The problem: software that never got adopted
PLK Communities manages apartment communities in the Cincinnati area, including Factory 52, a campus built in a restored playing card factory. Melinda Howard, VP of Training and Systems, owns two jobs that make or break any new software: training on-site teams and administering every platform they use.
PLK had rolled out two CRMs before Union. Neither implementation succeeded.
With the last two CRMs, we were just another number. They were just like, this is how you do it. Here's a spreadsheet, we need it back.
The evaluation: the vendor that showed up
Melinda brought several CRM vendors to one conference room for a single demo day. Union was the first to say it would come in person. Another vendor heard and decided to fly in too.
Union set that precedent. That other company would not have come out if they didn't find out that Union was coming.
The rollout: a partner, not a ticket queue
PLK started with a pilot in December and brought the rest of its properties on in January. From kickoff through March, Union held weekly calls with PLK leadership, with office hours any property team could join.
Union trained teams on site and kept the shared log of open issues, so PLK did not have to manage it. Melinda's team stayed focused on change management and adoption.
Union was willing to do trainings. They were willing to do weekly sync calls with us, and to work through and keep a log of all of our issues.
The result: a CRM the teams actually use
Every PLK property was onboarded to Union by March 2026. For the first time, PLK had a CRM implementation it calls a success.
This is our third CRM. With the last two, we never had a successful implementation. Union walked us through step by step.