4 Tablespoons Curb Appeal

1 Quart of Apartment Training

½ Cup of Welcoming Office Environment

¼ Cup of Targeted Marketing

1 Pint of Community Reputation

2 Cups of Answering the Phone

2 Cups of Returning Prospect Emails

3 Cups of Welcoming Prospects at the Front Door

2 Cups of Follow Up

1 Smile from Ear to Ear

1 Heart that Wants to Help Someone Find a Home

1 Handshake with a pinch of determination

Blend all these ingredients well.  Cook at 350 degrees of Passion.  Don’t ever let it cool.  Decorate the lease with resident retention rosebuds.  Make your presentation and make that resident drool with anticipation.  Repeat this process daily.  Don’t be wowed by any add water and stir recipes that are out there.  Stick to the fundamentals and you will bake something special every day.  Did I miss any ingredients?  Let me know in the comments below.

Written by Jonathan Saar  If you wish to subscribe to regular posts, please subscribe here.

It is only a couple of weeks away!  It really snuck up on us for sure.  This is definitely going to be a week to remember.  This year we decided to set up a booth for Brainstorming, so we look forward to chatting with a whole bunch of great multifamily folks who are interested in education.  Come and see us at B-26.  The focus on this post is the overall apartment education we will all receive by attending both conferences.

It will be hard to list all the wonderful seminars that are up and coming, but I am going to highlight a few since they impacted me at the last Optimization Summits and Brainstorming, and their impact did not end there!  They are people who I have continued to collaborate with and will be at the conference this next month.   There are also some first timers that I plan on attending since the topics look very interesting and from their history it appears likely that they practice what they preach so that gives those two thumbs up for me.  So here we go!

Brainstorming

Geno Church from Brains on Fire is the keynote speaker on Wednesday.  I have not been able to get out of my head this phenomenal expression: “People are the killer app”.  He discussed that in depth earlier this year and I look forward to hearing it again at Brainstorming.  Brains on Fire recently came out with a book which I look forward to purchasing for myself soon.

Duncan Alney with Firebelly Marketing will be speaking on crisis communication which I have always found to be an interesting topic.  It takes very little for an onsite or corporate incident to spread like wildfire.  Duncan impressed me earlier this year with his thoughtful approach to making sure we as people and our companies are involved in the conversation and topics that are residents and customers are talking about.

Patty Morgan-Seager and Steve Matre will be chatting about time management.  This is an ongoing problem on all levels for all of us workaholics.  Patty and Steve always make me smile so I know that this seminar will do the same.

Kim Cory and Dan Oltersdorf will be speaking on student housing.  They both have proven themselves to be true veterans and pioneers of the student housing market.  Whenever I speak to them about their communities and ideas they have used and implemented, it completely blows my mind.  They made a cool Facebook page called “House Rules” which is dedicated to student housing topics.  This dynamic duo I know will bring some great info to the table.

Jay Ehret will speak about building an awesome brand by design.  Hearing Jay earlier this year, having numerous conversations with him since and hearing from multifamily professionals who have enlisted his services, it is quite apparent to me that he practices what he preaches and that it is effective.  Make sure you pencil this session in, if your brand identity is a topic for your company.

Those are just a smidge of topics that will be presented at Brainstorming.  I have the privilege of being on the idea panel on Friday with a bunch of very cool multifamily folks.  Coming up with those ideas was no easy task, so it will be interesting to see what a bunch of nerds in one room will have put together. Make sure you take the time to plan ahead for what you really need for education and don’t miss out on anything.

Optimization Summits

Brian Solis in many ways has been the pioneer for social media.  He will be speaking about the conversation prism which is one of my favorite visuals and topics.  Beyond the technical aspects of social media, there is much more to consider in social media which is why I look forward to attending his session.

Mack Collier’s session last time had standing room only and I know for sure that will take place again.  His concept of thinking like a rock star allows those brain juices to flow strong.  Since that session I have personally watched Mack engage his audience via his blog, twitter chat and regular online conversations.  What he teaches works! I hope there is a seat available for me.

Chris Penn from Blue Sky Factory will provide data about email marketing that just cannot be ignored.  If you are interested in saving money and delivering campaigns that have a broader and more effective reach, then this is the seminar to be at.

Mike Whaling had in some in depth Facebook sessions earlier this year and they have been brought back for very good reason.  Every single person I spoke to about his sessions could only express how impressed they were with the education.  This session once again I am sure will be all about “doing”.

Lauren Fernandez from Radian6 will be speaking about using social media too bridge the generational gap.  I do not know Lauren real well except for a few tweets here and there, but the subject is intriguing to me so I look forward to the education.

So that is a basic list for me to help with my overall educational objectives.  I could go on and on about the educational sessions that Tami Siewruk and her team have put together.  The point is you just need to be there! Check out Tami’s Brainstorming and Optimization Summits sites and make your educational decisions ahead of time.  Planning is important.  If you have any sessions that you plan on attending please mention them below in the comments section and tell me why.  I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Written by Jonathan Saar

For a quick throw back to earlier this year, check out our Why You Need To Be at Optimization Summits Video below.

