What the best way to get a regional or property manager to take a meeting with you?

I’m curious to know what the best way to get a regional or property manager to take a meeting with you? I’m an outside sales rep for a vendor. I’m new to the industry so any feedback is valuable!

Feed us lunch

Food is always good. Offer to sponsor on site team meetings, safety meetings, manager meetings, and cocktails st social gatherings are never a bad idea.

Food

Sponser a managers meeting

Food and beverage but NEVER from the 1st to the 5th of the month. Low pressure dont hound them. But, yes food!!

Food & no surprises.

Avoid the fist 5-10 days of the month. That’s the biggest mistake you can make.
Also, NEVER call or walk in first thing on a Monday either.

Everything everyone else said above will definitely work and some persistence. they may not have been receptive initially because they have a good relationship with the existing vendor so you may have a little bit of a hurdle to climb , take the long approach it will generally pay off with good follow up

Bring food, be brief, be genuine! Starbucks never hurts

I would focus on the Regional Managers (RMs) over onsite staff. Be involved with any area organizations. I know a few vendors that have a crappy product but are highly networked and involved.

Heart sell. Not hard sell.

I once had a vendor come in for several weeks before I actually had the chance to talk with her when she popped in. Her persistence paid off, and we still know each other 19 years later.

They love you to host full staff pizza parties. They also like free stuff like AirPods. Lol

I work for a management company that uses preferred vendors and we also require our vendors to be in Compliance Depot, so I would make sure you are aware of the vendor requirements as well as what everyone else said. Good luck ????

gift certificates to stores close to the property; being in recovery from anorexia and having a dairy allergy...food isn’t gonna get you anywhere with me.

Make an appointment
Be full of information

No Monday’s!

No show on a Monday, come with coffee or food

Super Bowl Tickets?

Biggest thing is attitude, do not forget you can mingle with leasing professionals and assistant managers.. this industry is continuously promoting from within.. and from experience I fired a vendor because of how he treated my staff like they where non existent. Food is always good.. offer to bring or host events in their properties . In the larger aspect get involved with your local apartment association. I only use apartment association involved vendors as they give back to our growing community by being members. You will also catch the big wings (regionals, VPs) at association events. So get involved. Your goal is when ever a manager thinks or has an issue they remember your name then your company. My vendors are everything to me and if you treat me well I will bend over backwards to get you business and refer you to everyone I know. Happy hour meet ups with other managers was always fun. ???????????? Good luck! I’ve always thought about being a vendor I’m sure your jobs are equally as hard but enjoyable as well.

Get involved with industry associations to develop relationships.

I've been on both sides of this, so it's taught me to try to be a little more understanding from both perspectives. I was a manager for years, then I was a rep, now I'm back to managing. When I was a rep, my company required that I log a certain number of visits each day, no matter what day of the month it was. I hated doing it, and I tried my hardest to make those particular visits very brief and basic, drop off a report, and make sure there was nothing they needed from me. I also staggered my visits as much as possible so I wasn't always hitting the same properties at the first of the month, and I still had some managers who would be mad at me occasionally. As a manager now, I try really hard to always give my vendors at least a minute or two to check in if I am able to make myself available unless they are just downright pushy because I know sometimes they don't have a choice. Reality in our industry is that while we have to consider the bottom line, when we have choices, vendor decisions are largely relationship based. It takes time to build those relationships, but it's worth it. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate gift cards and treats, but I'm not going to base a decision off of them. I'm going to make a decision based on trusting you and not feeling like you're trying to sell me on something. If you're going to give them anything, try to figure out what makes them tick on some level and appeal to that- something that they'll remember that sets you apart. I value my team a great deal, and I love when vendors include my whole team. I agree that the best way to start developing those relationships if you haven't been able to get them to meet with you is to get involved in your local apartment association chapter, and try to build from there. Even if you aren't directly involved with that manager or regional, word of mouth and that "brand recognition" you start developing can go a long way.

Lunch, dinner, breakfast...always worked for me

Honestly having goods or service that they actually need is key! Just keep trying. And be patient. It’s a jungle out there!

In case you were still on the fence.....
Food.????

Do you play golf?

Fellow sales rep here. I make it a point never to come by on Monday or Friday, or anytime between the 28th and 5th unless I’m invited. I also try to call or email ahead of my visit, but still show up if I don’t get a response within a few days as emails are often filtered and phone calls aren’t always passed along (people get busy).
I guess my golden rule is try my best not to disrupt their business and treat their time with respect. They usually return the favor.

Meet them at an event and then follow up - dozens a calls a week from new vendors ... most are a waste of time.

Local apartment association partners meetings

Three tips- 1-become a part of a local apartment association, 2-Truly understand the company/properties you are approaching and the market they are in (for instance, pressuring a company that primarily owns and manages HUD properties to purchase multi page print marketing packages and heavy online presence is a waste of time- they likely have a waitlist and no spare money, yes this happens constantly????) 3-Understand who makes the decisions in the company. Be polite and informative to the regionals and property managers, but if Asset Management or Procurement makes the decision on purchasing, set meetings with them.

It takes time to build a relationship. Get involved in the association and build from there.

Treat everyone with respect and kindness onsite, even other vendors. It goes a long way.
I don't have to take gift cards or coffee to get 5 minutes with a property.
The biggest reason we get the calls and intros is because of continued trust that has been built over the years.
Good luck!

Get involved with the local apartment association & go to luncheons, other networking events and join a committee. They are at most of these functions so you are already networking with them.

Hi Alex, for me as a regional I prefer you contact my managers and set meetings up with them. I trust that they know what their needs are better than I. We have monthly managers meeting and setting up a time to do a presentation for my whole groups works most effectively and saves us time. I do want to warn you that most of our vendors current or prospects offer food for this meeting, I.e. breakfast or lunch. We have never made this a requirement but when they offer us food we don’t decline ????. Hope that helps.

Building relationships at the local apartment association as well; you'll enjoy getting involved and you'll have access to a lot of PM's and RPM's. I echo all other comments that have already been mentioned.