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Reading Room Articles
25 COMMON
MISTAKES YOU SHOULD AVOID (OR NOT MAKE AGAIN!)
By Doug Chasick, The Apartment Doctor for NOI News
Written for Sales & Marketing Magic
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- RENT READIES THAT AREN'T. (The 3 most important things in real estate: cleanliness,
cleanliness, and cleanliness!) If the community and/or an apartment isn't 100%
rent-ready, it shouldn't be shown. We know what 100% rent-ready is, so why do
we show anything less than 100%?
- NOT PROPERLY QUALIFYING NEW RESIDENTS. The source of almost all collection
problems is not thoroughly verifying the information on applications.
- NOT KNOCKING ON DOORS TO COLLECT LATE RENT. Letters and phone calls simply
aren't effective! We have to see people face-to- face to collect the rent. It
doesn't have to be an unpleasant confrontation.
- NOT SHOWING UP AT AN APARTMENT, AT THE TIME PROMISED, TO HANDLE A SERVICE REQUEST.
Just about every resident survey ever done lists this as the biggest source of
aggravation for residents, yet it keeps happening!
- NOT TRAINING ALL EMPLOYEES IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. Location and amenities are
important, but what we're selling today is SERVICE! Is your entire staff trained
to deal with residents? EVERYONE on your staff sees residents daily, and the residents
talk to them, ask them questions, and complain to them. Yes, this means the office
staff, service technicians, the maid, the porter, the landscaper, EVERYONE! Many
employees think their job is to blindly enforce policy. Some employees don't know
what to say or how to respond to residents, so they avoid residents completely.
Are the people on your staff more committed to being right than to satisfying
your residents?
- NOT HAVING A WRITTEN PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. Why does "penny wise
and pound foolish" come to mind here? Anything that's broken will not fix
itself, and chances are it will only get more expensive to repair as time goes
by, and probably create related problems.
- NOT KNOWING THE NAMES OF YOUR RESIDENTS. How can we tell our residents how
important they are, how much we value their business, how we are committed to
their satisfaction - and not know their names? Here's an idea for a "We Love
and Value Our Residents" program: learn their names, the names of everyone
in their family, say hi to them BY NAME, and send birthday and holiday cards!
- NOT TRAINING YOUR NEW RESIDENTS AT MOVE-IN. How many residents REALLY READ
their lease? If we spend 15 - 30 minutes with each new resident at move-in, we
can be certain that they are aware of the important lease clauses (RENT PAYMENT),
and the important rules and regulations.
- NOT WALKING NEW RESIDENTS THRU THEIR APARTMENT AT MOVE-IN. It will only take
15 minutes to walk them thru and show them how everything works - and it will
save a lot of time later.
- NOT CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MOVE-IN/MOVE-OUT INSPECTIONS. If we don't have an
accurate move-in inspection, we certainly can't have an accurate move-out inspection!
Most properties don't want forfeited security deposits to be a profit center,
so a properly done move-in inspection will train the resident how to maintain
their apartment, and in what condition it should be left in when they move. Unless
we have trained our leasing consultants to do these, only the Manager or Service
Manager should do both inspections. This is very important at the move-out inspection,
because we can let the resident know what, if anything, will be deducted from
their security deposit.
- NOT TRAINING YOUR SERVICE MANAGER TO BE A MANAGER. Most Service Managers are
the manager because they know the most about maintenance, air conditioning, plumbing,
etc. That's great, but if you are going to let them manage a service staff, they
need training in how to be a supervisor!
- NOT GIVING NEW RESIDENTS A "NEW RESIDENT SURVIVAL KIT" THEY CAN
REALLY USE. There IS a difference between a gift for your new residents and a
"survival kit." A plant, gourmet food basket or bottle of wine makes
a GREAT gift; a "survival kit" contains the things your new residents
probably will use during the 48-hour period after move-in. Why not give them both?
- NOT HAVING WRITTEN GOALS WITH DEFINITE DEADLINES. It's amazing how goals and
deadlines "change" when you trust them to memory instead of writing
them down! All goals and deadlines should be in writing, and should be reviewed
regularly. If a certain goal has a deadline of 1 month, a short meeting should
be held each week to review progress and make adjustments.
- NOT USING YOUR MAINTENANCE SHOP AS A SELLING TOOL. If I'm selling service,
I want my future residents to walk thru my maintenance shop IF it's clean and
organized. Next time you're out driving around, stop at a corner garage and look
at the service bays and mechanics. Then go to a Mercedes dealer and look at their
spotless service bays and white-coated service technicians. Where do you think
you would get better service?