This is similar to defining what comes first, the chicken or the egg.  Training and education should not have an end point.  In the most successful organizations, it is continual and ongoing. In fact, the greatest impact comes from utilizing performance reviews as a springboard to initiate additional and appropriate training and mentoring.  This process we term as “Aspire to Excellence” creates the most benefits for employees and companies alike.

In our industry it is common practice to complete performance evaluations of employees, whether it be in the form of mystery shopping, quarterly reviews or budgetary measurements. In the past, these evaluations have only delivered reports citing issues or achievements. But knowing the problem without having a solution is like building a 1/2 million dollar house and failing to add the roof. It is of no benefit. That is why having a triggered benchmark and training program is so beneficial. It not only recognizes if there is a problem but provides training to facilitate a solution. In your company, what do you do when your performance bench-marked expectations are not fulfilled?

Do your employees receive a reprimand or do you have a system that automatically initiates appropriate training and or mentoring?  Your system should initiate training and mentoring in order to provide the most successful results. It is fully accepted in most industries, including the multifamily industry, that in order for job expectations and excellence  to be realized in the first place, training is the beginning point. But what about training as the solution?

So no matter where learners and team members are in their career path, the only way to help them achieve the success that they want and the fulfilled expectations you need is to implement a system that commands both training and performance in a full circle proactive approach.

Anything else becomes a wall to a learner with no clear direction on what is to happen next.

Written by Mechelle Flowers -President of The Training Factor

Have you reviewed the benefit factors of an automated system?

Our ability to be a true example of successful conflict resolution begins outside the office and especially in down time situations with other team members.  If offsite situations rattle your cage then your sincerity to handle onsite situations will not shine through.  You can’t fake conflict resolution.

Put yourself in the following scenarios and ask yourself how you reacted the last time they happened.

The airline misplaced your baggage

The restaurant took long to bring your order or brought you the wrong items

The bank incorrectly applied service charges to your account

The cashier did not ring up prices correctly on your purchases and does not know what to do next

I am sure you can think of other very aggravating situations.  Feel free to tell me below.  Now I want you to view these situations from both angles.  First of all how did you initially react to these inconveniences?  Did you blow your top right away and become very demanding?  Or did you patiently try to work through the situation?  Now look at from the other side.  How did your emotions change based on the reaction of the person who made the mistake?  Think of the times when you knew the person really could not care less about what happened to you but is merely voicing script in order to handle the situation.  Now contrast that with the times when you genuinely felt the sincerity of the individual who is trying to rectify the situation.  Can you see how it is not possible to fake conflict resolution?

Our teams need to see us as a strong example of living conflict resolution as opposed to just reading a script.  Team leaders who portray this successfully win the hearts of their teammates and of those around them.  In the apartment world and in life in general there are conflicts daily.  The more challenging situations are probably right in the office.  Not faking conflict resolution is no easy task.  It is hard to control the thoughts of wanting to pop someone in the jaw.  The question is how often as companies, do we address this topic?  What are you doing in your coaching, mentoring and training in order to address this topic on a consistent basis?

When you think back to all the situations when we knew that someone was “faking it”, it really gives us grounds and room for improvement within ourselves.  Don’t fake it….live it.

I am interested in hearing your approach to this topic with your teams.  What have you found successful?

Written by Jonathan Saar.

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The following letter was from a resident to one of our clients.  This letter was a must share and there is an interesting lesson to learn from it.  I removed the names for privacy purposes and I really appreciate our client forwarding this to us.  This is a huge testimony to what an overall company culture can do for an organization and how effective training in skills such as customer service really pays off.

“Dear Management Company:

I am writing this letter to Thank Awesome Leasing Professional, one of your leasing agents for her professionalism and hospitality.

On May 28, 2010, I arrived an hour before closing at Community Awesome in a frantic panic. I had just left a neighboring apartment complex where I was to move into one of the units on that very day; but to my dismay, the apartment that was discussed was not presented. In fact, the unit was located in an area that I clearly stated was not going to be comfortable or even safe enough for me to reside in. At that point management proceeded to show me another unit that was 4 flights up and to add insult to injury, at a higher rate.

Well, you can imagine, I had a lot of emotions come over me all at one time. I was hurt, angry, disappointed, and scared about where I was going to live. I had a time frame to be out of my current home and had reserved a moving truck, turned on my electricity, moved my phone and internet service along with getting all of the monies together to move into this apartment the following day.  When I asked management about what we had discussed, they simply said “Well, this is all we have available, think it over and get back to me later this evening, take care”. I was floored! Here I am, scheduled to move in the next day and there was absolutely no concern about my well being or about what was discussed in regards to the living space. I got in my car and drove directly into the parking lot of Community Awesome.

Thank God for Awesome Leasing Professional! I had met her previously before when I initially was looking for a place to live. As I quickly walked into the office, her face was the first thing I saw. I immediately started rambling about my situation and how I needed to move in ASAP! In fact, if it was possible the next day. She was so kind and accommodating as she pulled up my information and calmly took charge of my chaos.  She explained to me exactly what I needed to do so that she could get the ball rolling for me. At this time, it is just a little after 5pm as she handed me the application to complete and gave me instructions on the next course of action.  I still needed to go to the bank and get my monies redistributed to bring back the money orders to finalize my application.

