I recently had a chance to sit down with CORT to share in their Sofa Secrets series, a video-based educational program for apartment industry professionals. CORT asked industry leaders share inside tips to help you grow revenue... check out my first Sofa Secret on "Success."
Friday, March 28, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Getting to know you...
Seen at the Hotel
Derek in Houston… a creative (and easy!) way to connect and spark conversations
with guests! Each member of the front desk staff at the hotel has their own
card in a frame that they place on the counter in front of them when they begin
their shift. As guests approach the
front desk, they are able to read the fun (location specific) “questionnaire”
that the staff member filled out, personalizing the hotel experience for the
guests who now know a bit more about the staff at the hotel that are there to
take care of them.
Consider doing the
same type of thing at your property -
either having leasing consultants display these on their desks, including this
in newsletters to your residents (especially for non-leasing agent employees), or,
even easier, placing this on the apartment community website to
introduce the staff who will be caring for new residents' apartment homes. You may also be able to use this idea as a resident spotlight/getting to know your
neighbor feature (being sure that you keep residents’ privacy in mind).
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
Getting Instagram photos off your phone and into your office!
With the rise in
popularity of Instagram, some innovative companies have developed very creative
ways to get pictures off of Instagram and into your (and your potential
residents’) hands… From photo books
(great to highlight community activities, showing off the fun environment you
create) to individual prints and posters (to help show off local sights and what’s
happening in the neighborhood) – plus some other creative formats – there are
plenty of ways to display your community’s Instagram photos.
Photobook from Keepsy |
Printstagr.am appears to be the most comprehensive website as far as the products they offer. Photo books and prints are their mainstay, but they also offer a 365-day tear-away calendar (each day is one of your photos!), greeting card sets, stickers, buttons, and t-shirts.
PostalPix is an app-based way to print four-inch squares from your Instagram
library for only 30 cents each. Other sizes are also available, including two-,
five-, and eight-inch-square prints. Available for both iPhone and Android,
this app is a great place to start for basic Instagram prints.
Print
your own at home or at your local print shop with Prinkl, which allows you to create a
.pdf collage of your photos that is printable from anywhere.
Keepsy and Blurb both also offer photo books, while Keepsy also will print
a traditional 12- or 18-month calendar with your photos.
Boo Boxes by Hatchcraft |
For a high-end, custom look in displaying your photos, try a gallery-style
canvas or a handcrafted bamboo frame. CanvasPop creates a high-resolution 12- or
20-inch-square stretched canvas print for $40 and $114, respectively. Multiple
canvases would make an impressive art vignette. Boo Box byHatchcraft places four-inch Instagram photos in bamboo shadowbox
frames beginning at $20, making a gorgeous option to display in your leasing
office.
Tile from ImageSnap |
Other fun options to print
Instagram photos include:
- Instagoodies prints favorite Instagram photos into books of one-inch stickers.
- Sticky9 (formerly Stickygram) offers magnets, phone cases, and iPad covers.
- ImageSnap crafts ceramic tiles ranging from two-inch ($4) to 12-inch ($35) squares. Tiles can be installed with mortar and grout just like normal tiles, though the tiny sizes make for perfect refrigerator magnets.
- Artflakes takes your Instagram pics and whips them into vinyl four-inch stickers in packs of 10 or more.
- Casetagram creates a custom case for your device - iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5/5s/5c, iPod touch 4, iPod touch 5, iPad, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note I, Note II and more.
- Instalab offers many of the same options as other companies with prints, booklets, magnets, stickers, and calendars, but also offers an inexpensive wood panel print that we haven’t seen elsewhere.
Please
remember that at any resident event, you should always have a sign that tells
people photographs and videos may be taken which can be used in the public
domain.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Flat Rate Pricing Contributes to LOST Leases
Many communities tried "one price fits all" pricing methods during the recession in an effort to fill up fast. While this may have resulted in a nice bump
in occupancy, the leasing team was left with all the “less desirable”
apartments to lease making their challenges even tougher. The long term problem
is that now they have a community where people think that most pay the same
amount in rent. The price was typically based on the lowest rent we could offer
even though more than half the apartments had higher value. Price the apartment
based on the attributes which make the apartment unique.
Why should a person
rent the subject apartment over another? The answer to that question will help
you see the individual opportunity for this apartment price. Once you move to
this type of price structure it is easier to sell a new price on an apartment. The reason is pretty simple, it limits that
number of apartments that will meet the customer’s needs. If you have 10 one bedrooms available and
they are all $899 then the customer has 10 to choose from making the decision
harder not to mention you will lose your sense of urgency.
It makes more sense
to qualify the customer based on price they can afford and them limit their
choice based on this need. Ideally, you
want the customer to consider 2 apartments vs 10 apartments.
Labels:
closing techniques,
concessions,
yield management
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