The National Apartment Association (NAA) Annual Conference is coming up fast. This year I’ll be moderating a panel titled: How The Zero Moment Of Truth Requires Us To Change Sales.

One of the members of the panel is Jason Whittington. Jason is Vice President-Business Solutions at Gene B. Glick Company. As a senior member of a mid-sized operator, Jason brings a unique perspective to the discussion. He has to deal with the same challenges that much larger operators manage, and he must be particularly focused on how he allocates his limited resources.

Recently, we sat down with Jason and asked him a few questions about how he arrived at the conclusion that sales in the multifamily industry needs to change. Here’s a summary of our discussion to give you a quick preview into our NAA panel.

What prompted you to even consider the idea that sales in multifamily needed to change?

A couple of years ago, my wife and I decided to build a house. There was a period of time before our house was ready that we needed to lease an apartment. Like everyone else who leases an apartment, we started shopping. Guess what? Apartment shopping was not like any other recent shopping experience we had in the last several years. I was struck by how much the multifamily sales process was stuck in the past.

Additionally, I had recently attended a presentation by Daniel Pink. That presentation already planted the idea in my head that people shop differently now, and the multifamily industry was behind. My shopping experience confirmed that what I was thinking was correct.

What was it about the process that made you feel that way?

Every property, not just one, but every property we looked at used a sales approach that was really just about the process. It was not about me at all. And none of the processes took into account how people shop for things today. I felt like I had stepped back in time and that made me question our approach at Glick.

What did you do?

I put my thoughts together and met with my colleagues in senior leadership. I asked them how they shop these days and shared examples of my own recent buying experiences. They all had similar experiences. Then I compared those experiences to my apartment shopping experience. It was clear to everyone that the multifamily process had not adapted to the ZMOT.

Everyone in the room agreed that we needed to change our sales approach, so I set out to make that happen.

What were your next steps?

I identified D2 Demand Solutions as the right partner to help Glick make this change. Working together, we designed a new sales process. We began rolling out the new process in Spring 2015 taking a phased approach.

In Phase 1, we focused on retraining current associates. We needed to break our leasing associates of the bad “it’s all about our process” habits the old sales process had created and replace those with new, “it’s all about the prospect” focused habits.

Phase 2 was about developing an onboarding process for new associates to help build the new behaviors from the beginning.

How has the new process been received?

Our leasing associates love it! It allows them to be themselves. They no longer have to follow scripts that they were never really comfortable with. The process is natural and guided by what we know is the prospect’s journey…not by checking boxes. Many of our associates feel relieved. They’re no longer evaluated on checking boxes that many times were impossible to check because of where the prospect was in their own process. Our leasing associates are now acting more like trusted advisors and less like interrogators and data gatherers.

Did your experienced leasing associates have any issues with adopting the process?

That was something we worried about, but it turned out that we didn’t need to worry at all. Glick is fortunate to have several leasing associates with 25+ years experience. They are the biggest champions for the new process and are spreading their excitement.

Has the new process improved results?

Prior to implementing the new approach, our year-over-year occupancy rates were declining. Since implementation, we have reversed that decline and ultimately picked up more than 400bps of occupancy.

What advice do you have for other operators?

I would (and do) tell other operators to take a step back and think about the kind of shopping experience they would want to have when looking for an apartment. If their current sales process wouldn’t give them that experience, then it needs to change.

Make sure you join us on Thursday, June 16 at 9 AM to learn more about how Jason and Glick have adapted their approach to sales to meet the expectations of today’s buyers. It should be a great discussion! See you there.