Awesome Leasing Professional, waited patiently for me to complete my transactions as I returned just a couple of minutes before closing time. She assured me that everything was going to be okay, in fact she stated that she was going to come in the next day, which just so happened to be her day off, to ensure that my paperwork was done for me to move in by June 1, 2010.

To say Thank you just isn’t enough. I was moved to tears, and grateful that she took it upon herself to not just get another tenant, but she showed heart felt compassion and empathy for my situation. As a consumer, it is refreshing to have people really listening to you and taking the time to resolve your issues.

I want you to know that Awesome Leasing Professional is a true Gem. She represents your organization to the highest levels of integrity. I personally wanted to thank her for being here for me in my moment of despair. She brought the sunshine into a cloudy day.

I am now a resident and this has been a wonderful beginning. I am happy and excited about living here.  Your whole staff has been amazing! Please continue to support them, because it is “rare” to get great service and it has been impeccable! Thank you again.”~~Contributed

Did you notice that this resident initially had made a decision to move into another community?  Can you imagine the situation if the Awesome Leasing Professional did not create a memorable experience when the potential resident first met her?  There are some amazing lessons to be learned by this situation.  You never know how you are going to close a lease.  Even if it seems that you may not get the sale, can you not see how important it is to maintain a full force customer service demeanor right down to the end.  Awesome Leasing Professional did and the results speak for themselves.

What are your thoughts on this letter?  How do you maintain that full force customer service demeanor through the entire process of dealing with potential residents?

Written by Jonathan Saar

Did you know that our Learning Management System is not only a fantastic value add for property management companies but also for apartment associations?

Being proactive is without a doubt the single best policy for any company.  That being said, when is the last time that we analyzed the strength behind our human resource department?  Too often companies will place this department on the lower end of the corporate totem pole with the misconception that the only reason it is even necessary is because, “My attorney said so”.

I want to share with you some research from SexualHarassment.com.  Notice this paragraph from section O-iii

Most large companies have human resource departments and most companies’ sexual harassment policies call for human resources to handle the reporting and investigation of sexual harassment complaints. Thus, in most sexual harassment cases, the human resource department is on trial. If the company has an adequate sexual harassment policy and employees know how to report sexual harassment to human resources, and in fact report sexual harassment to human resources and the department performs an adequate investigation, then plaintiff will probably lose any sexual harassment case other than a strict liability case against a supervisor.

However, thorough discovery will usually reveal that the human resource department of the company is not as good as it looks.

The reason why human resource departments are inadequate is simple. They do not make money for the company. Many companies have human resource departments only because an attorney advising the company regarding sexual harassment has told them to, and often very little of the human resource personnel time is spent on sexual harassment prevention, training and investigation.

Does this not speak for itself?  Even though this section of the law is pertaining to sexual harassment, Fair Housing is an even bigger concern since the government is fully endorsing testing groups to go out and mystery shop your properties to see whether or not your team is following the Fair Housing act.  Here are some questions you need to ask about your human resources department.

Does my team have regular compliance training?

Do I have a way to prove that the training took place?

Is my human resource department properly staffed and empowered to do their job?

Is there a follow up program if a team member falls below the benchmark set for education?

Do you know specifically which part of the education the learner failed in?

Does your team just “know” the laws or are they educated with real life scenarios?

Perhaps you have some other questions that the human resources department should ask.  This really is no laughing matter and this department should never be scoffed at.  Technology has enables many companies to streamline the process and provide a SAFE and economically sound solution to compliance education.  Do I really need to start citing lawsuits and the financial judgments that have been passed as a result of a “weak human resources department”?  We read about them all of the time.  Specifically when it comes to Fair Housing violations, I post them regularly on our Facebook page.  This has created an even greater awareness of really the scope of what is going on.  I encourage you to join the page.

From a corporate culture perspective it really hinges on how much as a company we really value education and training within our organization.  Do you list it as an expense like you do office supplies?  Or is it presented as a valuable tool and investment for your company?  I look forward to your thoughts on how much you value education and what checks the human resource department needs to be constantly doing.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Do you have a way to track, analyze, and report your compliance training?

I have wanted to share The Training Factor social media program for some time now especially on the topic of time and ROI.  There continues to be the never ending question of exactly how long it takes and what should you be seeing.  Every company is different of course so this is not a “You should do this” post.  It’s simply going to show you that it works and to give you something to compare the time factor involved.

I hope you had a chance to read Social Media Examiner’s post on how Time Pays with Social Media Marketing. It provides some great statistics on a broader scale.

My program was literally one day at a time.  Early in 2009 I started working with different social media platforms and did my research, reading and observing of others to learn what to do and obviously what not to do.  Just some basic experimenting and familiarizing myself with platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Plaxo, and others took about 5 months.

The buy in was challenging.  2009 was certainly not a time when people were reaching out for anything.  Most companies were huddled in the trenches and riding out the economic war that was taking place.  The subject of “How long does this take?” came up often during our team meetings.  I am grateful to a wonderful company who believed in my plan and philosophy and was willing to be patient despite the challenging year 2009 was.

It took some time for me to develop a consistent approach to what I was doing each business day since every day was a learning experience.   There was a lot of experimenting in order to test reactions and see what the overall affect was.  So here is a basic rundown of what I monitor each day.

