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Community managers and associations agree that managers’ time is best spent engaging and educating their boards. After all, HOAs and COAs today face complex challenges, and in our 2024 State of the Industry survey, board members cited a lack of education as their top perceived threat.

Managers said they’d prefer to use their time and talents engaging with their boards meaningfully, but most would also tell you that’s easier said than done. What’s holding them back? Endless queries from homeowners, typically with the same questions or requests.

Priestley Management Company (PMC), an established industry leader with 25,000 doors in its portfolio, was no exception. Coastal Division President Kyle Priestley shared that Priestley’s managers once received so many calls and emails from homeowners that they felt chained to their desks. About 80% of those were the same questions.

“Managers were afraid to leave their desks,” he said. “I was out one Friday and came back with over 400 emails.”

That changed when PMC adopted Cephai, the first generative AI platform built for the association management industry. Cephai cuts back on mundane management tasks like responding to calls and emails by providing immediate answers to homeowners. PMC soft-launched Cephai in January 2024, branding their white-labeled solution “Gilbot.”

“My grandfather’s name was Gilbert, so we named it Gilbot as a tribute to him,” said Priestley. “He wanted to provide good customer service. Now Gilbot is there, 24 hours a day.”

Immediately following its soft launch, Gilbot answered up to 45 questions per week for one Priestley association. Across all 100 associations, this amounts to 4,500 questions weekly or 234,000 questions annually. The business results were staggering:

• PMC estimates Cephai will save the company $50-60K annually
• Homeowner contact volume was reduced by about 50%
• Priestley managers save an estimated 30 hours per week
  

Check out our latest case study to learn more about how PMC harnessed Cephai’s generative AI technology, achieved widespread homeowner app adoption, and allowed its managers more time to flex their knowledge, passion, and expertise.