The Model Apartment: More Than Just A Staged Apartment

A well-furnished apartment is an essential part of the marketing program for apartment communities and the great thing about an attractive model is that it expresses a lifestyle that cannot be verbalized. A model apartment could be the missing piece to any communities lease up puzzle, but there are some important details to remember when setting up a model apartment in a community:

1. Determining the number of models to setup.

• Often times it is beneficial to setup multiple models, depending on the community’s budget, if the community has numerous floor plans. Setting up multiple models could also allow for multiple decorating schemes, as well as make smaller apartments look more appealing with a creative furniture layout, or make those non-traditional floor plans (i.e., 2 Bedroom/1 Bath) have a more practical appeal.

2. Determining which apartment to use as the model.

• A less desirable apartment should be used as the model, rather than the best apartment available in the community. More desirable apartments with great locations will sell themselves without the use of a model staging. Decorating an apartment with a less desirable location will help offset the negatives and make this apartments location seem more appealing.
• Choose an apartment that is close to the office. Doing so will make the leasing agents tour more convenient, as well as make those time crunched prospects less likely to refuse a showing. The last thing a community wants to do is spend all of that money to stage a model apartment and not have every single prospect see it.
• Apartments that are on the first floor tend to be more convenient for model showing. In addition, some individuals have problems negotiating stairs, so the bottom floor will allow for the most convenience and accessibility for the prospects.

3. Decorating the model apartment home.

• Make the decorating and furnishing of the apartment truly alluring to the eyes. While the apartment should be decorated nicely, it should not be so exuberantly decorated that the prospect feels as if the apartment is out of their budget the second they walk in the door. Decorate the model apartment to appeal to the clientele that will be living at the community. If the community is a more modern and luxurious property, then nicer furniture placed in a more ornate setting would be more appropriate. If the community is a college property, then more comfortable furniture in a more laid back setting would apply. Don’t make the prospects qualify themselves out by walking into too nice of a model apartment.
• Don’t clutter the model. Setting up too much furniture in a model can make the apartment feel smaller, especially if the prospect has to constantly squeeze by furniture to maneuver through the room.
• Always make sure the model apartment is clean. Keeping the model in first-class condition should be the top priority with having a model apartment. If a prospect were to walk into an unclean model apartment, then he/she will automatically probably assume the property is one that does not care about its current residents if it doesn’t show its future residents the nicest thing possible.
In addition to these basic things to keep in mind when setting up a model apartment, here is a great article that shows, mathematically, how a model apartment can be beneficial.

Enjoy!

Concession Pros and Cons

To begin the work week, here's a great article discussing the nature of concession offering.

Enjoy and have a great Monday!

Being Positive Is Contagious

Having a positive mental attitude in the office is by far one of the most important ingredients that every office needs in order to be successful. Being positive not only brings the office staff together as a whole, but it rubs off on prospects as well. Prospects coming into a positive office feel more welcome as a result of the inviting persona the office will have. When prospects step into the warm feeling of a happy office, they are more inclined to envision themselves living at the community and most importantly, more inclined to lease! If your office staff needs a pick-me-up, here is a great compilation of office morale boosters:

