12 tips on how to ace your Internet Shop and impress me the most!

Top Secret

1.  THINK PERSONAL: I sometimes find myself reading through wonderfully written responses with plenty of great information about the apartment and the community.  Unfortunately, unless the prospect views it as a personal response, it’s not nearly as effective.

2.  GET THE PROSPECT’S ATTENTION QUICKLY:  You would be surprised at the kind of  impact the first few sentences has on a prospect.  Shoot for something personal and unique in the introduction for the prospect to read and say, “Wait a minute!  Let me read some more of this!”  I often find that the introductions that are a bit more conversational are the ones I like the best.

3.  ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS:  It is so disappointing to know that a prospect has taken the time to write an email to the property asking specific questions and the questions NOT getting answered. It’s so nice to read a response when the leasing professional has thoroughly discussed the prospect’s needs and concerns.  Honestly, the more help you offer the prospect, the more it’s appreciated.

4.  PAINT LIKE MONET:  If you really want to win me over, let me see you paint a wonderful picture of an apartment and the community.  I want to know what’s going to be included such as dishwasher, garbage disposal, and refrigerator etc, but I really want to envision myself in a wonderfully clean and comfortable apartment.  I want to envision myself  living in the apartment and being relaxed, comfortable and content.

5.  SHOW AN INTEREST:  When a leasing professional shows a true and genuine interest in the prospect, it’s a wonderful thing to see.  If someone has expressed their needs to you, please show that you’re interested in what hardships they might be facing.  Relocating alone is stressful.  I look for a desire to help, empathy, compassion, and understanding to be communicated to the prospect in their response.  That really makes me happy.

6: TALK BENEFITS:  Frequently I see that the leasing professionals are attractively describing the property and the apartment.  However, if you don’t emphasize the BENEFITS of those features, it doesn’t count!!!  When a benefit is pointed out, it makes the prospect see a personal gain from that feature.  It makes them realize that they will benefit by what you offer. It’s the “What’s in it for me?” concept.

7.  WATCH THE GRAMMAR:  I don’t like to see a response with too many errors in it.  It makes me question if much preparation and care was put into writing the response.  “To err is human.”  This we know.  However, an excessive amount of mistakes make more of a statement than you realize about you and your community.

8.  BE HAPPY:  We all have days when we are less enthused about our work.  When writing a response, use positive, happy and uplifting words in your response.  Before writing your response, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think about a beautiful, bright and sunny day.  I know it sounds cheezie, but it works.  I love to read responses when the effort to uplift the prospect is evident.  Most importantly, I love it when it’s sincere.  A leasing professional using encouraging statements in his/her response gets my attention quickly.

9.  KEEP THE PROSPECT’S ATTENTION:  With all of these helpful tips on how to ace your shop, don’t feel the need to cram everything into your next response.  Don’t bombard them with too much information.  Sometimes, the most effective responses are some of the shorter ones.  To be honest, the more lengthy responses will lose the prospect’s attention in many cases.

10.  CREATE URGENCY:  Don’t be afraid to create a sense of urgency . It’s a great selling strategy.  It’s part of the business.  Make sure you strongly encourage the prospect not to wait too long.  Make sure you communicate that deals like this don’t come to often and won’t last long.

11.  ASK QUESTIONS:  It’s great to read a response where the leasing professional has strategically included questions in order to create a dialogue.  Not only are you enticing the prospect to respond, it also gives the impression that you are truly interested in them and that you want to know them on a personal level.

12.  SUGGEST OPTIONS:  Overall, the most effective responses to a prospect’s inquiry are the ones that have put forth the effort to discuss what options the prospect will have.  I love it when I see a leasing professional who has gone above and beyond to suggest solutions for the prospect’s needs.  Suggesting different options gives the prospect a great sense of encouragement and a realization that they will have choices at your community.  In other words, they can pick what’s best for them.  This tells the prospect a lot about the staff and the community as a whole.

Keep these helpful tips in mind when preparing your next response.  Remember, the quality of the response is what matters to me the most.  I hope you have enjoyed these helpful tips and utilize them in ways that will move mountains.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Anonymous

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