectionagencies.
There's a lot of people thatare trying to tackle this
problem.
How would you position yourcompany as different from all
the rest?
What are you walking in andmaking that as a statement?
How are you positioningyourself as unique in the
marketplace?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, I think.
I mean we really value ourcollection agency relationships,
so we work closely with themand collaborate on, you know,
the best job we can do to getthem the best information
possible so that they canperform well.
So that's a very collaborativerelationship there.
As far as other collectionagencies you know there's some
(14:55):
great agencies out there I thinkwhat we offer is just the
flexibility to rotate betweenagencies.
Even, you know, agencies havestaffing issues.
Sometimes, if they get a bignew account, there's an influx
of files.
Being able to distribute thatin a way that makes sense is
really helpful there.
(15:16):
More recently, there are youknow, there's several, I think
AI solutions that are reallymostly AI-based around
communication and maybe somepayment solutions and things
like that data actual realinformation that we're tapping
(15:44):
into to feed those types ofsolutions, as well as a platform
that's able to facilitate humaninteraction.
So a lot of times there'shybrid solutions that need to
happen.
You know there might beescalations that need to go to a
human being, whether that'soutsourced or an internal call
center of some sort.
There might be disputes thatneed to be handled.
There's you know's outboundcalls still that are happening,
and all that integrated into oneplatform and one continuous
(16:09):
communication thread for theresidents.
So it all feels like there'scontinuity certainly gives us an
advantage, but, like you said,we partner very closely with
their clients and kind of takethe path of least resistance and
let them tell us what to buildon to next.
So that's really where thingsare today.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, no, that was really well said and I like you
going back to that system,having the whole process end to
end in how you approach that.
I like that thinking You'vemade some really great hires
recently.
Even so, tell me a little bitabout your team.
I mean, you value culture.
I'm sure, as a founder and CEO,like this matters to how you
build the company.
(16:50):
Tell me a little bit about theteam.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yeah, well, the team is great, I mean the core team
that we all started with.
It's kind of like family.
We had worked together, most ofus at a couple different spots,
and really go through wars withyour compadres.
You bond, you know.
(17:22):
It's a family atmosphere andI'm really lucky to have a core
group of people that has beenthrough a lot of stuff but has
the same outlook on everything,which is just liking to solve
puzzles, enjoying challenges.
You know, when we facedifficulties or struggles, our
reaction is kind of excited toto overcome it, and so that was,
(17:49):
that was really one of the mainreasons for starting the
business is just because we, youknow, we, our company had been
sold.
We want to keep a lot of ourgroup together and then over
time, as we've added, you knowwe had you try to add people
that are a good culture fit, butbring a lot of different skills
and backgrounds to the table soyou can get those layers in.
And I feel really fortunatethat the last couple of years
(18:11):
we've added some amazingteammates that add a lot of
different, you know, backgroundviewpoints but still maintain
the culture of.
You know, leave your ego at thedoor.
The best idea wins.
Let's prioritize the mainthings first, work really hard
to overcome the problems, reactto challenges in a positive way
(18:35):
and be, you know, supersupportive of each other.
Everyone in the company isstill.
We've got a pretty flatorganization.
Everyone's got the opportunityto reach outside of their job
description and it's necessaryto smaller company and not have
anyone feel like their toes arebeing stepped on.
(18:56):
So there's a lot of leeway withall of that.
So it's, you know, it's a veryfun, fast paced, positive,
optimistic environment.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, it's great to hear I know that, tackling those
challenges at times you need tohave that in place.
You mentioned a little bit ofan outlook.
Have you thought through whatthat vision looks like going
forward?
And some you may be able toshare, maybe others not.
But it's also challengingsometimes to think too far
(19:26):
forward.
But what's next, I guess?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, well, the first things.
First is we're really focusedon even executing better on what
we do today.
We're really analyzing the debtthat we've accumulated in the
system and better ways to handlethat, ways to rotate accounts
using statistics and algorithms.
Debt buying is something wehave our eye on as well, getting
(19:54):
creative in that space.
As far as product expansion,we're certainly going to be
expanding the product, moving alittle bit upstream into the
resident life cycle, things thatare involved in the move out
process, so things like,potentially, eviction management
.
We've had clients ask us tohelp with communication with
(20:16):
late paying residents, forexample, before we move out,
using the platform for that, andso we're focused on doing what
we do best but expanding theproduct where it makes sense,
but being careful not tooverreach because in my
experience, when you expand intotoo many product sets, it
(20:37):
becomes unwieldy to support andthe experience starts to fail.
