The Three Things Rule

I was once asked by my very first property manager, Glenn Rand, to make a list of “100 great reasons to live at The Hamptons.” I will admit it now, when I got to around #54 I started to repeat. Honestly, was anyone even going to read all 100 reasons? I had better things to do with my time like eat some frozen Otis Spunkmyer cookie dough! There are many great things about your apartment community. We have all been trained to successfully demonstrate all the features and benefits. But the truth is, the customer only remembers what is important to their own personal needs. A wise leasing consultant knows that when people’s needs are met, the buying decision is made. Isn’t that what we want? Yes, people to make their buying decision while standing in our model or vacant apartment. Then we slide in the application conveniently located in the kitchen drawer or our leasing kit.

Getting to the buying decision is not so hard when you take the time to discover what the potential resident’s needs and wants are. To do this we have to ask open ended questions that get the customer talking about themselves. In their answers, listen for what might be a deal breaker and what will be a deal maker. I have found that most people have three things they need and want. If you meet these three things you are a sale maker.

Once you have heard what the customer is looking for, successfully demonstrate the apartment by using their needs and wants and link them to the features and benefits of your apartment community. By doing this you are personalizing your tour to custom deliver the information this individual customer needs to make a decision.
So what happens if they don’t lease right away? Use those three things that were most important to the customer and talk about them in your follow up notes, phone messages and emails. If you become really good at drawing out their three things and linking them to your apartments, you show the customer that apartments are not one size fits all and this apartment was made for your customer.