Shawn Mahoney, CIO of Windsor Communities, couldn't agree more. Windsor, affiliated with the General Investment & Development Companies of Boston, implemented Rainmaker's LRO revenue optimization system at 40 communities after a successful pilot test.

The test conclusively demonstrated lease rent lift, Mahoney said, noting, "We evaluated LRO's effectiveness with 'same store' pilot tests where six communities set lease rents using LRO, and six control communities used our managers' existing method for rate-setting." Mahoney called the results "compelling."

Windsor, which began the software roll-out in 4Q '08, will have more than 10,000 units using the system when its implementation is complete. Mahoney said the company will realize two benefit streams. "The first is that LRO gives optimized price recommendations faster than our community managers usually price. And second, it provides an automated, standardized, and replicable process for each community and market for renewing lease rates and setting prices. It is the right tool for pricing," he said.

Bruce Barfield, president of the Rainmaker Group, said revenue management software enables property managers to price more confidently by giving them a more comprehensive picture of the market and their competition. In addition, he noted, "When managers rely on automated lease rent recommendations they are free to focus attention on selling their communities more effectively."