THE R.I.T.E. STUFF

Ok, so budgets are being slashed every year and the demand to do more with less is getting stronger. The big question is how does one get more bang for their marketing buck? The RI.T.E. Stuff. Now I am not suggesting you bust out singing this glorified 90’s hit with your team as back up dancers (although it may not hurt), but I am referring to Treat'em R.I.T.E.

We spend so much time, energy and money to produce quality residents and many properties are pushing them right back out the door due to their poor service and attitude! Why is there such blatant loss of money and are you guilty? Let’s look at what I mean by Treat'em R.I.T.E.

R – Respect  ~ How many times have you come in contact with someone whose name was difficult to pronounce and you just blew it off? Or they made an appointment and you were at lunch when they arrived? Maybe they called ahead asking for a copy of their lease and when they arrived it wasn’t ready? It’s the little things that make a big impact and show people how much respect you have for them.

I – Interest ~ Really listen and show interest in their wants and needs. When you ask a prospect what things are important in their apartment home, listen to what they tell you.  You are interested in finding a home that is just right for them. Continue visiting and building rapport with the prospect and ask more questions, because you are interested in their needs and wants. People normally love to talk about themselves, so let them!

T – Thoughtful~ Do you anticipate the needs and wants of your Prospects and Residents?  Are you thoughtful enough to provide unexpected service?   A follow-up call, text or email updating them on the status of a work order, task or that you’re just touching base, is a HUGE ally in the battle of “Closing the Back Door”.  When a service request has been submitted as complete, contact your Resident and ask how satisfied they are with the service that was performed in their apartment home.  If you have made a promise to provide the Prospect with a “perk” of any sort, make sure you follow through.  Under-promise and over-deliver!

E – Enthusiasm ~ Majority of prospects lease from emotion and because they like YOU! Show your enthusiasm and be eager to please your residents! I have a mantra that I have stuck with for years Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic!  If you haven’t tried it, you should! I know many times I have heard apartment professionals say “It’s hard to be enthusiastic all the time”  Of course you will deal with many people who don’t possess the RITE stuff, but that’s no excuse for you to not Treat'em R.I.T.E.!   If you are not feelin' it - then Fake it till you Make it.  Enthusiasm IS contagious; your energy will grow and spread…. And it’s the rude ones that need your enthusiasm the most!

Possessing the RITE attitude is not a difficult task and can work wonders on helping you achieve your leasing and resident goals. Share this list with your entire team and outline your own RITE expectations. Although I don’t believe in threatening team members you could suggest anyone not having the RITE attitude can perform a full lyrical, demonstration of NKTB’s song The Right Stuff at the entrance of the community. to help replace the lost revenue from having the wrong attitude! (Just don’t forget to upload it to YouTube, HA)

How many times have you walked in somewhere only to given the famous pointer finger, suggesting you wait a minute, all with no smile and an eye roll that screams “WHAT”!!

Great customer service is the lifeline of an apartment community. Take an audit of the service you provide for your residents and prospects.  Does it exceed their expectations?  Do you Treat'em R.I.T.E.

Linda Hansen ARM, HCCP, NALP

Written by Tina Clauder

55+ Apartments, now Leasing

I just completed a lease-up on a LIHTC community that has a 55 and over age restriction.  Finding the right marketing to attract the small window of the qualified prospect can be challenging.  When you do find a qualified prospect, build a rapport, so you develop the comfort level needed to close the rental.  Seniors are more reserved with their financial status, and with LIHTC housing, all their income and assets must be reported.  The prospect must love their new potential home and you; enough to feel comfortable to share all their financial affairs.