- NOT USING THE TELEPHONE PROPERLY. Two things here: 1) Eliminating the common
time wasters associated with the telephone; 2) How to effectively handle an inbound
sales call.
- NOT ENCOURAGING YOUR STAFF TO SHARE THEIR IDEAS, OR ENCOURAGING THEM AND THEN
NOT LISTENING. Why is it that companies will spend tens of thousands of dollars
for a
consultant to tell them what their employees would have told them for free? Or
why companies set up suggestion programs and never use the suggestions? Or tell
their employees to contribute their ideas, and then ignore the ideas? Start treating
your employees like the partners they are, and you will be pleasantly surprised
at the great new ideas you will start hearing.
- NOT USING YOUR SERVICE MANAGER TO SHOP YOUR COMPETITION.
3 benefits here: 1) Your Service Manager is a "new face," unknown to
your competition; 2) The Service Manager should get new ideas by touring other
properties, models and rent-ready apartments; 3) The Service Manager is not trained
in leasing, so they can experience the presentation (and report to you) as more
of a "prospect" than you can.
- NOT GOING THE "EXTRA MILE" ON SERVICE REQUESTS. Since the service
technician is already IN THE APARTMENT, why not check for leaky faucets, running
toilets, sticky locks, and dirty HVAC filters? Also, have your technicians leave
a copy of the work order, a "rate your maintenance" card and leave the
work area cleaner than they found it. Have them place a doorhanger that says "Hi!
We're inside taking care of your service request" in case the resident comes
home unexpectedly.
- NOT INSPECTING YOUR PROPERTY AT NIGHT AND ON THE WEEKEND. These are the times
when most of your residents are home. Why not introduce yourself and find out
if everything is OK? It's also the time that most problems occur, and when you
can see which lights are out!
- NOT DISCIPLINING EMPLOYEES EFFECTIVELY. The point of disciplining an employee
is to let them know about a problem with their performance or attitude, and WORK
WITH THEM to correct or improve it. It's NOT to vent your anger or belittle them!
- NOT HAVING A MAP OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND AN INFORMATION KIT FOR NEW RESIDENTS.
If YOU moved to a new neighborhood, wouldn't YOU appreciate a map that showed
YOU where everything was, and some information on how to turn on your phone, cable
TV, electricity, etc.?
- NOT HAVING ENOUGH SOCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR RESIDENTS OR HAVING PLENTY OF
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES THAT ARE INEFFECTIVE. Social activities not only entertain your
residents, but are also an opportunity for your residents to make new friends.
That's another reason they won't want to move.
- NOT TELLING YOUR BOSS OR OWNER ABOUT PROBLEMS IMMEDIATELY, OR "DUMPING"
YOUR PROBLEMS ON THEM. They somehow find out anyway, and the longer it takes,
the worse it gets. I learned to tell them about the problems immediately, and
to offer 2 or 3 solutions and recommend the solution I thought best. If you make
them come up with the solutions, why do they need you?
- SIGNING EVERYTHING "THE MANAGEMENT." I did this a lot because I
didn't want to talk to the residents about their problems. "The Management"
could be anyone. Then I discovered my job was to solve their problems! Give your
residents the NAME of the person responsible for solving their problems.
- MAKING EMPLOYEES AND RESIDENTS COME TO YOUR OFFICE INSTEAD OF YOU GOING TO
THEM. For a long time I thought that being THE MANAGER gave me the right to "summon"
people to me. Then I discovered that residents appreciated ME going to THEIR apartments
to discuss renewals (plus I got to see how they kept their apartment, if they
had a pet, etc.) I also discovered that my employees felt more comfortable discussing
things in THEIR office. They were intimidated being "summoned" to my
office. If our goal as managers is to assist and support our people in being successful,
than it is counter-productive to intimidate them.
To read more articles from this author please visit www.smmonline.com.
The Sales & Marketing Magic Companies, shares more than 20 years of experience
in multifamily housing, encompassing leasing, marketing, management, training,
authoring, consulting, developing, and Brainstorming! For more information on
Sales & Marketing Magic for Apartment Managers; the latest Tools
& Forms Catalogue; The Annual Multifamily Housing Brainstorming Sessions™;
or to receive top ideas, FREE, via e-mail, please call 727-784-9469 or visit www.SMMOnline.com.
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Equal Housing Opportunity.