Christopher Higgins' Blog

As I was sitting across the closing table from the sellers of my new property in North Dakota, they asked me again why I thought I would be able to do better with this property than they had. My reply, a variation of what I had told them during my research, was “marketing”. Their reply was telling, a simple reason why they had to sell, “You mean advertising? There is hardly any place to advertise, and we have tried them anyway. Good luck!” they replied, with a condescending smile.

I can’t recall the number of times I have heard people try and equate or make synonymous the wildly different terms “marketing” and “advertising.” It all started many years ago, when I was peddling my apartment magazine in Beaumont, Texas. My best friend and I had made the rounds and called on quite a few apartment communities, but we had to stop for the day after one particularly humorous encounter. We went inside a property where the manager was smoking a cigarette and asked her if she would mind speaking with us for a few minutes about her property’s marketing plan. That was our standard intro back then. She took a puff on her cigarette, set it down in the overflowing brown ceramic tray and replied “Honey, we never had no rapes nor murders, so we don’t need to advertise.” Those of you who may have met me will be surprised to read that I was left speechless. Almost incapable of a reply. After a few uncomfortable moments as if I was Rick Perry at a debate I finally replied, “okay, well if that ever changes, think about giving us a call.” As Shelley and I recovered from our laughing fit back in her car, we started to think about the situation more. While certainly pleased the manager had not had to deal with major crime during her tenure, we began to wonder just how coherent her grasp of marketing, as a concept, was. Did she really think it just meant advertising? Did she understand that community relations, outreach, word of mouth, pricing, direct marketing and so much more were also involved? Did she understand that a marketing plan was an essential part of her property’s success, and of her JOB?

Ever since then I have used that anecdote as an entry with property managers who have become jaded about “marketing” and what it entails. In my seminars and now as an owner, I have come across many managers who just don’t get it. They feel that marketing is an aside, a diversion, not a pillar to succeeding in the marketplace. Many who work at larger property management firms have become so reliant on the corporate marketing director that they fail to take ownership of the marketing of their individual property. Some management companies have hastened this “decline” by centralizing many marketing, and yes advertising, decisions that really should be made site to site. But then there are the many excellent, passionate, capable, creative and brave marketing directors that have been instrumental in the success of their company, brand and portfolio. So how do some companies just get it and some don’t? Why is that?

Years ago when I had the task of putting together my first leasing guide, I relied heavily on the advice of a good friend, a supervisor with years of experience and obvious selling chops. One terrific tip she shared with me was that a leasing agent needs to become adept at finding the things in each room of an apartment home that the prospect was not likely to see. She suggested that we require each leasing agent to go into all rooms of an apartment, even the baths and closets, and find at least two things that were not obvious and explain what those features meant and how they could benefit the prospect.

In the years since, I have used that great idea as a cornerstone in my training. Think about it. When a somewhat less engaged leasing agent does a property tour, they usually spend a lot of time on pointing out the obvious, if they are even interacting at all. I cannot count the number of times I have walked into a furnished model with a leasing agent I was “shopping” and been lead to a room with an oval table and six chairs while the leasing agent offered “this is the dining room.” What a master of the obvious! Why do we even waste the time and energy if we are only pointing out things that are clear to just about everyone. I have had leasing agents fall this up by steering me into the kitchen and pointing to an appliance with the comment “this is the microwave.” As a sarcastic person by nature, I usually cannot let this go. I usually respond with something snarky like, “Oh yeah! I have heard about those. Can you show me how to work it.” The deer-in-the-headlights look I typically receive is well worth it. But seriously, if your prospect doesn’t know what a dining room or a microwave is, do you really think they are going to qualify?

So many property tours lean more towards “follow the leader” than a real plan to lease an apartment. We become better leasing consultants, property managers and salespeople when we get past the obvious and uncover the little things people aren’t likely to see. I explain this in my seminars as similar to the concept of “whiteout”. Just as when driving in a blinding snow storm it can become impossible to see your path forward, a somewhat similar thing happens to a prospect looking at apartments. All the more when in a vacant, they see white walls, white ceiling, light colored carpet and often lighter cabinetry and appliances. It can be easy to get lost in the sea of white, so that little things don’t stand out against the vast white backdrop. Especially if a client has toured multiple communities and a half dozen or more units, it can be very hard to see the differences. That is where we come in. Finding those two things in each room is crucial, pointing them out and explaining why they may be useful is salesmanship. They can be simple or complex, ranging from two cable outlets in the living room to make furniture placement more flexible to something elaborate like the fact that the drawers in the bathroom and kitchen cabinetry go full depth, providing more storage space than the typical ¾ drawers found in most apartments.   

