Learn The Perfect Response When Someone Responds with "No"

I'm happy to share the next of my videos for CORT in their Sofa Secrets series, a video-based educational program for apartment industry professionals. This Sofa Secret is about using one word to help you close reluctant prospects...

A Marketing Lesson from 6 Dollar Shirts

My cousin, Andrew, placed an order with 6 Dollar Shirts.  This could have been your run of the mill Internet transaction until he received a game changer in his email box. He found an email that, among the thousands he receives in a week, was cool enough to send to his cousin Kate.  Really people, this had to be an amazing email because I don't get emails from Andrew very often (not that I am upset, Cuz, I know you are a busy guy).

6 Dollar Shirts had already secured the sale, Andrew's credit card was approved and the shipment was on its way.  Most businesses would stop there.  The savvy marketers at this online retailer know there is more business to be earned.  A simple, crafty, creatively worded email created a stir.  Andrew shared with his friends at his office and now more people are aware of this company.  This email tickled my marketing ear and now I am posting it on my Website blog for hundreds of thousands of people to read, okay maybe just a few hundred loyal readers.  But really, this means something because before this email forwarded from my cousin, I had never heard of 6 Dollar Shirts.

Who else has told you that you look good today?  Now go on, I dare you to check out www.6dollarshirts.com and buy the "Death before Decaf" tee shirt!

Old Leads Are Cold Leads and My Olympic Experience

This is one of the hottest summers on record. I live in Phoenix, just ask me what 113 degrees feels like. Yuck! All over the country, our leasing teams are feeling the heat and it can be truly exhausting. By mid-July we are wearing down from this long hot summer yet we need to keep our leasing productivity HOT! The quickest way to get there is to touch something COLD, your Internet leads.

80% of potential sales are lost due to lack of follow-up. This is one of biggest mistakes people make in marketing. Do you want to know how you could increase web conversions and sales by as much as 400%? The secret lies in what you do after you generate a qualified lead. The steps you take next to build a relationship and help your prospect get what they want make all the difference. Most people are so focused on getting qualified leads that they neglect to put their web site marketing and Internet Listing Service follow-up systems in place to convert leads to sales. It’s so important that I’ll say it again;

…with better follow-up, you could increase web sales by 400%.

In just a few days the World’s attention will be on London for the start of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. This is always an exciting time for me as I reminisce about the 1996 games in Atlanta. I tried out to be a placard bearer in the opening and closing ceremonies and got picked! The day of the opening ceremonies it was 111 degrees on the tarp that covered Turner Field. Our energy was draining but continued to be refueled by the excitement of meeting our teams and seeing Mohamed Ali light the torch.

I ushered the great country of Azerbaijan into the games proudly holding their county’s sign alongside the flag bearer. I call them a great country and it has nothing to do with their politics which I know very little about. What I know is about the athletes that represented their country in 1996. It was their first year competing as an independant country after breaking off from the “Unified Team” also known as Mother Russia. Azerbaijan’s uniforms were mismatched and used. Russia looked smashing in their red suits and hats. (Did you think I would get through this blog without a little fashion commentary?!?) It was clear they had little resources and training opportunities but they had a lot of ambition and a plan to win. At closing ceremonies we gathered again for a celebration in the stadium. It was truly exciting to see these inspiring athletes wearing medals they had won. They were singing and dancing with athletes from all over the world. As for me, I was just proud to be a part of the biggest moment in their life and wear a silver medal won by a hot wrestler named Namik!

Imagine you were training for the upcoming summer Olympics. You’re a runner and want to win gold this year. You get a new pair of shoes to help you in your medal quest. Then you map your workout plan. With your coach at your side you identify which exercises to do and when to do them. Each day until the coming Olympics you eagerly show up at the weight room and the track. What happens? Each week your strength and speed improve and you become a stronger competitor increasing your chances of winning a gold medal.

Now imagine a competitor who wants to win but after signing up for the team, didn’t show up for practice. Who do you think is going to win? The person who follows up on their commitment with a series of planned activities or the one who neglects these? Web site marketing is like training for the Olympics but with a whole lot more gold medals available! Start with a lead, regular follow up and you can win many more customers.

You could continue marketing the same way and get the same results, or you could discover the lead generation and follow-up activities that can increase your sales by 400% or more. Just as in training for the Olympics, what you do and when is critical. Use these 7 follow up ideas you to increase your sales.