Some things I have learned in working with the senior, low-income market are:

• Thrifty Nickel is an excellent print advertising source.
• If your area has a local paper, ask if they will allow you to place an ad by the obits or TV section.
• Don’t get to fancy on the ad.  If they see a fancy high priced ad, they may overlook it thinking that it is for a fancy high priced apartment.
• The low-income senior may have fewer family members involved in the decision process of their apartment.
• Therefore, the use of the ILS’s (internet listing site) is not on the top of the marketing list.
• Sites for seniors are preferred. 
• Build a partnership with the local Senior Center. 
• Offer an open house to the members of the senior center.
• Offer support and/or help to the center.  Buy and serve the cake for the day they celebrate the birthdays.
• Offer prizes for the Bingo or other game days.
• If the move is during the winter, have a moving company available for them at a discount price.
• Since seniors often do not lease the apartment on their first visit, follow up with the usual thank you card and phone call.   But also send them a copy of your community newsletter displaying the events and activities that will be happening the following month.
• Do not be in a hurry when taking them on a tour.  Closing on them too soon makes them skeptical, and they may RUN away.
• Tell them about the application process.  Advise them about the questions on the application, and explain why you need this information.  At the same time, review all the wonderful things they will enjoy from this apartment community for the hassle of the application process.
Remember all the basics of apartment leasing.
The community must be clean and appealing.
You must look polished and professional and have a very friendly/ warm 1^st impression.
Stand up – walk to meet them at they enter the leasing area.  Make them feel comfortable as soon as possible.  Offer refreshments.
Show all the amenities the community has to offer and tell about any activities at these amenities. Craft day in the multipurpose room. Pool exercises dates and times. Computer training the business center. Organize training in the fitness center.
To name a few suggestions.
Senior community lease ups are fun, enjoy!!!
Linda Hansen

IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

Let’s say you need a Marketing report for your community. You call several communities in your area. You’ll learn the rental rates, learn there are no specials, and they are 97% occupied. You are concerned since your community is at 87% and trending 83%.

Let’s say your Regional Supervisor is wondering why your community has dropped to 87% occupied, when your competitors are in the 90's!! You are told to find out what is up or get your occupancy back in the 90’s!!!

Since I have a rapport with the area community managers, I decided to visit them in person, share my frustration and get their input. The first one I visited is equivalent to my community. The manager greeted me, and we walked back to her office. We did the usual formalities, and then told her that I was frustrated and needed her input. My community is currently at 88%, and trending 83%. I wonder how she is maintaining the mid 90’s. She started laughing and said, “Who said we are in the mid 90’s?” I explained to her we did a market survey, and this is what we were told. She confessed that was not true and with the two skip-outs she just found she is at 86%. Plus, what she has intended to vacate at the end of the month will put her at 84%. So, why were we told the occupancy is 95%? We checked with the leasing consultant who had responded to the market survey. When asked why she didn’t tell the truth about the real percent of occupancy. She said, “It’s none of their business how we’re doing right now”. I could have jumped out of my seat, but to my blessing the manager of the community was “on it”! She told her that we should be honest on our reports. She explained I got the “word” from my supervisor to get the community back into the 90’s. All because this market survey shows we are in the mid 90”s. It appears as though she is doing poorly. She also added that if someone was considering building more apartment communities in the area, this may appear there is room for more to be built. WHICH IS NOT THE CASE.

So what is the moral to this story? PLEASE be honest when you are called for the rates, specials and occupancy of your community. I hope you are honest with your owners!! Much is weighting on those occupancy reports. The reports can have a negative result for you and your community if the actual results are inflated.

Linda Hansen ARM, HCCP

Director of Property Marketing

Yarco Company

Handy Dandy Guest Card

Let us imagine for a moment that you are getting ready to purchase a car. You are going around to different dealers and you arrive at your first stop. You walk into the dealership and a seemingly nice man in a suit approaches you and shakes your hand. You two speak for a moment and you inform him you are looking to purchase a new car. He then leads you to the huge parking lot full of all different models. He takes you to several different cars that are all nice but not one of them has the features you are looking for. You thank the man for his time and return to your old vehicle irritated at the wasted 45 minutes you just spent.

Why was this wasted time you ask…. Because the dealer did not have a clue what features, price or even the color you were wanting. Why did he not know this information? I know it is hard to believe that men are not mind readers…. but he did no t know because he did not ask what you wanted. How do you know if your community is right for them if you do not find details first?