A number of my blog posts have focused on the front office team, the leasing agents and consultants who bring home the bacon. But in the property management universe, our leasing agents don’t fry that bacon up in a pan. That is the manager, or in a larger operation the manager and their assistant. So what should we look for in a property manager in this day and age? Who succeeds while others falter? Just what does it take to be a leader who can guide an asset to a successful quarter, year and longer?

I am the first to tell anyone that I am not really a good property manager. I have hired many, worked with dozens and fired a few, but myself? Nothing to brag about. I am too direct, not politically correct and rather abrasive. In the mid-90’s as a supervisor, I was once asked to go with my on-site manager to a tenant’s apartment and explain the necessity of keeping the air conditioning running in South Florida. I asked to see the resident’s closet, and proceeded to explain to her that keeping all this crap in the closet against the walls without the a/c running was causing mold, endangering my asset, and we would likely evict her for it. I was then told to go screw myself. This was an early indication that my skills in dealing with residents were not stellar. But in the years since, I have learned who and what is a good on-site manager. I know what I need and who I want. I have been very fortunate to find some amazing property professionals over my career. So what does it take? Not what you think.

Jettison the “experience” requirements you are used to

Or, why your leasing team should be indistinguishable from that chick at the chamber of commerce...

When I was still just a peddling salesman, one of my least favorite activities was calling a leasing office I was supposed to visit and ask for directions. Keep in mind this was prior to GPS and way before Google Maps. The number of leasing agents and property managers who were unable to complete this amazingly simple and vital task still amazes me. It continued on when I became a consultant – I had to routinely call properties for directions from the airport, the train station, or much too often, the mall. The directions, if you can call them that, I often received were usually useless. On one occasion, I asked a leasing consultant who seemed to have the basic knowledge of being able to answer a phone and recall her own name how to get to her community from the city’s only airport. I relate her response in seminars all around the country. At first, she hesitated, and repeated back to me “airport?” “Umm. The airport. I don’t think, I. Do we have an airport? Let me give you to Bob, the maintenance guy.” I don’t want to talk to BOB! I want to talk to YOU, the leasing consultant, the property ambassador, the woman who I am expecting to answer a whole slew of questions about an apartment home I am considering.  If I speak with a leasing agent who cannot do that, I am going to assume they cannot do a large variety of other basic tasks, like tying their shoes or knowing that mail needs a stamp to be delivered. Yet it happened. It happened a lot.

 Grocery shopping is one area where you clearly see the differences between men and women. Not just in what they buy, but in how they remember to buy it. Women don’t seem to need much help remembering. They walk confidently through the store from aisle to aisle, grabbing what they need at their leisure. They know the layout and design. They don’t have to stop a confused stocker with queries about how to find spaghetti. Guys walk from one end to the other and back again, constantly looking at the hastily scribbled list they have assembled over the course of two weeks for this important day. They often start out with a basket, then find out they actually needed a cart. The differences go on and on.

Your prospects shopping for apartment homes have a list, too. Have you seen it? While you may not often get to see a printed piece of paper, you usually know the contents by the time you are through. Each prospect has a list of things that your apartment community must meet in order for them to be convinced to give you a try. Pretty much every consumer has given a great amount of thought on the topic of what they want if they make a move. Sometimes the idea is pie in the sky or unrealistic, but more often than not it is something you have already that can be offered at a reasonable price.

I haven’t always lived on empty land in the middle of Montana. There was a time when I was a city dweller. When I used to shop for an apartment, it was often a tricky proposition. As some of you may know, I am a tad on the picky side. It didn’t take 20 months to build my house because of weather delays, although that is the story I have sold my parents. I am particular. I like stuff a certain way. You may even call me a bit demanding.

Back in my apartment days I was known to demand quite a few, well, non-standard amenities.  But added to a penchant for the impossible, I had a pet problem. More accurately, back in my early 20’s it was more of a pet “situation”. I had two dogs and two or three cats. That made it just plain impossible to find a place that would accept me and my creatures. Don’t we all need a little acceptance?

In my last post I recalled a recent less-than-stellar leasing experience, “the young lady and her orange slices”. While I realize that eating at your desk is a common and many times unavoidable experience, your employer and your potential client are asking more of you. But what is the culture that creates an orange slice girl? How do employees become complacent, dispassionate, lazy? Did they start out that way, or did we break them?