1. Check our LinkedIn Group and monitor activity
2. Find relevant content for our Facebook pages.
3. Interact with comments and questions on our Facebook pages.
4. Find relevant content for Twitter account
5. Interact and have conversations with various professionals on Twitter
6. Read various blog posts and make comments
7. Create informative and relevant blog posts for our viewers.
8. Analyze analytics on all platforms.
9. Educate myself on latest news and updates that change constantly on the topic of social media.
10. Screening data from “listening” platforms such as Google alerts and others.

Now how much “time” do you think this takes on a weekly and daily basis?  Obviously I have numerous other responsibilities during the day.  I have customers I reach out to regularly.  I have numerous companies who I contact regularly that have demonstrated interest in us.  I collaborate with team members on a regular basis on the numerous projects we have going on and the list continues.

The bottom line is it takes a solid consistent approach in order to make it work.  The results speak for themselves.  Obviously I started with big Zeros on all angles.  I was starting from scratch.  From a search engine optimization perspective the results were phenomenal.  The moment we transferred our blog to our actual website, our traffic doubled.  The more blog posts I put out, the more traffic comes in.  As a result of a well rounded approach, traffic sources come from all over the place.  In my opinion, every inbound source is gold.  We are even seeing our Facebook pages show up in Google alerts based on certain keywords.  Whether it’s organic, or from social media platform referrals, each instance helps our Google rankings.  Did this happen overnight? NO! Was it a struggle to keep consistency when initial results were slow?  YES!

The big question is has it worked towards the bottom line?  As a company we have no trouble in saying…Yes.  Did it require patience?  Yes!  Can you just jump in blindly and hope it works?  To me that is like jumping off a bridge into a river when you do not know what lies beneath the surface.  A definite moldable goal and plan is an absolute must.  A consistent patient approach will pay off.

I am interested in hearing your stories.  What were your feelings when you first started using social media for your business and how have you found it working for you?  Thanks for stopping by.  If you value these posts feel free to subscribe via email or RSS feed on the top right corner.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Are you going to NAA this year?  Make sure you stop by booth #1740 and say hi!

Do- Look for room for commendation for every team member.

Don’t- Single out failures on any one team member’s part.

Do- Allow room for everyone to express their thoughts on the agenda items.

Don’t- Insert random items that are not on your agenda.  Your team will not be prepared for the item and this will inhibit the productivity of the meeting.

Do- Create specific guidelines for how the team will implement agenda items

Don’t- Use “Air Statistics”.  In other words do not make statements as if they were facts. (Pulling them from thin air) This is especially important when referring to your competition.  Don’t make up items.  This will only intimidate and discourage your team. Making up facts also discredits you as a team leader.

Do- Create healthy and realistic goals for your team.  Help them have something to look forward to as a result of the agenda items outlined.  Having goals increases productivity.

Don’t- Go Overtime on your agenda.  Stick to the allotted time for each section.

Do- Use visual aids to assist with agenda items.  Using print material, whiteboards, projectors, and other items will greatly assist with overall retention of key agenda items.

Don’t- Develop an “I” problem.  Always be selective in your word choice so that the meetings overall aura is positive and is fostering a team spirit.

I am sure you can add to this list of Do’s and Don’ts.  Whether you are in the property management industry or any other, what are your tips for a successful team meeting?

Thanks for reading today’s post.  Feel free to share it with your friends.  So you don’t miss out on any post, there is also a “subscribe to” function on the top right of the page.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Did you know that The Training Factor is now doing mystery shops?

Another epiphany hit me this morning when I woke up besides the fact that I really wanted more coffee.  I got to thinking about all the projects I have on my plate and also the list that each of my team members have in anticipation of future events.  The word “deadline” was the associative word of the moment.  Then it kind of struck me how really that is such an awful word.  I tweeted it out, put it on my Facebook page and I had people agree with me.

The next step was to find out where this word came from.  So here is what I found.  According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the words history comes from the civil war era where prisoners were warned that if they crossed a literal line they would be shot.  Chew on that for a moment then continue to the next paragraph.

So now that we know this it behooves us to ask ourselves the question: “Why do I use this word as a daily business term in order to set a time limit on a project?”

The word screams negativity!  It has the word “DEAD” in it.  I thought to myself all the times I put myself on a deadline or was given a deadline or realized my deadline was in just a few hours and every time I recited the word in my head or remembered those moments the only feeling that I experienced was….fear.

The property management industry is project oriented.  Multifamily professionals across the board are working hard each day to improve their business profile.  Is there not a better word we can use for our teams to signal a completion time frame?

We are required to inspire our team not scare them.  So I now I put this out to you.  Am I in left field with the crows and cornstalks on this post?  What kind of lingo do you use to help your team see their projects through to completion?  I look forward to your comments.

Thank you for taking the time to read today’s post.  If you feel this and my other posts have value, feel free to share them with your friends.  To not miss out on a post, there is a subscribe to feature available on the top right corner of this page.  Thanks so much!

Did you know that we now have student pay per course options available now?

See you at the National Apartment Association Educational Conference at booth #1740  Don’t forget to register!

