Tina Mortera, SVP of Marketing of Progress Residential, Most Inspiring WomenLeaders of 2021 Profile

Tina Mortera
SVP of Marketing of Progress Residential


Tina Mortera, SVP of Marketing of Progress Residential, Most Inspiring WomenLeaders of 2021

“Creating Great Experiences for Renters”

When Tina Mortera, SVP of Marketing of Progress Residential, thinks about the company's evolution and how she has helped lead it, what immediately comes to her mind are her efforts to optimize the customer experience.

“Traditionally, prospective renters in this space have had to schedule a time to view the house with a leasing agent. But even before COVID, prospects were craving a much more contactless leasing experience, and Progress had that in place well before the pandemic hit.”

“I've been laser focused on analyzing the wants and needs of renters to make the customer journey as seamless as possible,” she says. “Traditionally, prospective renters in this space have had to schedule a time to view the house with a leasing agent. But even before COVID, prospects were craving a much more contactless leasing experience, and Progress had that in place well before the pandemic hit.”

Progress is one of the largest providers of single-family rental homes in the country, with more than 40,000 homes in 17 major metros across the U.S. Prospects can search for homes on the Progress website and schedule and take self-guided tours. They can apply for a lease online and even conduct their move-in without having to meet with an associate in person. Recently, Mortera initiated a project called Voice of the Consumer. Through the Qualtrics platform, residents provide ongoing feedback about their experiences in Progress homes.

“This data not only empowers us to optimize the resident experience but allows our associates to address problems and drive customer satisfaction quickly,” Mortera says. “In a big-picture sense, I would say my team and I are both highly analytical and highly creative, and those qualities have served us well as we've created a customer experience that meets the needs and desires of today's prospective renters and residents.”

Throughout Mortera’s career, she has had the good fortune to have several strong women as mentors, so mentoring is something that she makes sure to do as a leader. “I think it's incredibly powerful and beneficial for women who are in the earlier stages of their careers. I'm currently mentoring a young woman who works as a marketer for a tech company,” Mortera explains. “She's very talented and good at getting marketing results, but I'm helping her learn how to make sure her ideas are heard, how to navigate relationships across the organization and how to effectively collaborate with other people.”

As far as general advice to women in business, Mortera urges them to focus on their strengths. “Lean into your strengths and then invite people with other strengths into the process," she says.

“Don't focus on shoring up an area that is not as much a strength," she adds. "Instead, collaborate with someone who is strong in the areas that you're not. It’s not about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about building a team with the smartest people you can find."

Another piece of advice for businesswomen from Mortera: be true to yourself. “Your career should also be about being authentically you," she says. "Find a place where you're really valued for who you are, where you don't have to put on a whole lot of ‘otherness.’" Armed with this attitude, Mortera has been a significant contributor to Progress's success.

Progress Residential was born out of the last housing crisis. There was a huge population of people who needed housing. Progress's vision was to create a vehicle that can manage these single-family homes professionally, providing a level of service comparable to major multifamily operators while giving renters access to great neighborhoods and quality homes.

Progress has aggressive growth plans. Demand for professionally managed single-family rentals is certainly rising as renters see they can have all the benefits of a single-family home – the yard, space to work from home comfortably, a beautiful residential neighborhood – with the flexibility of a lease.

“Recently, we launched our third-party property management service for investors that own mid-to-large single-family rental home portfolios and built for rent communities,” Mortera says. “And this year, we're moving into five new markets: Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Salt Lake City; Austin, Texas; and San Antonio. We are bringing a high degree of sophistication, technology and customer service to the single-family rental industry. It's inspiring and rewarding to play a leadership role in that.” IE


Company

Progress Residential

Management

Tina Mortera
SVP of Marketing of
Progress Residential

Description

We’re one of the largest providers of single-family rental homes in the country, with nearly 40,000 homes in 17 markets. We are disrupting the age-old rental industry by hiring innovative people and using technology to dramatically improve the way people find, lease, and love where they live.


Inspiring WomenLeaders Special Magazine