The guest card is easily the most underrated tool the leasing professional has. The guest card will assist you in the following:


1) It is the first step to building your relationship ~ It is no news flash (at least we hope not) that leasing your community is mainly established from the relationships you develop with your prospects; People lease the agent not the community. It is really hard to pull your weight in a relationship if you do not know the details of how to build it.

2) You will learn their hot buttons ~ You can be as nicely dressed with the most dazzling set of pearly whites this side of the Missouri river, but if you don’t have a clue what your prospect wants, then those shinny gems will gleam them right out the door.

3) Follow up, Follow up, Follow up ~ It is a great way for you to document what they really enjoyed about your community. When you speak to them or send them cards or emails later you can refresh their memory on the features they liked.

So now that we have offered a few reasons why guest cards are important, let’s discuss tips for getting the most from your handy dandy guest card:

1) Permission please ~ Ask for their permission and method preference before you contact them. You don’t want to be the messenger to their roommate that their looking for a new place to live.


2) What is in a name ~ If you cannot pronounce their name, then ask them to repeat it until you do. There is nothing wrong with asking for assistance. Do not spend the entire tour calling them by the wrong name. You leave them with the impression “If this person can’t even get my name right, how am I going to trust they will do anything right?”


3) Do not Interrogate them ~ As much as you may love your episodes of Law and Order, you are not Detectives Benson or Meloni. Keep the conversations light intermingled with some fun remembering that people lease on emotion. If you ask just a few simple questions it signals that the gates have opened and their information will come pouring out!


4) Do not force it ~ If they don’t want to complete a guest card, that is ok. Just get the basics of their name and any info they feel comfortable giving. If they are talkative you should be able to gain most of all the knowledge you will need during the tour. Just make sure to document on the card they declined to complete.


5) Our old pal Fair Housing ~ Do NOT document the cards with information such as race, color or any of the protected classes. Don’t make reference if they were rude or if their kids were bratty. An example of an appropriate note would be if they informed you they heard about your community from a friend whom works at the hospital next door, which your community has been heavily marketing. Another example could be when you show them the lakes on your community and inform them about the fishing; they get excited, informing you how their grandkids love to fish. Ask what their grandchild’s name is and document just the name and that they love fishing. When you follow up later you can mention how much that feature would benefit them!


There are many other benefits and “rules” for the guest cards. Make sure you check with your supervisor and reference your company policy for the methods that work best for you.

Tina Clauder

SOCIAL MEDIA 101 - Ten Tips

People often express their confusion and downright lack of patience in the school of social media. We have learned that a lot of the frustration with learning the ropes is the misconceptions, and to help out, we have formulated a sort of Social Media for Apartments cheat sheet. Hopefully this will save you some time, energy and will shave a little off the grading curve. (Don’t worry, there’s no pop quiz at the end!)

1. Social What ~ Social Media is the dancing of words, in an effort to build and maintain relationships with the masses, via technology, It should be fun, entertaining or informative (and we don’t mean posting reminders about late fees). The moment you start making it formal and stiff, is the time people “hide all posts” from YOU!

2. It’s a single tool, not the whole box ~ Social Media is a means to establish conversation, not an entire marketing plan. It is a way for you to interact and mingle with the masses. If you are expecting a GET LEASED QUICK SCHEME, you need to pick another tool. You will see results, but it will take a while.

3. Your Social clock is ticking ~ Yes, it is true that social media can take some time. The good news is the majority of time is merely setting up the accounts. Once you’ve gotten down the basics and developed a routine, it’s smooth sailing. The sooner you start the better, developing relationships takes time.

4. Set Reminders ~ I recommend scheduling the dates and times you will make posts at least 1 month in advance. This allows you plenty of time to coordinate with holidays or property events. To make it easy you can link your Facebook, twitter and blogs all together so you only make 1 post for all 3 or keep them separate for distinctiveness, but keep it up! It’s easy to get lost in the chaos of putting out fires, only to realize on Friday at 4:30 you haven’t posted anything for the entire week!