Written by Jonathan Saar

Mystery shops can be a powerful ally if viewed properly and if they are used for education and not a battering ram or a firing tool.  Property management companies need to have clear communication with those who are being shopped.  They should understand the reason behind the policy and understand the benefits it could bring to their career.  What has been interesting to see is how some of the models for shops evolve.  We are beginning to realize that there is much more to a successful lease other than a high shop score.  Some models for scoring mystery shops are now including overall personality of the leasing professional.

A leasing professional needs qualities such as warmth, enthusiasm, genuine interest for the prospect and others.  The Training Factor has been piloting its mystery shop program for some months now.  It is now an official service that we offer and it integrates with our Learning Management System to help provide automatic enrollment in education necessary to help the leasing professional continue to grow.  We don’t want our leasing professionals passing out as a result of their shop scores.  How are you successfully using this tool to help improve your lead to lease ratio?  Thanks for your thoughts.

See you at the National Apartment Association Educational Conference at booth #1740

Written by Jonathan Saar

Determining a career path in the property management industry can be a challenge.  We start in one position.  We wind up doing really well at it and then it comes time for a possible promotion.  With a promotion, may also bring the necessity to demonstrate leadership qualities in one way or another.  The typical problem that pops us is that many professionals are not fully prepared for the roles they are being asked to take on.  Do we really know how to manage people?  Do we understand how to handle group dynamics?  Do we have the ability to make decisions we can stick by through thick and thin.  As we move through our career path it is so important to analyze ourselves and see what kind of leadership and management styles we have currently and ones that we can be developing.  Below are some examples.

The Visionary

The visionary shares their goals with the group and team. They give clear direction of where to go but don’t necessarily give directions on how to get there. They share information and impart their knowledge and experience onto others. The Visionary Leadership style can create a company culture that facilitates directional changes. Evaluate your team and determine if a visionary style would motivate them to think and work more independently.  Not everyone may be able to work independently.  Balance is needed when using this approach.  The visionary is focused on helping the group to reach a proper conclusion.

The Coach

Are you a coach, do you mentor and guide your staff along the way? Do you have their trust and admiration? A coach typically inspires respect via their track record.  Did you ever play sports? Think of your work team like a sports team and you are the coach. Give good direction, motivate and moderate results. This sort of leadership style is great for creating a cohesive team.  The coach is not afraid of trying things new and is eager to share a new approach or “play” with the team and motivate them to get on board.

The Affiliative

An Affiliate leader promotes harmonious relationships within an organization.  This can be challenging if your team is to focused on the pecking order.  They use a collaborative style and focus on the emotional need of those around them.  This means that you are taking time to get to know your team members beyond just their job description and requirements.

The Democratic Leader

The Democratic Leader makes an effort to listen to the opinions of others. They seek out advice and discuss the issues among the group. Although listening and taking advice is good, it is important to avoid long decision making time-lines. You could appear weak to your team.  This means you need to outline a clear follow through plan and timeline that the team can adhere to once a decision is made.

The Pace-setter

The Pace setter sets measured goals for the team. They have high expectations and are quick to identify poor performers and demand more of them. They often expect that the team member should already know how to perform the job so they tend to provide little direction and training to the team. This can create a very poor working environment if not executed properly.  The worse thing a team should feel is frustration.  Your goal is always to instill positive energy.  Negativity will only slow production.

The Commander

The Commander is in charge. They give clear directions and expect compliance. This style works well when firm quick decisions need to be made.  This is where some major balance is needed.  A commander can quickly find himself overwhelmed with responsibility because other forms of leadership have not balanced out the times when quick decisions are made.

Many companies may have a mentoring program in place to help you develop various leadership and management attributes.  Others may not, however with a modest approach and analyzing who we are, we can look in the mirror and sort out what kind or person we are.  The next challenge is application of the principles you have learned.

Please feel free to contribute to this topic.  If you have any thoughts on these different management approaches feel free to comment below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Don’t forget to visit us at Booth #1740 at the National Apartment Association Education Conference

1. When the telephone rings, answer it!  - With a smile!

Do you have anything you can add to this list?  I look forward to your comments.

Posted by Jonathan Saar

We are looking forward to seeing you at NAA in June! We will be in booth 1740.  Come by and say hi!

Want to get more leases from your internet leads? Try these 12 steps when responding to prospects.

~~A  post by Mechelle Flowers-President of The Training Factor

1. Reply to it!

2. Reply to it within 2 hours.

3. Use a catchy subject line… Example- “Your perfect home is waiting”

4. Use a personal greeting… Example – “Hi there Deshawn”

5. Speak to the person… Answer all the questions. – Don’t use a canned email!

6. Write with features and benefits of the apartment and community –

Example 1-  “The apartment I have in mind for you has a roommate floor plan.  That means that your bedroom will be separate from the other bedroom, giving you a little place to escape at the end of a long day.”

Example 2 –“You mentioned that you have children, what are their names?  They will love to play at our beautiful playground that is within view of your living room window and during the hot summer months, they can swim in the sparkling pool while you relax on one of the many lounge chairs.  If they like video games (what kid doesn’t?) we have an arcade and small DVD and book library for those rainy days as well.  The schools here are beyond compare and your children can hop on the bus while you wave to them from your balcony as you sip your morning coffee.”

