The role that experience management plays in tenant engagement, building loyalty – and ultimately – re-signed leases absolutely grows exponentially every single year. Which is why – after selling my first business to JLL – I wasn’t ready to stop. Four years after creating XM by JLL, I decided to launch my own firm again, The Experience Group. I am so thrilled to say that I’ve brought my amazing team back together – Meghan Rooney is serving as The Experience Group’s COO, Jessica Schmidt is our Creative Director, and Sue Morrison is our Finance Director. We have come together to harness the power of experience and change the trajectory of client success stories forever.
Our philosophy at The Experience Group centers around the real value of turning spaces into destinations. Modern lobbies and sleek tenant lounges are simply table stakes. The real question is: what are we doing with these beautiful pieces of real estate? These spaces need to be activated with tenant engagement programs and events as well as showcase art, great food and beverage, fitness and wellness to name a few. What we create, is the heart of a building or asset; a destination that promotes camaraderie and a sense of community.
Since the pandemic, most people have returned to everyday life and audiences have come back in a big way. People booked far-away travel. They poured into restaurants. Over 4 million people bought Taylor Swift tickets. All it took was an opportunity to see something, taste something, or hear something new. People showed up.
Which brings me back to The Experience Group. We activate our spaces, we expand our audiences. By giving people a chance to meaningfully interact with our properties, we connect with their hearts and minds. I am very confident that with a little creativity and some courage, we can change the no-one’s-coming-back-to-work story. We can give our lobbies renewed purpose by turning them into art and media showcase spaces. We can improve our food & beverage offerings and create culinary experiences that are sought after. We can turn our rooftops into beautiful green spaces that give people a place to retreat and promote mental health. We can make our tenant lounges hubs for connection and camaraderie by hosting clubs and providing personal enrichment opportunities.
When we expand our thinking around experience, we enhance our bottom line. And by giving our audiences what they so clearly want, we invest in our own interests, too. Happier tenants. Increased lease and re-sign rates. Rising bottom lines.
This is the future. Let’s make it ours.
