Flawless First Impressions

How do you think the average leasing team in the industry is doing and how do you compare?

I recently had the pleasure of perusing last quarter’s industry report card from CallSource, where they conducted a Telephone Performance Analysis of 1,436 communities nationwide.

Having been in the multifamily industry for over 14 years, the results are not surprising.

Of 81,800 telephone calls:

Only 36% were converted to appointments

• Only 61% of leasing professionals obtained the callers name

As multifamily training specialists, we conducted our own survey to see how the Atlanta metro market stacks up.

Out of the 10 communities we contacted, eight calls were answered by a leasing professional (two went directly to voicemail). Of those:

• Only 25% asked to schedule an appointment
• The leasing professional obtained my name on 38% of the calls

According to the report, this equates to 2,623 appointment setting opportunities being missed, resulting in 656 fewer leases.

Yes, you read that right— 656 potential leases were lost! The total lease revenue lost by these communities is an astounding $7,742,506.

If you are a leasing professional, the odds are that your first contact with a prospect will be by telephone.  In fact, four out of every five of your residents first contacted your community by phone!

Time and again, I see guest cards that are missing the most basic information and a lack of follow through on setting an appointment. The industry’s top performers convert 50% to 60% of their qualified telephone traffic (compared to the industry average of 37%).

Of the ten communities we shopped, only two leasing professionals did a thorough job. We began the call in the typical way most leasing calls start out: “How much are your two bedroom apartments?”

The most successful leasing professional was able to obtain the answers to the following questions by using a conversational format that kept me engaged:

• Hi! My name is Robin and I can help you!
• How soon are you looking to move?
• How many people will this be for?
• Whom am I speaking with?
• How long of a lease term are you seeking?
• Will you be bringing any pets?
• Is there a budget you are trying to stay within?
• Why are you moving?
• Are you able to stop in this weekend?
• Confirmed the spelling of my first name and asked for my last name
• Asked for my phone number and email address

In addition, she sold me on the location by telling me how easy my commute was going to be and describing how spacious their floor plans were (and how much wall space I had in which to place my furniture). She did such a great job painting a picture; I would have set an appointment with her in a heartbeat if I didn’t already own a home!

Each one of the eight calls answered by a leasing professional had the same opportunity to build a rapport with me, be descriptive, and convince me to set an appointment.

As Training Specialists, we give leasing professionals the tools to achieve their goals. It is up to you to follow through and build a rapport with your prospect and secure the appointment. After conducting training with our clients, we provide a follow-up program to monitor your success.

Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you’re taking full advantage of the opportunity that each leasing call represents:

1. Do you start selling the minute you answer the phone?
2. Is the ringing of the telephone an interruption to your day?
3. How many calls go to voicemail/answering service on a daily basis?
4. Do you take the initiative on every leasing call to ask your prospect to visit your community?
5. When you're busy, do you rush the conversation just to get back to whatever you were doing?
6. Do you try to get to know your prospect and build a rapport?
7. Do you try to get your prospects contact information (phone and email)?
8. Do you try to qualify your prospect?
9. Do you ask how they heard about your community?
10. Do you engage your prospect and make the conversation memorable?

How much would your conversion of telephone-to-traffic be impacted if you were to truly concentrate on turning more of those calls into appointments?

How much more successful would the resulting visits be if the appointment was built on a flawless first impression?

Tracey Lott Heitzman

National Training Specialist, CAP

Evolv Real Estate Solutions

P.S.- Your closing ratio would most certainly skyrocket and your presentations would be enormously successful if you use the telephone to its best advantage.