So a careful balance betweenall of that.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Right, right, do too many things and get tricky.
So did I read this correctly.
But you enjoy ranching, is thataccurate?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, I grew up in Colorado on a small ranch and I
recently moved to Las Vegas andkind of accidentally stumbled
into a small horse ranch here,so it's become a hobby for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Well, I'm interested in knowing what we can learn
from ranching that could beapplied to multifamily, because
a lot of these properties end upbeing named ranch this or
hunter this and and rain.
You know, like there there's a.
There's something special aboutthe mindset of the investor in
terms of building andmaintaining assets in America,
(21:33):
and I'm curious what you thinkabout ranching and how it
applies to even business.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
No, I mean, yeah, it is a little bit of a business,
it's actually a little bit of aboarding facility, but I would
go back to the same thing.
It's like there's always goingto be unexpected issues and
challenges and it's about havingthe right team and network to
help support that.
So, for example, with the ranch, it's been really helpful that
(21:58):
I've gotten some great neighborsand some people that understand
you know where the resourcesare here and because there's
always going to be things thatgo wrong and you know challenges
to overcome.
So a lot of it, a lot of it,has to do with just having the
right team and the rightconnections and building trust.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, that's important and that takes time.
And, and in terms of buildingtrust, uh, it sounds like you're
doing that with your customers.
Uh, as you've built the companyalong with them, it sounds like
to me, um, what, when, whenthere's so much opportunity at
coming at us?
Um, I'm curious to to know, asa leader, how you say no to
(22:37):
things.
To stay focused, because youmentioned that a couple of times
.
Our vision is to focus on whatwe've got now, what we're going
to do, make better and reallyunderstand the needs of the
customer.
So how do you do that?
Because that takes discipline.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, and we don't always say no.
My background is in sales, sosometimes you get a little
excited and say yes before youshould.
But the habit of the disciplinehas really been born out of
deep client interactions.
We have a client advisorycommittee that we engage with
regularly, and that's beenreally helpful because you know
(23:16):
you start to get ideas and startto build things in a vacuum and
then you get with a focus groupand they say, well, that
doesn't even make sense.
But this other thing makes waymore sense, you know.
So that active engagement withour clients really pushing us to
move into maybe an adjacentarea, it's really collaborating
(23:39):
with them and testing andworking with them on an agile
basis to incrementally start tobuild things out and see
together where it's going tolead us.
And the whole key to me is justdon't build anything in a
vacuum.
Our philosophy is we're notgoing to just go to the lab and
put tons of time and energy intobuilding something without a
(24:02):
really active involvement fromclients and clients that you
know are at least representativeof um, a diverse set of what
clients might look like yeah,yeah, it's interesting, um, in
terms of perspective, like, whodo you want to spend time with?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And, I guess, who's buying this?
Is it the CEOs?
Is it the regional managers,the operators?
Like, who's integrating thisinto the companies as you're
seeing these 3 million plusunits play out?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, it's been interesting.
I mean all of the into thecompanies as you're seeing these
3 million plus units play out.
Yeah, it's been interesting.
I mean all of the above, aswith a lot of things.
But because we are acentralized platform and really
simple to implement compared tomost things, because we're not
asking to interact a lot withthe leasing staff it's typically
driven by, you know, a leaderin operations Often finance will
(25:02):
get involved, you know,depending on company size.
And then we've also found thatwith this particular solution, a
lot more attention fromownership groups driving
decisions, as they just, youknow, they're paying more and
more attention to the financialsand particularly outstanding
debt and things like that aremore important ownership groups.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, they're looking to keep the money, I guess.
Right, it's one thing togenerate marketing, get people
moved in, all the expense tomaintain the lease relationship,
but it can get tricky when thatmoney leaves and doesn't get
collected on the exit.
Well, are there any questions?
I should be asking that Ihaven't asked about what you're
(25:49):
working on.
You know I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I mean it's been a fun stage for us as we've grown.
So I mean it's been a fun stagefor us as we've grown really
organically over this time.
You asked what I like to payattention to.
I've gotten such a strong teamsurrounding me over the last
couple of years.
I'm really excited to focusmore on customer engagement
(26:16):
myself.
Customer conversation that'swhere my heart is is spending
time with clients and figuringout what we can build for them,
and we have a long-term view onall this.