7. Include Links to helpful information:

Example-

Web commercial – Click here to see a video of our community - www.webmercial.com

Website – Click here to see our apartment and community features - www.website.com

2×2 floor plan- This is the floor plan I had in mind for you.- www.floorplan.com

Local School Website- www.localschool.com

8. Ask questions back: Example -

“In the hallway, you’ll find a large closet with your washer and dryer connections which would comfortably fit, not only your laundry appliances, but a comfy corner for your kitty as well!  What is your cat’s name, by the way?  I have a cat too and I just love her!”

9. Include the community phone number.

10. Use some sales skills!  Paint pictures with your words focusing on the prospects needs.

Example – “You mentioned that you have children, what are their names?  They will love to play at our beautiful playground that is within view of your living room window and during the hot summer months, they can swim in the sparkling pool while you relax on one of the many lounge chairs.  If they like video games (what kid doesn’t?) we have an arcade and small DVD and book library for those rainy days as well.  The schools here are beyond compare and your children can hop on the bus while you wave to them from your balcony as you sip your morning coffee.”

11. Invite them to come to the community and include your office hours.

Example- I can’t wait to meet you and your children!  When will you be able to come and see your new home?  I am available to meet you, either over the phone or in person all this week.  Our office hours are M-F 8:30am to 6:30pm and on the weekends from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  I’d love to talk to you, so please email me back, call me or stop by soon!  Your home is so great that I would hate for someone else to snatch it up before you have a chance to look at it!  I’m including some more information about your home, so please take a look when you have a moment.”

12. Make sure your email is grammatically correct.

Please share any tips you may have for internet leasing success.  The more feedback the better for the industry.

Written by Mechelle Flowers

Be honest with yourself and figure out what your ratio of front burner to back burner projects is.  A few weeks ago I wrote about how technology can be a blessing or a hindrance to our overall time management, but today it’s just about the level of importance we place on projects.

On a daily basis there are decisions that are clearly in our court.  We may not need the direction from someone above us.  We have in front of us a challenge, options and then the moment to pull the trigger and do something about it.  It’s at this moment that a character moment is about to be born.  Does it become a front burner or a back burner moment in your business day?  Complacency can be a huge job killer.  You are in a rut as a result of the same perhaps monotonous routine each day, and as a result of this decisions that should be made are not and put on the back burner.  The results are clear.   There is a reason why a project appears.  There is an obvious need to that has to be filled and addressed.  When it goes to the back burner it affects your team, your company, and your personal image.

It’s interesting to note some statistics on how much procrastination takes place.  According to an article in Ezine, 95 % of us do procrastinate with 20 % being chronic.  Now that’s staggering.  When it gets right down to it, time management is revenue management.  The more time we spend on rolling out key projects, the more money we spend, and the more money we lose.  The multifamily industry is working through another major shift.  An interesting combination of sheer survival in this economy coupled with quickly advancing new technology has made the influx of projects staggering.  As leaders and potential leaders it’s always good practice to step back for a moment and analyze our process.  Here are some thoughtful questions.

What dictates the decision to put a project on the back burner?

Do I have personal goals as to how long a project will take and see completion?

Do I clearly recognize the sense of urgency surrounding a project and how does that affect my process?

I found this advice from Procrastinationadvice.com to be very compelling.  Below is a partial quote of the article which had some important tips for effective time management.

Important Tips:

• Distribute large chunk of projects into smaller and more manageable size as well allot appropriate time to attain every task.

• It is a normal phenomenon to extend beyond the time limit that is allotted for every task. Hence, one of the important procrastination tips is to pre-determine the time limit. For instance, an individual can schedule to file papers for 30 minutes.

• Initiate each week in creating a planning session, bifurcating the weekly as well as daily plan. Note all the vital appointments and deadlines that are approaching. Set reminders a day before the deadline date. Make use of highlighter pens to mark the most exceptional task on the calendar.

• Schedule the most important activities as per the maximum productive time zone of a particular day. It is considered to be one of the best procrastination tips, a person highly active in morning needs to plan majority of activities around morning time, since this is the time when a person has less likelihood of procrastinating.

• It is suggested to complete a minimum of 1 undesired job during the morning hours. This will result an individual with a feeling of accomplishing at least something during the remaining portion of the day.

• Preclude the most likely disturbances, prior to their occurrences. It implies switching off the cell phone, hiring a babysitter to take care of the child and so on. This is also one of the most helpful procrastination tips that will enable an individual in achieving more in less amount of time, devoid of any distractions.

Source: Http://www.procrastinationadvice.com

Now it’s time to hear from you.  What are you doing to effectively manage your time?  If you have ever been in a rut before, how did you dig yourself out of complacency?  Any special tips or hints you can share to manage time effectively?  Thanks for your thoughts.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Today’s video blog speaks for itself.  I want to commend all of the new multifamily folks that I am seeing on twitter.  I know in time you will see the value in the platform not only for your company but for your current and future residents.  I wrote a post not too long ago entitled Twitter Etiquette: Why did you unfollow me?