1. Act Immediately
Old leads are cold leads. Use automated email responses or voice messages to instantly acknowledge a prospect’s interest and give them the information they requested. If you plan to call them, let them know when you’ll call. If you’ve offered something free to entice them to respond, deliver it instantly.

2. Use Curiosity to Motivate
The most powerful motivator in marketing is human curiosity. Tempt your prospects with something they want and pique their interest to prompt them to visit your community or to call you to get the details. I feel it is important to have a contact from that asks questions that give you the clues you need to understand their hot buttons. When you use these hot buttons in your response, you will capture their attention.

3. Create A Sense of Urgency
People are prone to procrastinate, just ask me, I started writing this blog in June! We put off doing things even when we want and need something. Give them a reason to act immediately, such as a limited time offer.

4. Educate Your Prospects
Customers may not have an immediate perception of their need for what you provide. What makes you unique compared to the competition? This product differential must be front and center in your marketing. Use each contact to help them define a problem or concern and demonstrate that your product or service is the solution.

5. Build a Relationship
The stronger your relationship with your prospects, the more likely they’ll be to turn to you when they are ready to make a purchase. Do most men or women propose on their first dates? Of course not! And if they do it is my personal experience you should RUN! It takes time and repeated contact to establish the basis for a long lasting, mutually beneficial relationship.

6. Give Special Attention to Prospects that Demonstrate An Interest
Let’s say you sent out a special $100 discount email offer to your prospect list. Typically, 10-16% of your prospects will open the email, and a much smaller percentage will act on it immediately. Go back with an even stronger call to action to the people that opened your initial email. You’ll find that approximately 50% will open it and you’ll sell a lot more of your product and services.

7. Use Automated Systems to Follow-up
Set up your email auto responders to do your follow-up for you. Use each email contact to educate and motivate your prospects and tell them about your limited time offer. Remember that prospects are more likely to buy after six contacts, so use a series of six emails spread out over two weeks. However, this does not excuse the need for human contact. Reach out!

Want to earn gold with your business? Like Olympic athletes you need more than goals. You need a follow up strategy and system. Put these in place and you can capture the 80% of potential sales you’re missing.

Do you want your Future Residents to read your follow up emails? Try these tips!

I found myself reading my email today and the whole point was to delete things that did not need my attention. I think many of us do this no matter what what day of the week it is, but for this Monday, I was rapidly tapping the delete button. I started thinking about what it takes to get people to read email and found myself doing a search for some expert help. Here are some tips from Jill Konrath who wants to make sure all of your emails elicit a response.

1. Eliminate Delete-Inducing Words

Get rid of all verbiage that activates the delete response. Here are some serious offenders: exciting, state-of-the-art, solution, partner, leading edge, passion, unique and one-stop shopping.

2. Keep Your Message Simple

Your email needs to be less than 90 words. Use 2-sentence paragraphs so it can be scanned. Stick with common black fonts (no colors) and never include more than one link or attachment.

3. Align With Their Objectives

Research your prospect's specific needs, likes and other hot buttons which will help you connect. Relevance is essential.

4. Focus on Immediate Priorities

Identify key events that may be impacting your prospect's priorities and tie your message into that. An example might be if they are relocating from out of state, there are a lot of things that will need attention vs a move across town.

5. Be an Invaluable Resource

In your e-mails, focus on the ideas, insights and information you can share that will be of value to your prospect in reaching their goals.

6. Craft Enticing Subject Lines

Your subject line determines if your message gets read. Avoid sales hype and focus on business issues such as: "Quick question re: are you ready to move" or "Welcome home to Green Oaks Villas."

7. Launch a Campaign

Do eight to 12 touches (via e-mail and phone) over a four-to-six week time period, with each contact building off the previous one. Provide links to resources. Spotlight the value of visiting today and making a decision.

"Don't Call Me. I Won't Call You." Great Article from NYTimes.com

Don’t Call Me, I Won’t Call YouBy PAMELA PAUL
Published: March 18, 2011

NOBODY calls me anymore — and that’s just fine. With the exception of immediate family members, who mostly phone to discuss medical symptoms and arrange child care, and the Roundabout Theater fund-raising team, which takes a diabolical delight in phoning me every few weeks at precisely the moment I am tucking in my children, people just don’t call.

It’s at the point where when the phone does ring — and it’s not my mom, dad, husband or baby sitter — my first thought is: “What’s happened? What’s wrong?” My second thought is: “Isn’t it weird to just call like that? Out of the blue? With no e-mailed warning?”