We're wanting to stay in thisfor a long time, so that's been
really fun.
This year.
I've got to spend a lot moretime back with customers instead
of a lot of the internal sortof administrative stuff that
comes with running a business.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, no, that's exciting.
I love that.
I love that you're still inthere and you're spending time
with those customers.
I imagine it helps in.
You mentioned Agile and how youbuild and design the product as
well.
That's useful.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
What's the best way for people to get in touch with
you?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well, my email is Lynn at LYNN at PayReady, so
that's the easiest way.
And then PayReadycom is ourwebsite to set up demos and get
an overview and those sorts ofthings.
We have an active LinkedInfollowing as well on our
LinkedIn page.
It has a lot of updates theretoo, so those are the best ways
(27:19):
to keep in touch.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Amazing.
All right, and we'll put allthat information in the show
notes for those that are tuningin Until then.
It's been great sharing thetime.
I had an opportunity to learn alittle bit more about some of
the things you're working on,the team that you've built, and
sort of a little bit about yourvision around how you've built
and sort of a little bit aboutyour vision around how you
design, product and help tacklewhat I believe to be a very
(27:41):
important financial system thatneeds to be in place to capture
that revenue that we all are sodesperately trying to keep
within the organization.
So I appreciate you coming onand we'll be tracking all your
success and we'll see you in thenext one.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Great.
Thank you so much, reallyappreciate it.
Take care.
All right, welcome back to another episode of the
Multifamily Innovation Podcast.
You know I've got a greatinterview for you.
We've got the CEO and founderof PayReady and a remarkable
human being who's built anorganization from the ground up
and has put together a reallygreat team to think through what
(00:22):
the customer needs in terms ofhow we collect and receive rent
after somebody moves out.
So you're looking at that wholesort of accounts receivable
system and process, fromcommunications to integrations
to collection agencies all ofthe platforms so you can make
(00:43):
payments frictionless and easyfor the customer.
All of that matters to yourability to keep money into the
business after somebody leaves.
Some really compelling thingsabout what he explored in terms
of the first 90 days aftersomebody moves out their
strategy and how to capture thatincome and then seamlessly
integrate that into otherapplications in the business,
(01:07):
seamlessly integrate that intoother applications in the
business and so manyrelationships that come together
with what they've put togetherin terms of creating value for
multifamily owners.
But most compelling is whatthey're doing to gap the
communication that we all knowis hard to get from multifamily
owners and operators because wehave turnover at our properties
and people really aren't trainedfor this and in so many ways
there's.
You know Lynn mentioned in theinterview so many ways.
(01:30):
It's difficult to navigatethese conversations, but when
you put a system and a processin place with technology, you
get to the answer faster.
You get to the money faster.
So with that, I hope you enjoythis interview.
Have a listen with Lynn.
So, lynn, welcome in.
I just want to get to know youa little bit more about what
(01:53):
you're working on with PayReady.
I know you're doing someinteresting things, so talk to
us a little bit about whatyou're working on.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, great to meet you and be here.
Yeah, great to meet you and behere.
Things like that are really thefocus right now, and some
product expansion as well.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean, you're speaking my language.
I think companies are lookingfor ways to become more
profitable, more efficient inhow they go about getting to
their yields.
Let's step back a little bitand tell me a little bit more
about you and what you'reworking on.
You have a great background,obviously, in multifamily and
technology, building teams,culture, enterprise, value.
(03:00):
Give me a sense of where thisall originated.
Where did you get the idea forthis?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
sure, yeah, um, yeah, I've been.
I've been in multi-familiessince the late 90s, I guess it
is um.
Primarily.
My background had been in umresident screening and then um
lease automation online leaseautomation with a company called
Onsite several years ago.
But the idea of pay ready wasreally born from that background
(03:31):
where in the screening worldyou're looking at trying to
determine who's going to performwell in the rent and prevent
bad outcomes and that kind ofthing.
But there really hadn't been asolution to help handle the
move-out process in terms ofresident communication,
(03:54):
follow-up, payment processing,all of those things that go with
that.
Traditionally, what we saw whenI decided to start PayReady was
that most of the software isreally unit-centric.
It's unit-based and there's amove out.
You're trying to make ready andget the system cleaned out and
(04:16):
oftentimes even small balances,ledger reconciliation was
happening kind of off the booksand it wasn't a system to sort
of track everything.