Today’s post is a follow up to that since today I was blocked by a new Twitter user.  Find out why in the video.  If you have any thoughts on Twitter chivalry for all of us in the apartment industry, please feel free to share in your comments.  Thanks for tuning in.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Good day folks.  This is my first attempt at a video blog but I think it went well.  Optimization Summits taught me that sometimes you just need to make the jump and see what happens.  You will never learn anything without trying.  There are some great posts out there recapping highlights from the conference.  I am sure I missed some so please feel free to post any additional links in the comments section below.

Some Optimization Summits recap blogs

Mack Collier’s Blog

Geno Church with Brains on Fire

Ryan VanDenabeele from PCMG

Brett Duncan with Marketing in Progress

Christopher S. Penn Awaken Your Superhero

Jay Ehret with The Marketing Spot

Duncan Alney with Firebelly Marketing

My take on the whole conference is very personal as you will see in my video below.  This conference was completely about doing.  Make sure you plan for September when Optimization Summits will take place again.  I look forward to your comments on my video today.  Thanks for tuning in.

If social media is overwhelming you with the plethora of tools, platforms, fan pages, accounts, usernames etc, then it’s imperative to stop for a moment and organize your thoughts and process.  You may be voicing your frustration and throwing up your hands and saying there is nothing but a bunch of noise going on.  Or you may be wondering how in the world you can keep up with the pace that these platforms are growing.  Let’s reflect on another platform that morphed and that we quickly evolved the ability to control how we used it.

Jump back a couple of decades in the television world and reflect on what was available.  Mainstream television did not even become available to most people until the 50’s.  Those were the days when you only had one or two channels tops and you had to get out of your chair to turn the TV on.  As the decades past, the amount of options and information increased.  Currently you can make a choice on what kind of channel package you wish for yourself.  Some can be as low as 200 and then the options continue to climb.  Within these packages are channels dedicated to certain topics.  We have The Weather Channel, The Food Network, ESPN and many others.  Does this mean that you leave your TV on just one of these channels all day long?  Of course you don’t.  What was the premise behind making channels that focused on just one topic?  So that the viewer would always know where they could find the specific information that they need.  Maybe at first people as the viewers were a bit perplexed at seeing an information specific channel available, however we learned the ability to change the channel.  You got to love remote controls for that!

So where can this be applied for the current social media hysteria.  Social media platforms do have the ability for you to change the channel; you just need to learn how to use the remote.  Facebook has a feature at the top of its page called “Top News”.  Facebook uses its own algorithms to ascertain users and pages that you interact with most often and makes these its suggested “Top News” for you.  You can also set up various lists that can quickly change your feed.  I currently have 6 different lists (channels) that I have made for my Facebook account.  I know I will be adding more soon.  This enables me to change channels so to speak in order to review information based on my categories.  Twitter also has this feature.  You can now create lists based upon different categories of information you may want to review.  Third party platforms like Tweetdeck allow you to add as many columns (channels) as you wish so that you can review information at your leisure that is topic or industry specific.

Just as with choosing a channel package for your home television, you also have a choice as to whom you will friend, who you will fan, and who you will follow.  Some may provide value and some may not.  Some you may be interested in slightly but not as much as something else.  This is where your choice comes into play.  The difference is you are in the driver’s seat.  You get to make your own channels.  Some people started throwing their TV’s out because of this radical change but that did not make sense.  Neither does it make sense to just completely shut down your social media platforms.  You can reduce your “channel” package or set up your favorites so to speak.  So if you feel you are in hysteria mode at the moment, remember that it was not too long ago when television had a similar impact when it went from 2 channels to 2000 in a matter of decades.  It did not take decades for this to happen to social media but the ability to control the information has not changed.  The remote control is in your hand and you get to choose your channels.

If you have any other suggestions on what has helped you to control the flow and overflow of social media information, please feel free to share with the rest of us.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Learning management systems (LMS) are nothing new to our history.  When you reflect on the basic definition of the expression we can travel back in time to all cultures that mandated education as a way of society and also outlined it in such a way that it gave the learner a clear path.  Looking back to our grade school and college years, our learning was managed by our teachers who then worked with a standard reporting system that graded us and then we viewed our grades via a report card system.

Just because we are out of school, has the need for education diminished?  Absolutely not.  As a matter of fact, continuing education is an absolute must in order for us to keep in tune with our current or future job positions and to keep pace with how business in general continues to evolve.  Education creates a stabilizing influence for a company’s employees and provides the learner confidence and a pillar to lean on when things become challenging.

As the digital age continues to morph, learning management systems continue to be an asset and a necessity for corporations.  It is no longer a question of “Should I?” it is a question of “Why don’t I have one yet?”  Stop for a moment and remember when you received your report card in school and you received all “A”s or you see from one quarter to the next an improvement in grades.  Did not the full circle of that learning management system create stability and confidence for you to start your career?  Should not this stability exist for our own career path and for our team that we count on every day?

As I have been able to get to know various multifamily property management companies, I have observed 3 distinct categories with their approach to education.

1. Strong advocate of education.  Believes it is a fundamental to a company’s existence.  Have their own internal LMS or have an external platform provided for them.
2. Strong advocate of education.  Have no LMS and not sure of its benefits and value.  Is overwhelmed with trying to keep track of all the learners’ training and progress.
3. Does not believe in continuing education.  Feels that education should be listed as an expense like paperclips are on the profit and loss report.  If education is a mandate, then they find the cheapest content and delivery method available and they get what they pay for.

