Topic: Appointment Only Office

I currently manage and high-rise, mixed-income, luxury community in Mid-City New Orleans. Our location tends to get us a lot of drive-by traffic who are not always qualified to lease. We are also a fairly good sized community and the office tends to be very busy. Recently my Leasing Agent asked if we could go to an appointment only system for touring in an effort to better manage her time and more effectively perform her job duties which go beyond just touring and leasing. Below is the outline of how she feels the system should work. Agree?

Qualified Lead Appointment System

1. All prospects will be told over the phone when they call, email, etc that we operate a very desirable property, we offer lots of perks to our residents, and that due to demand and our high level of customer service we must work on an “appointment only system” and that they should call email etc to make an appointment.


2. When prospects arrive on property they will be greeted cheerfully and asked what time their appointment is and who they have an appointment to see. If they respond that they do not have an appointment they will be kindly asked the questions on the guest card so they may be contacted to schedule an appointment.


3. If during the “date desired” question the prospect expresses desire to move within the next 2 months, I will refer to my appointment calendar. If I do not have an appointment scheduled within the next 20 minutes I will say, “You know, we do work on an appointment system but because your move in date is so close I understand you need to get the ball rolling. I don’t have another appointment until _______. Let’s just say you’re my ____ o’clock appointment.


4. If the person does NOT express desire to move within the next two months, but rather gives a vague answer or indicates needing an apartment at a future date more than 2 months away I simply ask them to schedule an appointment. Someone who is NOT serious about moving here is unlikely to return for their appointment date. Someone who DOES want to live here will appreciate the desirability of our community and the efficiency of our office.


5. The person who wants to move within the next 2 months that gets to tour will feel special AND will feel a sense of urgency knowing I have other appointments lined up for the day. Someone is much more likely to complete an application and leave a deposit if they think there is another person coming right after them interested in an apartment.

More benefits to the appointment system:

1. People expect to make appointments for desirable or luxury services. High end salons, popular restaurants, doctor’s offices, etc don’t take walk-in clients.


2. By minimizing time wasted on unqualified leads I can maximize time spent on following up with and marketing for qualified leads.

I could not compromise on the definition of "excellent customer service" by requiring appointments only on sites. I want to project my philosophy that I can and will assist anyone who walks in the door. Too many people are unqualified, I understand; however, do I want to make this person feel "less than" anyone else who arrives on my property? No, I do not. Every person is welcome to come and visit, even those who are "only looking" and whose move date may be many months out. I am in the business of providing apartment homes and I will not require someone make an appointment. Appointments are offered as a convenience and courtesy to my customers. I think this is a rude, pretentious way of treating people.

Our business is "walk-in" by nature and has been for many years. Sure, we do get a lot of phone calls and are able to set appointments, but to cut out "drive-by" traffic would be like cutting a major artery! I'll agree, some high-end services require an appointment, but I challenge that with other high-end, customer service-oriented companies that do not require an appointment...like Nordstrom, luxury hotel chains and your local Lexus dealer (or any dealership, for that matter!). Even home builders welcome walk-ins in their Sales Centers. If I were your competitor and knew you had such a policy, I'd place a sign out front on my property, "No Appointment Necessary!".

I love this. My property is non-stop with walk in's and having a 2 person office right off the busiest street in Austin Tx has made it impossible for us to tour all day-every day, and efficiently take care of our residents paying to live here. Thank you for this information. It's exactly what I have been looking for.

If you don't stick to the policy 100%, I could see a Fair Housing Issue arising here. When I managed a small, newer Tax Credit community, I had the same problem. I was a leasing agent and manager with lots of paperwork, so my time was used as wisely as possible.

I did not show anyone the model that did not qualify. I had a quick qualifier that I used (most were over income). Then there were those who wanted to see the apartment anyway. My regional told me to tell them it was company policy not to show apartments to unqualified applicants due to limited staff.

That never went well. Eventually, you'll get a bad reputation for being "snobby" or hard to deal with.

I think it is a bad idea, mainly due to the reputation you will eventually earn.

Try raising your income qualifications (mine is 3.5) to reduce the unqualified traffic even more. It's a quick, easy qualifier to get them out the door faster.

We do about the same thing in our office. When I have a prospect call in about a unit we answer their questions, and then refer them to apply online. Once we have their application, and it's approved we make an appointment to show the unit. Same with walk-ins we give them an application, and tell them we will call to set up a viewing once we get the app approved. If we dropped everything to show units to everyone that walked in we would get nothing done.