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Over the past couple of weeks, I've been sharing my apartment renewal process I have experienced from a resident point of view.  Last week's post was fairly harsh, as the renewal letter did very little to entice me to stay at my community.   It was more of a "If you want to stay here, this is how much you are going to pay us" approach, which was less than inspiring, to say the least. 

In the original renewal letter, they said they would call me in one or two days.  I did not receive a call.  Instead, I got a follow-up email exactly one day before I would have to give my 60 day notice.  Here is the email (not originally italicized):

Hello Brent,

Are you thinking about moving?

Sometimes the right decision is to STAY the course, steady as she goes - no need to rock the boat!

We think you should STAY and keep your current address. There is no need to forward mail, print new checks or to send out "we've moved" notices.  STAY and save yourself the expense of moving. STAY and none of your important possessions will be broken, disassembled, misplaced, mislabeled, lost or stolen and all because you decided to STAY right where you are!

We look forward to hearing that you will STAY here with us because we value you as a resident in our community. Call us today to sign your lease renewal, so you can continue to enjoy your apartment home!

Sincerely,
Your Team at <deleted>

First of all, this email was a SIGNIFICANT improvement over the renewal letter itself.  So let's make some notes on what it did both right and wrong.  First, here are the items it got right:

1. It actually made real attempts at keeping me, with an actual argument about not leaving. 
2. Not only did it make an argument, but those arguments are real.  It really does take effort to forward mail, print new checks, and send out "we've moved" notices.
3. Plus, the continual use of "STAY" was a nice touch, as it actually conveys a meaning and hopefully has some sort of subconscious reaction. 

Now for the flip side:  What did this renewal letter miss the mark on?

1. First of all, the timing was completely wrong.  If your efforts to convince a resident to renew wait until the last day before their notice is due, they have probably already entered the "buying mode", which means you are now competing against a much larger group.  Even more, I found this to be disrespectful - by not giving me enough time to decide, it gives the impression to the resident that you are trying to force them into a decision by giving them too little time to decide.
2. The first argument the letter makes is that it's best to "stay the course" and not "rock the boat".  It doesn't get more inspiring than that!  What type of boring person are they trying to appeal to? 
3. They also use scare tactics by assuming that if I move, all of my stuff is either going to be broken or stolen.  I don't appreciate scare tactics, do you?
4. There are no real benefits listed to living at their community, rather only annoyances if I leave.  Again, on the inspiration-meter, it doesn't hit very high!
5. It relies upon action from the resident, which essentially means that this email is designed to renew the resident itself.  If that's the case, this better be the best email ever written, or it means you have no faith in your leasing staff to get the renewal.  On the other hand, if this was the first contact in the renewal process, which is then followed up by phone, it might not be bad at all. 
6. I haven't checked in a while, but are there no good options from the property management software providers to easily renew the lease online?  Why make the resident come into the office to begin with?  Why can't I just click a link, enter my digital signature, and be done with it?

Overall, I felt that this was a much-needed upgrade over the renewal letter, which was really just a price sheet.  Although it still needs some improvement, it actually made me feel they wanted me to continue there, which is a drastic improvement. 

 (If you would like your resident communication assessed, please contact me.  I will not pull any punches, but you will be kept anonymous.)