I don’t think it’s just me. Sure, teenagers gave up the phone call eons ago. But I’m a long way away from my teenage years, back when the key rite of passage was getting a phone in your bedroom or (cue Molly Ringwald gasp) a line of your own.

In the last five years, full-fledged adults have seemingly given up the telephone — land line, mobile, voice mail and all. According to Nielsen Media, even on cellphones, voice spending has been trending downward, with text spending expected to surpass it within three years.

“I literally never use the phone,” Jonathan Adler, the interior designer, told me. (Alas, by phone, but it had to be.) “Sometimes I call my mother on the way to work because she’ll be happy to chitty chat. But I just can’t think of anyone else who’d want to talk to me.” Then again, he doesn’t want to be called, either. “I’ve learned not to press ‘ignore’ on my cellphone because then people know that you’re there.”

“I remember when I was growing up, the rule was, ‘Don’t call anyone after 10 p.m.,’ ” Mr. Adler said. “Now the rule is, ‘Don’t call anyone. Ever.’ ”

Phone calls are rude. Intrusive. Awkward. “Thank you for noticing something that millions of people have failed to notice since the invention of the telephone until just now,” Judith Martin, a k a Miss Manners, said by way of opening our phone conversation. “I’ve been hammering away at this for decades. The telephone has a very rude propensity to interrupt people.”

Though the beast has been somewhat tamed by voice mail and caller ID, the phone caller still insists, Ms. Martin explained, “that we should drop whatever we’re doing and listen to me.”

Even at work, where people once managed to look busy by wearing a headset or constantly parrying calls back and forth via a harried assistant, the offices are silent. The reasons are multifold. Nobody has assistants anymore to handle telecommunications. And in today’s nearly door-free workplaces, unless everyone is on the phone, calls are disruptive and, in a tight warren of cubicles, distressingly public. Does anyone want to hear me detail to the dentist the havoc six-year molars have wreaked on my daughter?

“When I walk around the office, nobody is on the phone,” said Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher at HarperCollins. The nature of the rare business call has also changed. “Phone calls used to be everything: serious, light, heavy, funny,” Mr. Burnham said. “But now they tend to be things that are very focused. And almost everyone e-mails first and asks, ‘Is it O.K. if I call?’ ”

Even in fields where workers of various stripes (publicists, agents, salespeople) traditionally conducted much of their business by phone, hoping to catch a coveted decision-maker off-guard or in a down moment, the phone stays on the hook. When Matthew Ballast, an executive director for publicity at Grand Central Publishing, began working in book publicity 12 years ago, he would go down his list of people to cold call, then follow up two or three times, also by phone. “I remember five years ago, I had a pad with a list of calls I had to return,” he said. Now, he talks by phone two or three times a day.

“You pretty much call people on the phone when you don’t understand their e-mail,” he said.

Phone call appointments have become common in the workplace. Without them, there’s no guarantee your call will be returned. “Only people I’ve ruthlessly hounded call me back,” said Mary Roach, author of “Packing for Mars.” Writers and others who work alone can find the silence isolating. “But if I called my editor and agent every time I wanted to chat, I think they’d say, ‘Oh no, Mary Roach is calling again.’ So I’ve pulled back, just like everyone else.”

Whereas people once received and made calls with friends on a regular basis, we now coordinate such events via e-mail or text. When college roommates used to call (at least two reunions ago), I would welcome their vaguely familiar voices. Now, were one of them to call on a Tuesday evening, my first reaction would be alarm. Phone calls from anyone other than immediate family tend to signal bad news.

Receiving calls on the cellphone can be a particular annoyance. First, there’s the assumption that you’re carrying the thing at all times. For those in homes with stairs, the cellphone siren can send a person scrambling up and down flights of steps in desperate pursuit. Having the cellphone in hand doesn’t necessarily lessen the burden. After all, someone might actually be using the phone: someone who is in the middle of scrolling through a Facebook photo album. Someone who is playing Cut the Rope. Someone who is in the process of painstakingly touch-tapping an important e-mail.

For the most part, assiduous commenting on a friend’s Facebook updates and periodically e-mailing promises to “catch up by phone soon” substitute for actual conversation. With friends who merit face time, arrangements are carried out via electronic transmission. “We do everything by text and e-mail,” said Laurie David, a Hollywood producer and author. “It would be strange at this point to try figuring all that out by phone.”