Outreach to the resident a lotof times is manual, by leasing
staff at that point and theneven further down the road,
eventually there's this gap incommunication where you know
(04:39):
there could be a lot of positiveoutreach to the resident but
there's gaps in communicationthat were happening, and then
some of them would end up in acollection state and that would
be frustrating for the residentand untrackable for the operator
as well.
So that was the gap that we sawwhen we first started PayReady.
(05:00):
It really just started as a CRMplatform for a couple of
clients', internal accounts,receivable teams, just as a
system of record to keep trackof things.
And then they asked us to buildin a payment portal and then it
just built from there.
There's layers that were builtfrom there, but it was all
started as a bootstrap startup,just partnering with some
(05:25):
clients and seeing if we couldbuild something.
So it's been a really funadventure.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, that's impressive, and tell me a little
bit more.
Can you take me through more ofthe product, the service, what
customers experience whenthey're on the platform you
mentioned?
I love how you said that sortof like an accounts payable or
receivable.
I should say right, crm, right,and then pairing that with
payments.
This has been a challenge.
(05:51):
So take me through the actualproduct.
Anything you want to sharethere?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah.
So I mean the way it workstoday.
With the maturity that we're atwith the product as of now,
it's really a turnkey process.
So once a resident moves out,the move out statements created.
All of that information is thenpopulated into the pay ready
platform.
There's ledger reconciliationthat happens there.
(06:18):
There's integrations withdeposit alternatives and those
types of things to make surethat we get the ledger cleaned
up and correct If there's anoutstanding balance.
There's automated outreach thatstarts to the resident.
So there's emails and textmessages in some cases voice
outreach to just remind themthat they still have a balance
due and give them an easy way topay.
(06:39):
We've worked really hard to havea lot of flexibility and
payment types and payment plansand there's a lot of structure
in the background behind that.
We just recently released ApplePay, google Pay, for example,
and then there's what we callthe first party process, so that
(06:59):
first 90 days is a verycustomer-friendly, brand-centric
communication style, bothautomated and through call
center outreach to help clearbalances.
And then, if there's still abalance due 90 days later, there
are around a dozen approvedcollection agencies that we've
(07:22):
certified to live in ourplatform that we assign those
accounts to, that all operatewithin the parameters that the
operators have agreed to and allpayments are still made through
the platform.
So the operator gets to havecomplete visibility into
everything that's been collected.
The finances are reconciled ona monthly basis.
(07:44):
The finances are reconciled ona monthly basis.
There's no questions.
There's about you know what'sbeen received and what hasn't,
what the charges have been andthat sort of thing, and it all
gets updated real time in theplatform for the operator.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, in those
first 90 days our well, becausenow they're in another ecosystem
, another communication channeland I love how you said that.
(08:24):
Where so this integration orthis facilitation of that sort
of tougher collection processafter the 90 days still happens
on the platform?
Did I hear that right?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
That's correct.
Yeah, and yeah, it's really.
It's great for the operatorsbecause they don't have to.
You know there's a test agencyagainst one another, which would
typically happen.
Right, If you're looking atperformance and that sort of
thing, because we're doing thaton their behalf and from an
agency standpoint, you knowyou're getting all the data and
(08:57):
all the documentation that youneed to perform well, so
everybody gets to focus on whatthey do best.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
And in those first 90 days you had mentioned
something around brand and itsounded like you've been in
conversations and you want tostill know, at the end of the
day, that property has arelationship with a customer and
you're extending that in thatprocess, in terms of the
(09:23):
platform, to where the main goalis to collect the rent but at
the same time, is to protectrisk as well.
I imagine in that communication, what are you hearing inside of
your sort of sales calls orwith your current customers
about that experience?
Is that something theycustomize or they have control
over?
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yes, they do.
So I mean there'srecommendations that we can make
, obviously, but they completelycustomize the templated
outreach, the payment plan,delivery, scripting, messaging,
all those kinds of things arecompletely controlled by the
operator.
Ultimately, scripting,messaging, all those kinds of
things are completely controlledby the operator.
(10:06):
Ultimately and again like toyour point, not only brand
friendly but the insurer'scompliance.
You know you don't have, you'renot relying on leasing staff
that's maybe untrained on whatthey're allowed to say and not
say and those kinds of things.