How do employees see the love? Action tells a team member much more than empty words. So many management companies try to push and prod their leasing teams to do more, close more, sell higher, renew constantly – but when the team does this, that and the other thing they see no reflection of that in their pay. Why? Greed? A psychological misunderstanding of people’s innate profit motive? I don’t know, but something is clearly wrong. When a property succeeds, so should the employees. When goals are met, bonuses should be paid. When new heights are reached, your on-site teams should feel that.  A simple thank you is nice, but where is the love?

With all the talk of drastic cutbacks in government, how do we avoid making fatal cuts in our businesses? So many management companies have taken "scale it back" to a new, and dangerous, level.

Back last summer, I asked whether you and your property management company had, in fact, profited from the recession by upgrading your team and choosing people who may not have looked to your company for a job in the better times, but who’s current financial predicament opened them up to a new way of thinking. Smart and savvy management companies have jumped on the bandwagon. I see more and more on-site professionals these days who have successful sales careers under their belt, or who have worked in real estate in some other capacity, or have PR and marketing backgrounds. The reason this topic is dear to me is that this is one reason why I have felt that Texas has led the multifamily industry since the 1980’s. Let me take some of you back to that time. The 1980’s recession in Texas made this last national recession look like a cake walk. If you listened to pundits and real estate sages circa 1983, you would fully believe that Texas would soon have 30 million people. Apartment development firms in Houston and Dallas apparently believed that about 28 million of these folks would need apartments. And Freeways. The state was drastically overbuilt by the time the oil price collapse of the mid to late 1980’s occurred. But as Texas is famous for doing, it didn’t just give up, like say- Michigan. It took a couple of years, okay maybe 8 years, but property management firms that were left standing were transformed. They contained the best and the brightest minds, amazing marketeers, savvy trainers, inspiring leaders. The new properties they added to the mix starting about 1994 were cutting-edge too. Exciting developments and construction first took “ luxury apartment homes” to a level previously unheard of – actual luxury. Sure, this trend was also happening in the Atlanta market, Southeast Florida, around DC and to some extent in Chicago and the West Coast, but it was everywhere in the major Texas metro areas. The companies that survived the massive downturn of the 80’s had learned how to do more with less, how to innovate, how to create a truly aspirational product and how to sell that to the masses effectively.

Which brings me to today. Some management companies have done this again. I see exciting examples of innovative thinking all across the country. But sadly, I see more examples of the types of companies that didn’t survive the 80’s. Companies that have cut back on their marketing, lowered salaries for crucial personnel, eliminated their training teams. These companies are falling victim to a classic mistake – when things look bad, just cut. Making a property or a company "lean" doesn’t necessarily benefit the asset(s). Just as we know how fatal it can be to just drop all advertising, rather than teaching our on-site people how to use and assess its value, the same is true for the visionaries and leaders of property management companies. You have to have the idea guy, even when you don’t know if you can afford the idea. You have to have the visionary, even when the vision doesn’t seem too clear. Management companies that cut back in these areas are left managing “C” properties in third tier metros when the smoke clears. They don’t grow, they don’t expand. They cannot take advantage of the next uptick because all of their great talent has fled. They might have some good accountants, maybe a few sharp tacks  in their compliance team, but that hardly grows a business.

The quote "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" has been attributed to a number of astute thinkers including Oscar Wilde and Will Rogers. The idea behind the quote remains especially relevant, all the more so in this day of instant communication and omnipresent media. Do you make a good first impression in all the potential avenues a resident could encounter you? Do you go way beyond curb appeal to control your image in every possible way?

Oh these kids today! Young people, please take note. You may be perfectly lovely on the inside, but everything on the outside is telling me to “pass”.

Everyone in this business can tell the tales of when it was so easy to find great people, they were just coming out of the woodwork. There have been other times when we hired anybody because it was just that busy. But these past few years have seen an interesting phenomenon  - young people who need jobs but seem to be woefully unprepared as to how to go about securing them. From nonexistent or ridiculously bad resumes to the applicant with flip flops, many of these faux pas would seem to be self-evident. But to a 20-something, apparently they aren’t. So here is just a quick run down to help you or your friends ace that next interview. It could also provide a nice checklist to determine what may have gone wrong.

If you have to decide which of your piercings may be a bit too much for the interview, I probably won’t hire you.