What would be the first words that come to mind when you hear the term “salesperson”? When people in focus groups have been asked this question, the most common responses have been: pushy, sleazy, greedy, aggressive, annoying, manipulative, and other such negative words. While this reputation was partially deserved, today the modern makeup of an effective salesperson is quite different. More on that in a moment.

Rarely uttered in response to that question would be the term service-oriented; and this is unfortunate if you’re a multifamily owner or operator. Through my conversations about revenue and demand management with leaders in this industry, I constantly hear the wish that leasing offices had more of a “sales culture.” I’ve even heard some very respected leaders exclaim, “The problem is that our leasing associates are too damn service oriented.”

When I hear statements like this, I realize that we are still treating the symptoms of ineffective sales processes, rather than addressing what's really causing the problem. The issue is not that we’re hiring the wrong types of people, it’s that we’re putting them in the wrong process, with the wrong structure and the wrong incentives.

As we’ve shared before, sales cultures aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. And the reality is that when you take a look at the key success contributors in the sales process, you quickly realize that service elements are actually quite important to success. Consider what’s important to a successful leasing associate:

• Comfort working from a single location in a routine
• Responsiveness
• The desire and ability to get along with a wide variety of people
• A willingness to support people (prospects) through a very stressful part of their life
• Comfort in managing a significant amount of detail and ensuing that things are done a certain way
• The willingness to work for a reasonable salary and bonus

I could go on, but when you look at the list of personality characteristics, you realize that what we have here is a service-driven sale.

Further, when you dig into the research that’s done in more sales-intensive industries, you see that the makeup of a top performing salesperson has changed. Where the past focused on someone who could “make it rain,” the modern salesperson takes a different approach. In research done by CEB and presented in their bestselling book, The Challenger Sale, they highlight three commonalities in their approach: teach, tailor and take control.

Take A Teaching Position

Successful salespeople take a teaching position in their interactions with prospects. Twenty years ago, prospects relied on salespeople to access basic information. If a prospect wanted to know the availability, amenities or price for specific communities, they had to visit or call the leasing associate. Today they get all of that information online.

To be relevant, salespeople leasing associates need to become curators of information, rather than merely sources of it. Their job is to “teach” prospects how to make sense of a complex process, determine what’s truly important and help them make good decisions. Merely spouting out features and benefits just doesn’t work anymore.

Tailor

The really fun thing about selling is that every interaction is different from another. While there are important commonalities between interactions, (an important component to building an effective system) every sales situation is unique.

Effective salespeople are able to tailor their approach to the person/people they’re talking with. The days of pre-planned tour paths and secret shops that assess compliance to a pre-conceived set of actions are gone and should be thrown out. We need to be teaching our associates to have “best friend” conversations with prospects, personalizing their knowledge and approach to the uniqueness of the interaction.

Take Control

Admittedly this is where many leasing associates are weak. They give up control to their prospects and as a result, fail to create any real impact. However, this has more to do with the processes they’re following than their style or personality. The sales process used by the vast majority of the multifamily industry simply falls apart when the modern buyer is involved. Because the process is wrong, leasing associates have no means to maintain control without upsetting the prospect.

However, when the process – the entire process – is built to align with how modern buyers shop and engage, then the game changes and leasing associates are able to control the process. The result is much greater value created by the leasing associate and the likelihood of winning the business increases meaningfully.

Can Service-Oriented People Sell?

Let’s go back to our initial question. Can service-oriented people sell? (As you read the answer, please picture the climatic scene from the movie A Few Good Men) You’re damn right they can sell! I wouldn’t want anybody else leasing at my community.