For the first group, imagine a huge cheerleading squad for your company because that is simply awesome.  For the second group, a hat tip to you for moving in the right direction and there is help available for you.  For the third group, perhaps this post will provide inspiration and food for thought.

For the second group, here are 6 ways The Training Factor’s LMS can benefit you.

1. Completely automated training from the first day of hiring.  That’s correct!  From the moment your employee is entered into payroll, they are automatically enrolled with their educational program based on their job title and sent a welcome letter by you via email outlining their first steps.
2. A user friendly reporting system that automatically sends out exception reports every week to key positions of oversight.  A reporting system that allows you to drill into every level even to the point of being able to see which parts of the education that your learners need the most assistance on.
3. A fully functional, user friendly custom course builder.  Imagine a simple policy change that has taken place and you need to make sure every team member is aware of it.  In as little as 15 minutes you can create your own course, a test and enroll all necessary learners.  This becomes a requirement of their curriculum and is noted on their transcript when it’s completed.
4. A multifunctional online calendar.  Do you have different schedules for different teams?  Of course you do.  Imagine a drop down box with different calendars for different people.  Now the whole team is completely aware of the company’s schedule.
5. Are you tired of having documents stored in numerous locations?  Are you tired of having to make changes to a document and then having to communicate those changes and making sure that your team does not use the old one?  Our resource center allows you to have a single point where all of your key documents can be uploaded and stored for whomever you wish to have access to them.
6. Remember the difference between the inspiring and boring professors and teachers?  I am sure you preferred the inspirational teacher and so do we.  Our courses are not simply content that is delivered, it’s education that is engaging and is designed with the learner in mind.  With interactive scenarios and role playing in many of our courses, you can be assured that you will reap the most benefits with this enhanced style of delivery.

This really provides a very basic overview of what our system does for our clients.  It was designed for the multifamily industry not as an expense, but as an asset.  When you reflect on the cost of employee turnover, lack of resident retention which leads to more turns, and the challenges with occupancy, the value of a powerful learning management system will no longer be a “Should I?” it will be a “Why don’t I have one yet?”

In all fairness I have heard from many multifamily folks that they were seriously burned by their decision to choose XYZ Company’s LMS.  Feel free to make your own expressions on what an LMS has done for your company good or bad.  If you are a client of The Training Factor, please feel free to make your own comments on how system has benefited you.  The following video testimonial was from one of our clients that were hosting a leadership conference at which The Training Factor was invited to attend.  Please take a moment and view.  Thanks!

Written by Jonathan Saar

There is a fine line between training and application.  Take a trip back to your school years and reflect on the moments when you said to yourself or your teacher: “Why do I need to learn that?  I will never use it.”  As we made our way into the workplace, we should be able to see why advanced algebra, trigonometry, calculus, physics and other subject have served us well.  They developed our ability to think, reason, multitask, and progress in our career path.  It taught us the ability to emotionally handle challenges and to not just give up.

So this brings us to our current moments in life and how we view and apply our continuing education we receive at work.   How can it be possible to score 100% on a multifamily leasing course but only score 60% on a secret shop?  You can add as many thoughts as you want in the comments below.  Follow me on this analogy.  Last week I purchased some paper towel in one of those bulk packages.  I left it in the hallway to see if one of my children would take the initiative to put it away for me.  I left for Pittsburgh for a few days and returned to see that the package was still in the same place, which I then pointed this out to my children.  One of them decides to “put it away” for me and when I opened the cabinet this morning this is what I found.  Yep, the package was just “shoved” into the cabinet.  Now do my children know how to reorganize a cabinet? Yes.  Do my children know how to take the plastic wrapping off a package and stack the contents in a cabinet? Yes.  Do I have smart and intelligent kids?  Absolutely, they are both straight A students.  Do I love my kids?  Yes I do, and they are going to crack up when they read this.

So what’s my point, what was missing?  Education is only the beginning.  Application, drive, and initiative are everything.   How is this achieved?  It can be achieved on 2 levels.  Our clients are using our performance evaluation tool to measure the relationship between education and on the job application.  In other words it’s important to have a follow through program in order to ascertain if the learner is applying what they have been taught.  The other level comes down to individual drive.  When I had the pleasure of visiting Gerry Hunt and Tara Smiley from McKinley, this became part of our discussion.  Gerry pointed out how some leasing professionals can score perfect on their guest cards and yet not be able to close a lease like someone who has their own internal drive and can be basically “human” about the whole experience.   Mechelle Flowers the President of The Training Factor used the expression “Lease with a purpose”, which helped sparked some conversation on Multifamily Insiders.  My thoughts are more towards a less “canned” approach to our career.  In my former industry I had salespeople that could describe the beauty of the flowers over the phone so well, that had arrived at our market that morning that the client was sold without ever seeing them.  Does that occur for your telephone and internet leads?  Please don’t “shove” your leases.  This is your career; this should be your passion.  Achieve and aim high for yourself and for your company.  A future blog post will talk about the “canned” approach to our leasing style, but for now I would love your thoughts on what it takes to bridge the gap between education and application.

Written by Jonathan Saar