OWN IT

At some point in my career I realized that owning up to my mistakes made sense.  I am a perfectionistic over-achiever so this was not an easy thing for me to do.  I always want to do it right and to be seen as doing it right—there is a fair amount of pride attached to that.

However, I saw that covering mistakes or covertly fixing them after-the-fact involved more blood, sweat and stress than I was comfortable with.  Invariably, when I admitted my omission or mistake, my boss would offer direction or advice.  (Both of these responses helped me grow.)  Rarely was it anything to cause my boss’ blood pressure to rise.  In fact, it would allow for constructive dialogue and open communication.

I also realized that when I failed at something I had to face the failure head-on.  I had counseled employees that failure is a course in the University of Life.  We pay the tuition, learn from our mistakes and move on.  In addition, as a supervisor/mentor/coach I couldn’t help my team if they didn’t bring the problem to me. 

REFRAIN FROM THE BLAME GAME

Another great temptation is to play the blame game.  “I didn’t get that report to you when you wanted it because accounting didn’t deliver the revised numbers on time.”  “We didn’t hit our occupancy goal for March because traffic is slow/the ads are bad/no one is qualified.”

No one is to blame except for me. 

Conversely, no one can fix it except for me.  When leasing apartments (as in every other area in life) success is all in our approach and mind-set.  Sure, your ad might be bad but your job is to figure out what is wrong with it, shout it to the world and see that it gets fixed.  Or take matters into your own hands and start a rotation of Craigslist ads.  The same is true for slow traffic:  what can you do to generate more?  Who do you know?  Who can you call?  Can you go through old guest cards and start making calls?  How about the guest cards from last year?  Chances are your old prospects are facing renewals wherever they landed and perhaps are regretting their decision NOT to rent from you last time.  As for all of the unqualified traffic (there IS a lot of it and we will see more) make sure your prospects understand your Resident Selection Criteria.  If someone is close to being approvable, help them clean up their credit (NOTE:  We are not credit reporting bureaus and cannot reveal what is on their credit reports; however, you should refer them to whoever does your checks so they can see what is on it.)  Prepare a handout with resources for credit counseling; discuss policy changes to allow for co-signers, etc.

Or you could wait for someone to fix it for you.  But be prepared for a long wait.

ASSESS IT

Facing failure means being honest with yourself.  Step out of your head for a second.  The goal is to strip the emotions away.  It’s just you—no one is watching this and recording it to use against you later!  Honestly ask yourself:  How could I have done this better?  Why didn’t I ask for the sale?  Was I afraid?  What am I afraid of?  Be relentlessly truthful with yourself. 

If you are responsible for leasing apartments at your property, the fastest way to success is to stay at 95%-plus (depending on your company philosophy).  In the world of apartments, bonuses are based on income, the ability to make upgrades to your property is based on income and salary increases are based on income.  It is all a numbers game.  If you close 30% of your prospects, and you have nine apartments available, you need 30 prospects.  (If you are closing at 50%, you just need 15.  Sadly, if you close at 15% you need 60!  Has anyone figured out that life gets easier—meaning you have more free time—if your closing ratio is higher?!)  If your closing ratio is low, ask yourself why?  Research closing techniques, ask your company experts for help and advice, and ask someone with a great closing ratio to mentor you.  The only one who can do this is you.

You will find that if you are in the mindset of blaming and shifting responsibility you will be unsuccessful and unhappy.  I love loving to go to work!  We spend a lot of time there.  Why not face your frustrations and failures squarely, address and fix them so you can love work again?  Oh—and as a result you will rent a lot of apartments and then your team will love having you at work too!

Cheers!  Jim Baumgartner | Rent Soda

Jim Baumgartner is Senior Vice President of RentSoda, a consulting company offering apartment marketing, business & operations consulting as well as industry-specific training.

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