How often does the leasing or administrative staff review guest cards? Closing and conversion ratios are calculated, often by the management software. Taking the time to review the cards might provide some insights into leasing skills and generate potential traffic.

Looking at the information of those who visited the proeprty but didn’t commit to a lease..individuals that make appointments and provide contact information are reasonably serious contenders for potential leases. What was the deal breaker? Where did they decide to lease? Follow up calls to determine customer satisfaction could provide some interesting results.

-Needed to think about it
-Want to bring in significant other.

Waiting six to eight hours to follow up and see where someone is in the decision making process, is not bothering a prospect. At twelve hours plus, the prospect on the line is done nibbling on your line and moving on to another offer.

Leasing staff will respond with “I sent an email,” “I left a voicemail.”

First, are you confident the email was received? Did the prospect respond? Did you request an electronic receipt to confirm delivery and read status? Many individuals receive hundreds of emails each day. The thought process “I’ll respond to that later”…poof, the day is busy and the email is lost in the sea of incoming information, requests and assignments.

Confirming with a prospect that you want to follow up, What email address is best? What is the best time?

Scheduling follow up time for calls in the evening offers the best opportunities for actual contact with the prospect. If the leasing staff is floundering with weak responses, it may be time for the Community Manager or the Leasing Manager to initiate their own calls.

What is the purpose of the follow up call? Getting the commitment for the lease? Can you accept credit cards for this application fee? if not, the goal of the follow up call is to get the prospect back to the property. Too many times, the perception is the follow up call is simply a contact of the prospect. Agreed, thanking them for the visit is good customer service, but keeping the focus on the objective may give the call more definition and more structure.

Not offering a substantial action with a follow up call, is no different than not asking for the commitment when the prospect is at the property.

“Just wondered if you have any questions, I’m available if you need anything.”

The prospect needs a new place to live!

Explain where they are in the application/move in process.

This is Lauren Leaser from Happy Homes Apartments. Thank you for visiting our property yesterday. I’m following up, you indicated you had a couple of other properties to visit and needed to bring in your daughter to see the apartment. I have a leasing appointment tomorrow at the end of the day or Saturday morning to work around her school schedule. To finalize the choice of your apartment home, we need the completed application and processing fee, which can be completed online. Once we’ve received the approval for the background screening, and an income verification, we can have everything ready for you to move in in 48 hours. This works with the planned moving date that we talked about during your visit. Will the appointment tomorrow afternoon work for you? I’m looking forward to meeting your daughter. Our Kids Club meets tomorrow afternoon, so it would be a perfect time for her to meet some other children her age.

With the follow up call, its time to set the ground work to secure the lease for the individuals that didn’t commit during the initial visit. Work this leasing opportunity, encourage the prospect to visit or make a commitment. They made the initial visit for a reason, find out why. Its the second chance to get the lease commitment.