But also, you know, in the pastit was the last, really the
last communication that aleasing staff generally wants to
have the uncomfortable move outmoney owed conversations and
(10:28):
that's why it would just sort ofsit in limbo until maybe a
collection agency finds it.
And from a brand perspective,you've put all this work into
resident relationship and itleaves a big opening to put a
bad taste in their mouth rightat the tail end, and you could
see that in reviews, and sowe've gotten a lot of really
(10:51):
positive feedback on that frontas well.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, I would imagine most people that are in that
situation where they have thatbalance.
I would assume that they wouldwant this to be resolved.
They may not have the abilityto resolve it and I'm curious to
you, from an innovationstandpoint, that providing this
type of platform and this sortof integrated process, even post
(11:15):
90 days, is in a sort of I'lljust say in a psychological way
a better way to approachcollections than the
confrontation of a call thatgets avoided or a letter that we
don't open, or a notice thatdoesn't get seen on a door.
All these things Like doesproviding the things that you've
(11:37):
done, like the Apple Pay.
You mentioned the differentways to facilitate payment plans
, those types of things.
That's obviously in thestrategy.
How is that playing out for youguys?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, it's playing out really well.
I mean, to your point, we'realso, I think, living in a
culture where people prefer tointeract with technology in a
lot of cases.
Where people prefer to interactwith technology in a lot of
cases, Maybe they're tooembarrassed or frustrated to
have certain kinds ofconversations or calls and that
kind of thing.
So having a system that's ableto help navigate that certainly
(12:13):
is an increased overall recoverywithout having that sort of
friction that's created in thosekinds of conversations.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You're right about that.
I mean, it's so interestingbecause people are very prideful
about things.
You end up with the story yeah,I'll pay tomorrow, and it's
like they just want you off thephone.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, you have to even answer the phone, right?
Who answers phone calls thesedays?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
And you mentioned voice and text and all these
different things.
So you're coming at them withwhatever, whatever's going to
give the property the ability tohave that system.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
That's correct, yep.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
That's great.
So what are people saying, Likewhat are you hearing from
customers?
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I mean, what I'm hearing from customers is they
love the idea that they neverhave to really think about this
again.
You know there's a holisticapproach, that they're not
having to do individual testingand rethink integrations.
You do one integration.
There's several different waysto test, there's complete
transparency, the communicationtools with the residents our
(13:20):
clients really like as well, andyou know, integrations like
posting back into the softwareand making all that seamless has
been great too, so thefeedback's been really positive.
We've grown a lot over theseven years.
We've got about three millionunits on board and we're still
(13:40):
growing.
So, yeah, the feedback has beengreat.
Of course, everyone's askingabout you know what do we do
next as far as you know, aiintegration and further.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You know, say, account scoring and things like
that prioritization, and there'sa lot of that happening in the
background as well.
Yeah, that's interesting and itsounds like a true partnership,
where it's never done.
We always keep making thingsbetter.
What would you say?
So there are other providersthat do similar things, or even
(14:14):
you mentioned collectionagencies.
There's a lot of people thatare trying to tackle this
problem.
How would you position yourcompany as different from all
the rest?
What are you walking in andmaking that as a statement?
How are you positioningyourself as unique in the
marketplace?
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, I think.
I mean we really value ourcollection agency relationships,
so we work closely with themand collaborate on, you know,
the best job we can do to getthem the best information
possible so that they canperform well.
So that's a very collaborativerelationship there.
As far as other collectionagencies you know there's some
(14:55):
great agencies out there I thinkwhat we offer is just the
flexibility to rotate betweenagencies.
Even, you know, agencies havestaffing issues.
Sometimes, if they get a bignew account, there's an influx
of files.
Being able to distribute thatin a way that makes sense is
really helpful there.
(15:16):
More recently, there are youknow, there's several, I think
AI solutions that are reallymostly AI-based around
communication and maybe somepayment solutions and things
like that data actual realinformation that we're tapping
(15:44):
into to feed those types ofsolutions, as well as a platform
that's able to facilitate humaninteraction.
So a lot of times there'shybrid solutions that need to
happen.
You know there might beescalations that need to go to a
human being, whether that'soutsourced or an internal call
center of some sort.
There might be disputes thatneed to be handled.
There's you know's outboundcalls still that are happening,
and all that integrated into oneplatform and one continuous
(16:09):
communication thread for theresidents.
So it all feels like there'scontinuity certainly gives us an
advantage, but, like you said,we partner very closely with
their clients and kind of takethe path of least resistance and
let them tell us what to buildon to next.