•“Our team meets every Tuesday at 3:00 to compile a list of associates who have gone above and beyond the prior week. They are recognized through a company sponsored program and are rewarded with 30 minutes of time off!” Allison Clark – Tempe, AZ
•“Paying 5 dollars to charity to wear jeans on Fridays” Courtney Eias – Trumbull, CT
•“Put cow bells on leasing desk and "Ring" when new lease or renewal is signed! Even the manager rings her bell in response, so everyone celebrates the achievement!” Jeanne Marie Zublin – Houston, TX
•“When someone on our team is having a bad moment we sing our team song which happens to be "Hello, Good Morning" LeShannon Jefferson – Lewisville, TX
•“Morning coffee runs for the office” Natalie Lozon – Santa Monica, CA
•“Let off early on pay-day Friday. After all quality control issues are addressed - allow them to leave early by an hour or two.” Lori Schultz – Dallas, TX
•“At closing time, play some music loudly that all like.” Catherine Williams – San Ramon, CA
•“We have recently instituted "Fun Friday" & this Friday is "Bead Day"! :)” Stacy Dueker – Stockton, CA
•“Constantly smile and laugh...it's contagious!” Jason Hilyard – Aberdeen, NC
•“Funky fun glasses for prospects & team member when we ride out on golf cart” and “Football jerseys on Fri, Sat & Sun” Sandra Williams – Tampa, FL
•“Flip Flop Friday!” Lauren Pettit – Port Richey, FL
•“Goodie Bags filled with small inexpensive gifts for my staff members to "grab" something from when they get a rental, save a renewal, etc!” Amanda Hall – Vallejo, CA
•“Have an ice cream social for the staff and residents. Grab buckets of ice cream, whip ccream, cherries, etc. and have fun! Include it with a pool party on a hot day.” Diane Christy – Cleveland, OH
•“I get doughnuts for my team every other week” and “After every lease my team gets we have a "happy dance” Tanisha Young – New Carrollton, MD
• “I like to buy goodies a couple times a month, for example, today I bought the staff ice cream! They loved it!” Shannon Lorenzen – Wilder, KY
•“Something positive or a compliment every morning to all of your staff” Jennifer Moreno – Houston, TX
•“Once in a while have the team go out for lunch together to be able to communicate outside the work environment and share ideas.” Jackie Cruz – Plant City, FL
•“Our office does a Youtube video challenge where each week we look for the funniest or most bizarre youtube video we've seen and then watch them on Fridays.” Brad Randall – Salt Lake City, UT
•“Pizza Party” Philip Nieman – Roslindale, MA
•“Secret Pal – Change it up once a month” Helene Konneman – Humble, TX
•“Small gifts such such as candy or new office supplies left on team members desk!” Leah Shay Hartley – Newnan, GA
•“Morning staff meetings for 15 minutes prior to the office opening” Katrina Avila – Richmond, TX
•“We applause each other in the mornings for motivation even on Mondays!!” Robert Torres – Houston, TX
•“We have a wall of fame where residents and co-workers can post kudos to the team.” Lia Smith – Birmingham, AL
•“We ring a bell any time a sales person gets the sale. Of course, after the prospect leaves.” Sherre Helmer – Indianapolis, IN
•“We start the morning stating two things that were uplifting yesterday one personal and one professional.” Karen McLelland – Plant City, FL
•“Manager cooks breakfast for staff 1xm and cooincides with a monthly safety meeting,” and “Pedicures/manicurs for great shop reports and super leasing results,” and “Randomly give out freeze pops to residents at the pool,” and “Big basket of crackers, candy bars, granola bars and drinks for the office staff on the busy days when you can’t get out to get a bite to eat.” Christina Chalifour – Grand Prairie, TX
•“We share recipes with each other for that nights dinner, we give each other good advice and pump each other up... We love our team.” Erica Spence – Fort Worth, TX

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Prospect Follow-Up

Following-up with a prospect sounds like it would be a no-brainer right? I mean you just spent valuable time building rapport with them, showing them the apartment of their dreams, so why wouldn't you touchbase with them over the upcoming days to remind them of your amazing community? Surprisingly, many leasing agents fail to follow-up with prospects after they walk out of those leasing office doors. It's not the prospects responsibility to contact the leasing agent back, it's one hundred percent the leasing agents job. Prospects may have toured ten properties the day they toured yours, so it's not only the leasing agents duty, but it's their commmon courtesy to call that prospect and at least remind them as to what they saw at your community. Here is a great article with five ways to get those be-backs to turn into leases and guess what those five ways are....follow-up.

Enjoy!

Importance of Phone Calls

Here is a great article about why phone calls are so important. Keep in mind that phone calls are often times your first contact to a potential prospect, so always strive to make the most of it.

Enjoy!

Marketing Fun

Marketing is an extremely crucial part of a successful business and very much so in the apartment community industry. Depending on the location and type of property, marketing can range from the grandiose scale of commercials and billboards all the way down to the more simple things of flyers and newspaper ads.
Regardless of the path chosen, marketing is something that must be done on some level, in order for a property's name to reach potential prospects. Have fun with marketing. Get creative with it. There are an unfathomable number of different venues of marketing, so figure out what your niche will be and watch the prospects flow in!
Here are some great examples, courtesy of Guerilla Marketing Defined, of companies that thought outside the box for marketing and came up with some very fun ideas.
Enjoy!

All About Running
Express Delivery
Close Shave
Endless Walk
Red Bull
Small Packages
Air
Rise Up

Utilizing Craigslist To Your Full Advantage

Savvy businesspeople and Internet marketers who market on Craigslist are able to gain a great deal of benefits from this advertising option. There are a number of benefits to advertising on Craigslist. Two of the most important benefits are the affordability and the ability to reach a large audience.
Consider the cost of advertising on Craigslist versus advertising on other websites and there is simply no comparison. The vast majority of Craigslist postings are available free of charge to those who use the website. Advertising on Craigslist becomes even more financially appealing in comparison to other advertising option where the business owner is charged for each time the advertisement appears whether or not it results in a sale being made or even a lead generated.
In addition to affordability another benefit to advertising on Craigslist is the potential to reach a large audience. Craigslist receives approximately four billion page views per month from approximately ten million website visitors. This is appealing because it allows users to reach a large audience with only minimal effort.
Craigslist is a very useful marketing source, but is only going to be as effective as you make it. Posting one ad per day is not going to be advantageous to your community, because after a very short period of time, your ad will be lost in the mix of everyone that posts immediately after you. If you want to see the most results, you have to make sure your ad is always on the first page, which therefore, requires you to post multiple ads (5-10) all throughout the day. You have to make sure that you are creative with these posts, because you cannot post the same ad within a 48 hour timeframe.
Here are a few sites that offer great tips for changing up your posts to make creative ads. Have fun posting and watching the leases roll in!

Tiny MCE
Improve Your Ad
Craigslist Tips