5. Flaunt your flaws ~ DON’T be afraid of negative comments as they make you seem more real. People don’t expect a business to be perfect and they want to see how you handle adversity. It’s imperative you respond to them and be professional. Many times it’s the same person/persons making constant nagging comments. Your followers will quickly pick up the nagger’s persona and take their comments with a grain of salt; if the comments are vulgar or lies then remove them pronto! Embrace an opportunity to demonstrate excellent resident care!

6. Too Many Hands In The Pot ~ Social Media should be narrowed down to one person on your team, if possible. People can relate to a person, not a corporation. Make things funny and entertaining. You want people to return to your page and REFER others to it.

7. Directing Traffic ~ All your Social Media sites should be directing people to your website. Your website is for sales not social sites. If you’re posting the rent special for a two bedroom, you’re going to lose interest fast. Instead, post ways to decorate apartments. There are TONS of amazing decorating tips and techniques you can share! If you have small closets, post tips from HG how to get the most from your space.

8. More is not always better ~ Make sure you are spacing your posts adequately. I don’t know how many times I’ve “hidden all posts” from a business that rocket fires 7 in a row about their specials or events, in 10 minutes, 1 day a week. A good rule of thumb is posting to twitter and Facebook once daily (at least 3 times a week) and blog post 2 – 3 times per week. There is NO mandatory number, do what works best for your business.

9. SEO ~ I assure you SEO does not mean Some Extra Obstacles, although it may certainly feel that way. SEO is Search Engine Optimization and is very important to ALL of your websites. You want to use lots of “tag words” in your communications. The more tag words you use, the more likely your sites will be one of the first a person locates in a search. Example; the more I say Leasing Lessons or Social Media the more likely this is to pop up in the first page of a search. (On that note please pardon me while I do a quick plug; Leasing Lessons, Social Media, Apartments, Multifamily, Resident Retention, Customer Service, Leasing Skills, Property Management, Marketing. Whew, that should be good enough for now!)

10. Last but certainly not least ~ Do NOT Discriminate! You can get in big trouble with discriminatory posts to your social sites. Make sure whoever is responsible for your social media is fully aware of the fair housing laws in your area.

We sincerely hope this has shed a little light on the joy of learning Social Media. If after everything you have learned, you decide to throw your hands up and hire a Social Media rep to handle it all, we promise we will not consider it cheating!

Tina Clauder

Tina has been in the Apartment industry for nearly 20 years. Starting as a grounds keeper, also did make-ready maintenance and apartment cleaning before moving into property management.

Tina has displayed her love for people through her excellent leasing skills. Having success in leasing, marketing and training, has added Social Media as one of her talents.

What is ROTFL?

Abbreviations for Email and Texting

Recently some friends and I were sitting back just shooting the breeze when one of the guys received a text.  He replied and had a bit of a conversation with the person on the other end.  Then he looks at us and says, "What the heck is ROTFL?".  Well, none of us knew, so I called my daughter (who is in an Xer -Generation X was born between 1965 and 1980) and she explained it meant Rolling On The Floor Laughing.  So we asked her for more abbreviations, and she gave us the ones we knew already like BTW;  By The Way and OBO; Or Best Offer.  But she also shared more we did not know.
BCNU - Be seeing you
FWIW - For what it's worth (I think I have seen this one before)
IMHO - In my humble opion
TTYL - Talk to you later
TTFN - Ta ta for now (Actually my friend Cecil used to often say ttfn to me, so I know this one too).
RTFM - Read the funny manual (yea, that's not what she really said. . .)
TNSTAAFL - There's not such thing as a free lunch. 
So for my Baby Boomer friends, you may find this very helpful.

TTFN,
Linda

YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON WHAT??

By Tina Clauder


How many times have you heard internet leads are not followed; If you’re in property management, probably a lot? According to Bill Rice the CEO of Leads on Track, an estimated 80% of leads are not followed up.

                                                                                                               WOWZA!!!