Of course, immediate family members still phone occasionally. “It’s useful for catching up on parenting issues with your ex-husband,” said Ms. David, who used to be married to Larry David, the star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” “Sometimes when you don’t want to type it all, it’s just easier to talk.”

But even sons, husbands and daughters don’t always want to chat. In our text-heavy world, mothers report yearning for the sound of their teenage and adult children’s voices. “I’m sort of missing the phone,” said Lisa Birnbach, author of “True Prep” and mother of three teenagers. “It’s warmer and more honest.”

That said, her landline “has become a kind of vestigial part of my house like the intercom buttons once used in my prewar building to contact the ‘servants quarters.’ ” When the phone rings, 9 times out of 10, it’s her mother.

There are holdouts. Radhika Jones, an assistant managing editor at Time magazine, still has a core group of friends she talks to by phone. “I’ve always been a big phone hound,” she said. “My parents can tell you about the days before call waiting.” Yet even she has slipped into new habits: Voice mails from her husband may not get listened to until end of day. Phone messages are returned by e-mail. “At least you’re responding!”

But heaven forbid you actually have to listen — especially to voice mail. The standard “let the audience know this person is a loser” scene in movies where the forlorn heroine returns from a night of cat-sitting to an answering machine that bleats “you have no messages” would cause confusion with contemporary viewers. Who doesn’t heave a huge sigh of relief to find there’s no voice mail? Is it worth punching in a protracted series of codes and passwords to listen to some three-hour-old voice say, “call me” when you could glance at caller ID and return the call — or better yet, e-mail back instead?

Many people don’t even know how their voice mail works. “I’ve lost that skill,” Ms. Birnbach said.

“I have no idea how to check it,” Ms. David admitted. “I can stay in a hotel for three days with that little red light blinking and never listen. I figure, if someone needs to reach me, they’ll e-mail.”

“I don’t check these messages often,” intoned a discouraging recorded voice, urging callers to try e-mail. And this is the voice-mail recording of Claude S. Fischer, author of a book on the history of the telephone and more recently, “Still Connected: Family and Friends in America Since 1970.”

“When the telephone first appeared, there were all kinds of etiquette issues over whom to call and who should answer and how,” Dr. Fischer, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told me when finally reached by phone. Among the upper classes, for example, it was thought that the butler should answer calls. For a long time, inviting a person to dinner by telephone was beyond the pale; later, the rules softened and it was O.K. to call to ask someone to lunch.

Telephones were first sold exclusively for business purposes and only later as a kind of practical device for the home. Husbands could phone wives when traveling on business, and wives could order their groceries delivered. Almost immediately, however, people began using the telephone for social interactions. “The phone companies tried to stop that for about 30 years because it was considered improper usage,” Dr. Fischer said.

We may be returning to the phone’s original intentions — and impact. “I can tell you exactly the last time someone picked up the phone when I called,” Mary Roach said. “It was two months ago and I said: ‘Whoa! You answered your phone!’ It was a P.R. person. She said, ‘Yeah, I like to answer the phone.’ ” Both were startled to be voice-to-voice with another unknown, unseen human being.

Oh my, where does the time go?

I am shocked that two months have passed since my last blog entry. I'm putting some thought into what has been going on to keep me so busy. First, and most important for my out of control love for shoes, I can say I am having the best year of my professional career. 15 months ago I was thrown into some much needed bed rest while my two broken feet healed. But what really healed for me was my focus and direction. I knew that it was time to really study the rapid decline of our market conditions and start to research and test solutions that I could share with my audiences and clients in 2009. It did not take long to discover that the old song we used to sing...do it with me now..."if you keep on doing what you've always done, your gonna keep on getting what you've always got." That is not true in 2009. If I did the things in my marketing plan that worked 2 years ago, they will not yield the same results today.

And so I set on a journey to find the new path for leasing and marketing. It all comes back to the overly discussed topic on cable news shows, consumer confidence is down. Really down. So down it has fallen and cannot get up! No infomercial, life alert, or shot of Red Bull is going to fix this anytime soon. And so, we adjust. The car companies were some of the first industries to discover this with the "assurance plans". Our industry responded with the "no fear lease agreement". These addendum's are helpful in removing fear and allowing the customer to make a decision.

I was speaking in South Carolina this year when a manager complained that this a practice used by her competition and it was killing her occupancy. I asked if there is anything in her lease agreement that would allow someone to cancel the contract. She replied yes, two months notice and a cancel fee. Hey people, this is what marketing is all about! That manager can offer a no fear lease agreement because she already has one. She is just not selling it. Slap together a flyer, create a logo and get this great news to your customer. Now you have a great tool to remove fear of making the wrong decision.

