Who Are Your Competitors, Really?

When the market is down it causes us to look at our community(s) from a whole different perspective. In the worst of times we have to reposition our community(s) to survive. One way to do this is to understand who our competitors are so we can study them, their offerings and consider ways to position our community(s) to compete against their weaknesses.  But, do we really know who our true competitor's are?  They may not be the ones on our Market Survey Reports. What? You say. Well read on...

Typically, a Market Survey is created from a list of competitors that are close in locality, similar in age and building style to the subject community. We physically shop and compare amenities, floor plans and price points to develop the Market Survey. From there comps evolve out of our own opinions of who our community is gaining their prospects/residents from or losing prospects/residents to.  But if you really want to know who your true competitor's are, ask your prospects.

They are the ones comparing your community to others they feel are of similar interest and value to them.  In my experience I was surprised to learn that in some instances, I placed a lower value on some communities than our prospects did. To develop a better sense of which competitors your community's compete against, one needs to establish similarities between several opinions.

To do this well, ask a sampling of qualified prospects to participate in an email or on-line survey. You'll need to entice them with a gift card or cash incentive (at least a $65 value) in exchange for their time and reassure them that they will get paid for a completed survey regardless of their housing decision. Qualify interested participants by ensuring they each meet your current rental guidelines and are ready, willing and able to lease an apartment within 30 days. Make sure you invite prospects that are at the beginning or in the midst of their apartment search. Prospects may not recollect their entire experience after they have made their housing decision.

Below are some sample questions that will give you huge insights on how your prospects make their buying decisions:

• What advertising sources did you use to identify the apartment communities you were interested in?
• Which apartment communities did you choose to contact (i.e. call, email or visit)? Please list each one.
• Which apartment communities did you actually visit? Please list each one below and tell us why you initially chose to visit that community and your likes and dislikes of each?
• Of the community's you visited which community's are most similar to "Subject Community?"
• Which community do you like the best and why?
• Which community will you place (or have placed) a deposit and application with and why?

From the information gathered, you will begin to see patterns of the comps similar in appeal to your own and infer a new set of true competitors. Visit each new competitor to affirm your findings.

This information will help you identify the weak areas of your community(s) and enable you to better position your community(s) in their respective market(s) to compete.

To Read More Topics by Gabriele Preston, go to http://www.multifamilymanagementconsultants.com