When you go to a restaurant and sit at your table you expect to wait a few moments for your server to arrive in request of your drink order but what if you wait for 10 or 15 minutes?  Do you stay and speak up or do you leave, tired of being ignored? Either option you choose your servers’ tip will most likely reflect your dissatisfaction being put off, especially if you leave. Now think about this from a leasing standpoint? If you receive commissions how much money do you lose out by NOT replying to these leads?

Recently, I was employed with a company and consumed the role of internet lead follow up. Most internet marketing has default automatic, generic responses for each lead that requests more information. These replies are great for a start but many people attach a specific question to their inquiry which unfortunately, most go unanswered. We live in the land of RIGHT NOW. Your prospect doesn’t expect a reply right that minute but they do expect an answer within the day. I checked the property email constantly; replying to an average of 8 leads per day, on a large, property. More than 50% of the leads I followed up on came to tour and more than 70% of those leased! At least 5 times a week prospects would reply thanking me “for the quick response”. On average 2 tours’ a week, from internet leads, would mention more than half of the inquires they sent on line to other properties where never answered! Ridiculous!

I would challenge you to log onto 5 internet marketing sites and request information as if you were a prospect and see what kind of replies you receive. If after this little stint you’re still content with throwing your money away please let me know as I am happy to provide my address so you may mail me checks. When you DON’T reply to your prospects you’re basically PAYING your competitions leasing commissions; that’s where the prospect is going, to your competition. There is no way I would give money up so freely, what about you?

Tina Clauder

Sales & Management Specialist for 15 years.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - Pemberton Park

I am proud to have been involved in this new adventure for the Multi-Family Industry. Pemberton Park, exclusively for Grandparents Raising their Grandchildren.


This article from The Best Times is great.

The Best Of Times - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Socialnomics: Social Media Revolution

Socialnomics: Social Media
Please click on this link to view this video.  It's really good!!

I talk to sooo many people who are unaware of the power of Social Media.  So if you're not into Social Media it unlikely you will see this post.  But, if by chance you do, enjoy!

It's only because I love you!!

Celebrate Reaching Occupancy Goals!!!

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

Assuming the Sale

By Becky Batista with The Yarco Companies

The mind is a powerful force. Think about the power of positive thinking.

There was a girl I went to high school with who always got the cute, popular

guys. Curious thing was, she was not very pretty by most standards. I made up my mind to study her to try to figure out what she had that the other girls didn't. Simply put, SHE believed she was beautiful. As a result, she carried herself like a beautiful, confident girl and sold it!

Fast forward twenty years, give or take a few. I had taken a position in Vegas as a dreaded telemarketer. Talk about a hard, thankless job! I have a little competitive edge about me and I wanted desperately to succeed, so I positioned myself to sit beside the guy who was the top salesman. Everyone

around us was making a sale every fifteen or twenty minutes, and this guy was cold selling nearly every call. What kind of mojo did he have that the others didn't possess?

Well...it's a practice called assuming the sale. It's pretty much exactly the

way it sounds. When you're talking to a prospective customer, or in our case a prospective resident, you use language that sounds as though you are assuming that they will rent. Remember the girl from high school? She believed she was beautiful, so she made others believe it too. It's no different in business. If you convince the prospect you believe something, you make them believe it too! It might sound something like this, "Let me show you your apartment." You are sending a message subconsciously to the prospect

that you it's assumed they are renting. "This is your living room, and just look at your kitchen!". You are causing the prospect to envision themselves living there. "You're going to be so happy here!". You are imputing a positive emotion that they will remember when they think about their visit.

Now let's look at the flip side. The differences are subtle, but they make a huge difference. "Let me show you an apartment." It may or may not be theirs. There's no assumption that they will be renting. "This is the living

room and this is the kitchen over here." They are busy surveying the floor

plan, but not imagining themselves there. "So, do you like it?" or "What do you think?". You've just transferred the control of the conversation back to them and opened the floor for a negative reaction or comment.

Be confident in your product. Know your product. Assume that the prospect WANTS your product. You will set the stage for a successful close every time.

 Happy leasing!