This is a lesson in my personal life too. We all have the necessary tools for success. Recognize what tools you need to call on to get what you want. You may need to tweak it a bit, but know you can change, adjust and thrive. I think this is why I am having not only the best year of my life professionally, but an amazing, fantastic, and exciting personal life too! Thanks friends, partners and family. You helped bring me back to life. And what a great life it is!

The Digital Comment Card Takes a Stand

Join me as I take a stroll to “back in the day.” I am 21 years old standing in front of my closet looking at my navy blue uniform suit, trying to find something to add to the outfit to disrupt the image of a flight attendant. I try on a few blouses and different shoes and settle for a starched white blouse, a string of pearls and put my hair up so that I would look a little older. This is a funny image to me because now that I am “older” I wear my hair down to look younger! Why did I care so much about how I looked this particular day? Well, it is the day of our quarterly recognition rally called “The IMD Meeting.” This stands for “I made a difference.” The Vice Presidents would hand out awards for excellent shopping report scores, properties beating budget and certain individuals who stood out by doing something above and beyond the call of the job description. Everyone wanted to look their best for this meeting including me as I was hoping for a promotion to a position in the training department.

This meeting is a special one for me, I’ve been mystery shopped twice during the quarter and receive an excellent score on both reports earning me a certificate, some applause and $200 in my pocket. The big surprise came when I won the IMD award because the home office had received an overwhelming number of comment cards talking about various acts of service I’ve offered my important residents. Once again I stand up in my freshly pressed suit and proudly accepted my award. This was an amazing recognition and I tear up when I call my parents to share the exciting news.

I worked for a company that not only cared about the feedback our residents had to share with us, but also created a number of measurable opportunities to solicit this feedback. I’ve been thinking a lot about this while consulting with clients this summer. The hot topic in the marketing world is social media and everyone is trying to figure out what it is all about and if it is worth the effort. Much to my surprise, each client I have worked with this summer has been worried about the negative feedback that a resident may write on our Facebook wall, tweet about on Twitter or direct a scathing video for distribution on You Tube. While I understand the concern, I simply explain that these social media channels are the comment cards of 2009 and beyond. It is the new way for our residents to provide positive and constructive feedback so that we can reward our team members and improve the customers experience. This conversation derived from social media will be mentioned in award and recognition rally’s all over our industry.

This week, apartment pro’s and residents has been observing an interesting lawsuit filed by Horizon Realty versus a resident who posted a tweet to her mere 22 followers concerning mold in her apartment. Horizon felt the statement was unfair and grounds for libel. News of this lawsuit has been filling my twitter screen, discussed in other blogs, mentioned on the walls of Facebook and the topic of conversation in every corner of our country. What I think is interesting is that instead of using the tweet as a form of feedback from the modern day comment card, Horizon would like to argue that a resident cannot tell their friends and followers that they are upset with management. In a world where word of mouse is more powerful than word of mouth, Horizon’s lawsuit has sent the suspicion to thousands of people that they would rather sue a resident than to solve their problems. Now, in all fairness, the inside story may be quite different and Horizon has a good point to make, but the reality is that many will never hear that point as the thought that suing a resident who only has 22 followers and made a comment about mold makes them a landlord who does not care. Let’s remember, perception is everything and in this case Horizon has spread this perception to thousands of people through their law suit.

I am certain my consulting clients will want to use this scenario as a reason to avoid social media. Yet, I still stand firm, use this digital comment card to receive the feedback and show your residents you care. If a customer posts something on the wall, use this as an opportunity to publicly respond that you are glad this has been brought to your attention and want to make the residents home as comfortable as possible. I can promise you that if you abstain from social media, your residents will not. So, be a part of this conversation and see this as a channel to stay in communication with your residents. I admire Mark Juleen from JC Hart who reminded me at the Real Page Users Conference that we can use social media to show we care and when did it no longer become our job to show our residents we care? Good point Mark! See you at the IMD meeting.

Social Networking: How to Get Business

Social Networking: How to Get Business
Join us for a Webinar on June 17

It's hard to ignore social networking and the marketing opportunities they present. Your competition is jumping into this new world of marketing, what are you doing? This Webinar is for those who are taking their first steps into Blogging, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Plaxo and for those who have already engaged but are hoping to find more ways to capitalize on the effort. Learn how to turn social networking into gold by developing databases, staying on contact and creating effortless channels of communication with current and prospective customers.

