First Impressions: Don't Blow It!

It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanor, your mannerisms, and how you are dressed.
With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person’s impression of you is formed. These first impression can be nearly impossible to reverse or undo, making these first encounters extremely important, for they set the tone for the all the relationships that follows.
Just like individuals have first impressions about people, prospects have first impressions about properties before they even walk in the leasing office door. Therefore it is so important to have a property that is well kept, especially the pathway leading from the front entrance of the property to the leasing office. Any unsightly things can cause a prospect to do an immediate 180 before they even see the actual product.
The leasing office is going to be portrayed by the prospect as something that is similar to the actual apartments available, so keeping a tidy office is of great importance. It's the little things that mean the most in the office: have the office staff professionally dressed; keep the office clean and orderly at all times; make sure the office smells good.
First impressions are such a critical part of the apartment industry, because once that first impression is made by the prospect, it's nearly impossible to reverse their opinion.
Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Traffic Down? Drive More Leads To Your Property!

There is no such thing as getting too much information about a community out into the public ear. Oftentimes, a community will be experiencing a very limited amount of traffic, but will also be doing a very limited amount of work to drive that traffic in. There's no big secret behind these two things being correlated. If the work is done to drive traffic in, the amount of prospects coming in the community's doors will increase and the amount of leases generated by the community will increase as well. It's that simple. Here is an article about some great ways to begin generating that all important traffic.

Enjoy!

Starting Your Day Right

I had the pleasure to meet Coach Bobby Bowden last night, who for those of you that don't know, is the face of Florida State University football and is also one of the most genuine human beings I have ever met. Coach Bowden was apart of football for nearly sixty years and never approached his job as something he had to do, rather he approached every day as another day to make an impact on one of his players' lives. Coach Bowden was a very inspirational person and one speech that he used every single year with his players is one that can be applied to every person's life. This speech is called "Holding The Rope."

["What does holding the rope mean? You are hanging from the edge of a cliff five hundred yards in the air. The only thing between you and falling to the ground is a piece of rope with the person of your choice on the other end.
Who do you know that you can trust enough? Who do you know has enough guts to withstand rope burn, watch blood drip from his hands, and still not let get?
Look around and ask, "Who can I trust to hold the rope?" Who will let his hands bleed for me? If you can look at every member of your team and say they will hold the rope, then your team will win!"]

Re-evaluate how you approach each day and don't view it as just another day to go through the routines of everyday life. Be the person on the other end of the rope that others can count on when it comes down to crunch time in the office when things must get accomplished. Take advantage of every opportunity presented before you and make the best of it!

Enjoy and have a great Wednesday!

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!