Email Is The Way To Go

By an overwhelming majority (74.4%), property management personnel prefer to be contacted by vendors through email. The second highest method was by phone at only 15.1%.

Complete Results

Thanks for posting that poll. I guess the next question is, What is the most efficient way of obtaining someone's email? So far the vast majority of my contacts have come from social networking? Is there any other method that people are using?

I think that is the big challenge since often those emails aren't published, although you may be able to get some of they are on the website for executives. This is a really tough question, actually, and maybe someone who voted for "email" will explain how this is possible. Maybe this is restricted to only vendors who they have actually had contact with before and not new vendors...

I believe that Property Management people would prefer to be contacted by email, however i would be interested in the actual conversion rates to sales.

I would be led to believe that Email as it is impersonal, has a very low rate of turning into an actual closed deal. Once personal communication has been made, following up and continued conversation would be fine via email. Initially though, I would think phone calls would be more successful in evaluating a potential client.

Scott Holcomb

Timing is everything. There is nothing like personal contact for sure. Email to start--if you can locate that-- then give them a call. Deliver some personal material for them to review and keep the cycle going. Just be careful you don't turn into a pest!

I have a very comprehensive contact list from my local apartment association for contacts in my area. For reaching out to contacts outside of my market, I've found social networking to be invaluable. I've gotten a lot of business from my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

I had conducted my own poll at the trade shows and find my results match this poll. I always ask, "Do you prefer phone or email for follow up?"

The reason I asked is because I haven't had much luck getting to speak to the correct contact over the phone. More often than not, I get sent to voice mail.

I have sold more through email than by phone in the last year. The challenge is getting the email address. A tip: make your emails short and to the point.

Great poll. Thanks.

Maybe this is just me and a product of having grown up with computers and internet, but these results don't surprise me at all. I'd hate it if Bloomingdales called me every time they had a sale - but boy oh boy, throw a coupon in my inbox and I am THERE, baby!

One tip I can offer here for vendors to acquire leasing manager emails is to use the linkedin.com search for people feature. You will find hundreds of leasing managers, most of whom post their emails.

I do caution you however. It can be unwise to send mass emails to people that have not consented to receiving vendor emails. What we do is we join multifamily and apartment management groups on linkedin and use internal messages to contact potential apartment managers.

Hope this helps.

Sergio Navarrete
Apartment Marketing Solutions

E-mail is critical today. It allows you to present a short message to your client that he/she can look at when they have a moment. I find a lot of my overworked regional managers reply to my e-mails after hours.

Personally, I recommend using both e-mail and phone. Send an eye-catching opening message by e-mail and follow-up with a phone call.

Getting an e-mail address? I've had some success calling the company headquarters, talking to the assistant, explaining what I'm offering briefly. They are freer with e-mail addresses than phone numbers, in my experience.

I have to add one quick comment here: please check your email for typos, misspellings and those wonderful 'word switches' that aren't caught by spellcheck (like "there" for "their"). Nothing is worse than a vendor trying to make a good impression and their email messes it up for them! We all make mistakes like that and unfortunately, some people will 'x' you from their vendor list for your mistakes.

Also some other no-no's: using words like tenant, complex, units, or MDU's. Those tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way and can send a big "I'm trying to see you something and haven't done my due dilligence on what your industry lingo is" to people.

LT

I agree Lisa
In my haste to try and communicate with people, I have sent and posted items I wish I could have taken back. My wife was playfully scolding me after reading some of my posts. I was putting apostrophes where they did not belong, missed a letter in a couple of words etc.

I learned that I need to slow down, reread my communication, and maybe even read it out loud prior to sending it. It is a hard disicpline to master when you have so much to do, but a must if you want to look professional.

I normally write my emails in word and then simply copy and paste it into the email. That way I get it spell and grammar checked before!

For me, one of the strongest tools when discussing email issues with my managers is to have them read it aloud. They are able to catch their grammatical issues and then see "there" spelling mistakes. Also, they are catching on to the fact that writing the way you speak can give a prospect a strong representation of your personality... which isn't always advisable.

I believe that most people would prefer to be contacted by email. For the reason that the recipient has the power or control if they would want to respond and they get to keep their privacy. But it still depends on the person some still prefer other ways such as phone call or sms message.

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ok, that I didn't know. What is the proper word for unit?

Sometimes getting that email is tricky! I wish Props website had it on there, but PM turnover is so high they’d be changing it A LOT!