Title: Social Networking: How to Get Business

Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
CEU: One (1) CEU credit for CCHPs
Cost: Members $50, Non-Members $75


After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://ssl17.pair.com/chpa/cgi-bin/chpa_webinar_reg.pl?goto=webreg

Marketing in a Down Economy

By: Steve Hendershot
Issue Date: April 2009

The recession is bad news for just about every sector of American business, and property leasing is no exception. But before you rush to slash your marketing budget as a cost-saving move, consider that good marketing may be the key to keeping your business afloat. Your tenants are out there, and with careful marketing you can find them.

Rather than dream about high rents and low vacancies, focus on a plan to survive the recession. That means offering great value and making sure people are hearing about what you have to offer—in other words, keep marketing.

“If you need traffic, you shouldn’t cut your marketing budget,” says Kate Good, professional speaker, marketing solutions expert and partner on the Apartment All-Stars tour. Instead of keeping your current marketing program, look at changing it up and marketing more intelligently. Good suggests starting with the tenants already in your properties. “The least expensive strategy is to market internally and close the back door.”

So while it’s critical to study your market and know which promotions are luring tenants, it also makes sense to devote some of those perks—a couple of months free rent or a new flat-screen TV—to your existing clientele. It seems counterintuitive to give discounts to the people who are currently underwriting your revenue stream, but if you increase your retention rate you’ll be solving your vacancy problem without the turnover costs associated with moving in a new tenant.

When it comes to reaching out to prospective tenants, be selective. Figure out who is already drawn to your properties and find more of them. Good uses this example: If you notice that your community appeals to active seniors, invite the local bridge club to meet for free in your clubhouse. That way, more people in the target market will see your property, and word will spread.

“Don’t try to be all things to all people,” says Good. “Identify the kind of people who like your community, find out where they are, and figure out how to attract them. You’re saving money by reaching out to a smaller audience, but it’s the right audience.”

Even with changes to your marketing strategy, don’t do away with all of your traditional marketing.
“Print drives traffic to the Internet, so make sure you keep those ads out there,” says Good. And you have to, do it year-round. “Renters pick up the apartment guide in February or March even though they might be renting in June or July. If you pull your ad in February because you’re not getting any traffic, you’ve lost an opportunity for residual traffic later. I don’t pull back on advertising until I’m full, and most people aren’t full right now.”

Next, consider changing your pricing model. Instead of charging the same rent for every two-bedroom unit, for example, charge more for the unit at the end of the hall with more windows, or the unit with new carpet.

There are two advantages to this strategy. First, you can make more on your premium units. Second, if the least expensive units sell first, then your best units will be available for display during the peak of leasing season.

“If you’re charging a flat rate, your best units get cherry picked,” says Good. “You want to have that more desirable unit—with the higher price tag—available when you have higher traffic.”

Slashing your marketing budget isn’t the right response to the recession—changing the way you approach marketing is.

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.

Hand written cards are a new trend?

Yes. Because no one is taking pen to paper anymore.

Last week I was traveling for 7 straight days. There are many things that are neglected when I am away such as getting my mail. But then again, what really arrives in your snail mail box anyway? My bills are all electronic, I shop online and my friends email me to keep in touch. In fact, I expressed last year in a speech that there was really no need for mail to be delivered 6 days a week.

I landed home in Phoneix for less than 24 hours before I had to turn around to head to Denver for a program with the AAMD called "Successful Selling Inspite of the Slump." As I was rushing out the door and jumping into the cab, it occurred to me that I should empty my snail mailbox. I stuffed a huge pile into my breifcase to read on the plane. Mostly, it was junk. However, it is such a sweet surprise to receive a handwritten card from a retailer, who sells my favorite shoe line, inviting me for a special event.

It seems now that this type of promotion is glanced over when it arrives in our email box. So today, it is unique to see a special invitation that arrives in the form of a handwritten card.

If you want to make an impact with your customers, try the new trend and send them a old fashion card. The team at KateGood.com have found a great way to help you get your cards out. You can have then handwritten for you and this service will even put a stamp on the envelope. We have even set up a system where you can drop in a Starbucks card for a coffee treat. All can be created and ordered online. So simple, so effective.

Check out this link: http://www.leasingthegoodway.com/katecards.html