So that's really where thingsare today.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah, no, that was really well said and I like you
going back to that system,having the whole process end to
end in how you approach that.
I like that thinking You'vemade some really great hires
recently.
Even so, tell me a little bitabout your team.
I mean, you value culture.
I'm sure, as a founder and CEO,like this matters to how you
build the company.
(16:50):
Tell me a little bit about theteam.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yeah, well, the team is great, I mean the core team
that we all started with.
It's kind of like family.
We had worked together, most ofus at a couple different spots,
and really go through wars withyour compadres.
You bond, you know.
(17:22):
It's a family atmosphere andI'm really lucky to have a core
group of people that has beenthrough a lot of stuff but has
the same outlook on everything,which is just liking to solve
puzzles, enjoying challenges.
You know, when we facedifficulties or struggles, our
reaction is kind of excited toto overcome it, and so that was,
(17:49):
that was really one of the mainreasons for starting the
business is just because we, youknow, we, our company had been
sold.
We want to keep a lot of ourgroup together and then over
time, as we've added, you knowwe had you try to add people
that are a good culture fit, butbring a lot of different skills
and backgrounds to the table soyou can get those layers in.
And I feel really fortunatethat the last couple of years
(18:11):
we've added some amazingteammates that add a lot of
different, you know, backgroundviewpoints but still maintain
the culture of.
You know, leave your ego at thedoor.
The best idea wins.
Let's prioritize the mainthings first, work really hard
to overcome the problems, reactto challenges in a positive way
(18:35):
and be, you know, supersupportive of each other.
Everyone in the company isstill.
We've got a pretty flatorganization.
Everyone's got the opportunityto reach outside of their job
description and it's necessaryto smaller company and not have
anyone feel like their toes arebeing stepped on.
(18:56):
So there's a lot of leeway withall of that.
So it's, you know, it's a veryfun, fast paced, positive,
optimistic environment.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, it's great to hear I know that, tackling those
challenges at times you need tohave that in place.
You mentioned a little bit ofan outlook.
Have you thought through whatthat vision looks like going
forward?
And some you may be able toshare, maybe others not.
But it's also challengingsometimes to think too far
(19:26):
forward.
But what's next, I guess?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, well, the first things.
First is we're really focusedon even executing better on what
we do today.
We're really analyzing the debtthat we've accumulated in the
system and better ways to handlethat, ways to rotate accounts
using statistics and algorithms.
Debt buying is something wehave our eye on as well, getting
(19:54):
creative in that space.
As far as product expansion,we're certainly going to be
expanding the product, moving alittle bit upstream into the
resident life cycle, things thatare involved in the move out
process, so things like,potentially, eviction management
.
We've had clients ask us tohelp with communication with
(20:16):
late paying residents, forexample, before we move out,
using the platform for that, andso we're focused on doing what
we do best but expanding theproduct where it makes sense,
but being careful not tooverreach because in my
experience, when you expand intotoo many product sets, it
(20:37):
becomes unwieldy to support andthe experience starts to fail.
So a careful balance betweenall of that.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Right, right, do too many things and get tricky.
So did I read this correctly.
But you enjoy ranching, is thataccurate?
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, I grew up in Colorado on a small ranch and I
recently moved to Las Vegas andkind of accidentally stumbled
into a small horse ranch here,so it's become a hobby for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Well, I'm interested in knowing what we can learn
from ranching that could beapplied to multifamily, because
a lot of these properties end upbeing named ranch this or
hunter this and and rain.
You know, like there there's a.
There's something special aboutthe mindset of the investor in
terms of building andmaintaining assets in America,
(21:33):
and I'm curious what you thinkabout ranching and how it
applies to even business.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
No, I mean, yeah, it is a little bit of a business,
it's actually a little bit of aboarding facility, but I would
go back to the same thing.
It's like there's always goingto be unexpected issues and
challenges and it's about havingthe right team and network to
help support that.
So, for example, with the ranch, it's been really helpful that
(21:58):
I've gotten some great neighborsand some people that understand
you know where the resourcesare here and because there's
always going to be things thatgo wrong and you know challenges
to overcome.
So a lot of it, a lot of it,has to do with just having the
right team and the rightconnections and building trust.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, that's important and that takes time.
And, and in terms of buildingtrust, uh, it sounds like you're
doing that with your customers.
