7 questions for... Claudia Hoyer

1. Ms Hoyer, as COO you are responsible for the areas of business development and digitisation, among others. How would you assess the current level of digitisation at your company? How digital is TAG today?

Claudia Hoyer: We got off to a great start and are now in the middle of our digital transformation. Over the past two years, we’ve completely redesigned and digitised many processes as part of our Mission ‘21. One example is correspondence – incoming mail is pre-sorted in the work basket for further processing. We then use the signature process to generate the approval procedure for creating correspondence. Defined release levels with digital signatures then result in a letter generated for e-mail correspondence that is, of course, automatically stored in the digital record. Because digitisation is also a perpetual process for us, we will be taking further development steps with our “Mission Future”.

2. Which technology brings the greatest added value for your company?

Hoyer: We see added value for TAG on multiple levels. Innovative technologies that optimise our units to form intelligent buildings promote individual living and enable predictive maintenance. We also see significant value in our customer correspondence. With the TAG Wohnen tenant app, we make communication easy for our customers while also presenting our additional service offering. We’re currently expanding the user options here with PROMOS.

3. To what degree do you rely on digital processes and why?

Hoyer: It was important for us to develop a process-oriented ERP software early on, which is why we already decided to work with PROMOS in 2012. We have introduced further process since then and we’ve experienced the advantages very clearly due to the increase in remote work during the coronavirus pandemic. Processing is always possible regardless of location thanks to digital processes, though this naturally depends on the quality of the master data. The process-oriented view gives us enormous potential to make our service both better and faster for our customers.

4. You offer a direct line to the customer advisor via the tenant app. What are the advantages of the app?

Hoyer: The tenant app provides our customers with flexibility and around-the-clock availability. It delivers us structured data that serves as the basis for uniform workflows, thus improving the associated processes. For us, the recent shift in communicative behaviour forms the foundation of app usage at TAG. We are convinced that the tenant app, combined with direct communication with our customers, can also replace classic elements like the building bulletin board. The customer now has access to all information at all times.

5. Do you think a tenant app could also take the place of a conventional customer service centre?

Hoyer: As a rental company active across Germany, we can work in a more structured manner with the tenant app and resolve customer issues more quickly. Even if communication takes place far more through media such as the tenant app in the future, I think there should be the option of personal contact for certain topics.

6. How do you prepare your employees and customers for the implementation of innovative digitisation projects?

Hoyer: We develop our projects together with our employees to integrate them right from the start. This begins with deciding on a name and goes on through project support, the pilot version, the test phase and ultimately the rollout. All employees not actively involved in the project are kept up to speed with regular, transparent project updates, so they experience the implementation as more of a process. For our customers, when introducing the TAG Wohnen tenant app, for example, the launch did not take place simultaneously across the entire housing stock of over 88,300 units. We started with a pilot region and were thus able to better prepare the larger rollout after incorporating the questions and issues from the first round of tenants.

7. To conclude: what was the last app you downloaded?

Hoyer: The “YogaEasy” yoga app. You need to compensate for all the time spent sitting at a desk, and the breathing exercises also promote relaxation. It’s also practical that I can do the exercises right at home and individually plan my yoga session.

Thank you for the interview.