Uh, as you've built the companyalong with them, it sounds like
to me, um, what, when, whenthere's so much opportunity at
coming at us?
Um, I'm curious to to know, asa leader, how you say no to
(22:37):
things.
To stay focused, because youmentioned that a couple of times
.
Our vision is to focus on whatwe've got now, what we're going
to do, make better and reallyunderstand the needs of the
customer.
So how do you do that?
Because that takes discipline.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, and we don't always say no.
My background is in sales, sosometimes you get a little
excited and say yes before youshould.
But the habit of the disciplinehas really been born out of
deep client interactions.
We have a client advisorycommittee that we engage with
regularly, and that's beenreally helpful because you know
(23:16):
you start to get ideas and startto build things in a vacuum and
then you get with a focus groupand they say, well, that
doesn't even make sense.
But this other thing makes waymore sense, you know.
So that active engagement withour clients really pushing us to
move into maybe an adjacentarea, it's really collaborating
(23:39):
with them and testing andworking with them on an agile
basis to incrementally start tobuild things out and see
together where it's going tolead us.
And the whole key to me is justdon't build anything in a
vacuum.
Our philosophy is we're notgoing to just go to the lab and
put tons of time and energy intobuilding something without a
(24:02):
really active involvement fromclients and clients that you
know are at least representativeof um, a diverse set of what
clients might look like yeah,yeah, it's interesting, um, in
terms of perspective, like, whodo you want to spend time with?
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And, I guess, who's buying this?
Is it the CEOs?
Is it the regional managers,the operators?
Like, who's integrating thisinto the companies as you're
seeing these 3 million plusunits play out?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, it's been interesting.
I mean all of the into thecompanies as you're seeing these
3 million plus units play out.
Yeah, it's been interesting.
I mean all of the above, aswith a lot of things.
But because we are acentralized platform and really
simple to implement compared tomost things, because we're not
asking to interact a lot withthe leasing staff it's typically
driven by, you know, a leaderin operations Often finance will
(25:02):
get involved, you know,depending on company size.
And then we've also found thatwith this particular solution, a
lot more attention fromownership groups driving
decisions, as they just, youknow, they're paying more and
more attention to the financialsand particularly outstanding
debt and things like that aremore important ownership groups.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Yeah, they're looking to keep the money, I guess.
Right, it's one thing togenerate marketing, get people
moved in, all the expense tomaintain the lease relationship,
but it can get tricky when thatmoney leaves and doesn't get
collected on the exit.
Well, are there any questions?
I should be asking that Ihaven't asked about what you're
(25:49):
working on.
You know I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I mean it's been a fun stage for us as we've grown.
So I mean it's been a fun stagefor us as we've grown really
organically over this time.
You asked what I like to payattention to.
I've gotten such a strong teamsurrounding me over the last
couple of years.
I'm really excited to focusmore on customer engagement
(26:16):
myself.
Customer conversation that'swhere my heart is is spending
time with clients and figuringout what we can build for them,
and we have a long-term view onall this.
We're wanting to stay in thisfor a long time, so that's been
really fun.
This year.
I've got to spend a lot moretime back with customers instead
of a lot of the internal sortof administrative stuff that
comes with running a business.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Yeah, no, that's exciting.
I love that.
I love that you're still inthere and you're spending time
with those customers.
I imagine it helps in.
You mentioned Agile and how youbuild and design the product as
well.
That's useful.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
What's the best way for people to get in touch with
you?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Well, my email is Lynn at LYNN at PayReady, so
that's the easiest way.
And then PayReadycom is ourwebsite to set up demos and get
an overview and those sorts ofthings.
We have an active LinkedInfollowing as well on our
LinkedIn page.
It has a lot of updates theretoo, so those are the best ways
(27:19):
to keep in touch.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Amazing.
All right, and we'll put allthat information in the show
notes for those that are tuningin Until then.
It's been great sharing thetime.
I had an opportunity to learn alittle bit more about some of
the things you're working on,the team that you've built, and
sort of a little bit about yourvision around how you've built
and sort of a little bit aboutyour vision around how you
design, product and help tacklewhat I believe to be a very
(27:41):
important financial system thatneeds to be in place to capture
that revenue that we all are sodesperately trying to keep
within the organization.
So I appreciate you coming onand we'll be tracking all your
success and we'll see you in thenext one.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Great.
Thank you so much, reallyappreciate it.
Take care.
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