Gabriele Preston's Blog

Recently I was sitting across from a young woman as she began to complete a guest card. She asks me all of the usual questions. "When do you need to move in?" "Do you have any pets?" "Is there anything special you are looking for in an apartment home?" and then she starts to talk and talk.... "We have a gorgeous swimming pool." "Our fitness center is open 24 hours...waah wah wah, wah wah wah waah". I swear I am hearing Charlie Brown's teacher talk. As she continues to tell me about the apartment features and community amenities, I totally zone out. Have I worked in the industry so long that I'm tired of hearing the same old speech or do real prospects feel this way too?

 

When I started out in my career as a Leasing Consultant, I was not a very good salesperson. About a year into my tenure my boss came to me and told me that my closing ratio would have to improve or I could not continue in my role. I was really worried about losing my job and I thought hard about how I could do better. I did not understand what I was doing wrong. I was nice to everyone, I thought. Why couldn't I close more leases?

Shortly after the talk with my boss, I was presenting a model home to a man and I can distinctly remember standing by the front door as he stood by the sliding glass door looking out onto the balcony and telling him about everything the apartment included. When I finally took a breath, he turned to me and said "You know, you sound like a robot."  He did not know it, but in that moment my life changed.

One day I received a call from a man who stated that his application for an apartment was declined because he was a convicted felon and a registered sex offender. He wanted to know if I would reconsider his application. While I was apprehensive at first I let him tell his story. He started by saying that he's 45 years old and has been an upstanding citizen since he committed his crime nearly 27 years ago. He went to say that he's married and has been a successful manager with the same company for more than 10 years. He also told me he had impeccable credit history. When he was in college he and his buddies thought it would be funny to go streaking through the football field during a game. He and his buddies did not understand the consequences of their actions until after they were arrested, tried and convicted of a sex offense. Finally, he said that he was very sorry for what he had done and wanted to know if he could rent the apartment.

Sure I could have easily said "I'm sorry we cannot make any exceptions to our rule of no felony convictions," but I could not shake the remorse I heard in his voice and sense of frustration over the number of times he's tried to explain himself. You see by the time he came to me his application had been rejected many times over. Secretly, I wanted to laugh about his crime. Oh come on how many stupid ideas did you have as a teenager? However, this was no laughing matter. This was his life. After I checked out his story I made an exception and accepted his application for residency. It wasn't the first time nor was it the last time I made such exceptions.

Don't get me wrong. I do support consistent practices when it comes to screening and approving/declining applications for residency. The company's I've worked for like many others have a standard set of criteria and yes, we use a third party credit screening and scoring company to provide our Community Managers with a decision. However with our company an electronic decision resulting in a decline of an application does not mean an automatic rejection of the application. Clearly for some companies, it does.

 While visiting a community in Atlanta last week I saw a young man and women walk into the leasing office. One of our representatives recognized them from an apartment community she had worked at a short distance away. Later I walked over to that representative and she introduced me to the brother and sister looking for an apartment home. Since I knew that the community they were coming from was comparable and a bit newer than ours I asked them why they were moving. The woman stated that she disliked the Property Manager and that they have decided to move. When I asked what the Community Manager did to cause this decision she went on to tell me that they cannot stand the manager's rules about everything and in particular, the swimming pool. She went on say that they are not allowed to sit on the deck because the pool is still closed. They were also told that no floats would be allowed in the pool. The woman said that last year the manager or another representative would always come out and scold someone for doing something wrong and they just did not want to live in type of community anymore.

So if you are one of those managers enforcing the RULES ask yourself if any rule is worth loosing residents over? Or in other words how important are the rules? Rules do not always serve the best interest of the business. Yes, we need rules to keep order, to keep others safe etc., but we don't have to enforce them to the silliest extreme.  Bending a little when it serves the best interest of the business should be considered whenever possible.

http://www.multifamilymanagementconsultants.com

According to SatisFacts Research, LLC, the average vacant home costs apartment owners $3,000 in lost rent, utilities, turnover costs, advertising and marketing costs etc. What is often not mentioned is that vacant apartments are a sitting time bomb of destruction when left unattended. Those communities unfortunate enough to have an abundant supply of vacant homes sitting for months should know that these homes are susceptible to water, mold, insect and rodent damage sometimes so extensive that it has cost community's tens of thousands of dollars to repair. To diminish potential costs from damages it is vitality important to manage vacant homes with care and inspect them regularly.

Vacant homes should be inspected weekly; however this expectation may be unrealistic for an on-site team that is dealing with an oversupply of vacant homes. Remember on-site teams still have to make homes ready for new residents, complete preventative maintenance schedules and service existing residents. At the very least a rotating schedule should be put together so that someone touches a vacant home once every two weeks. The inspection only takes a few minutes and should require someone to:

I am a proponent of promoting from within and while I can think of many success stories there were a few miserable failures. I have supported the promotion of others for reasons such as tenure, and one that bitten me more than once, good performance. It is so easy to promote a team member who is smart and performs their job consistently well. But, the question to ask oneself is "Are they ready for a leadership role?" Depending on their character they may never be right for such a role.

I don't even want to think about how many excellent service technicians I have lost because I promoted or supported a promotion that ended in a termination. Partly because we did not provide adequate training and support, but more so because they lacked in many of leadership qualities needed to be successful. Likewise there have been many other times where team members have applied for a promotion and I'm left wondering why they do not have the good sense to know they are not ready for such a promotion.

I've taken a long hard look at the leaders that were successful and those that failed and believe there are certain qualities that make the best leaders. If you are looking to promote from within or are striving to be promoted, the leadership potential qualities needed are from candidates who:

There are thousands of beautifully designed websites for apartment communities and management companies on the Web today yet most do little to influence their existing resident base, the ‘bread and butter' of their business. Sure these websites attract prospects. They are designed to sell a company and/or apartment community(s), but the time that has been spent crafting the prospect's online experience has - slowly but surely, and perhaps unwittingly - marginalized the process of creating and maintaining content residents actually care about.

Traditionally communication with residents has been through printed newsletters and notices posted on doors or electronic versions of the same emailed or posted on-line. There is no doubt that a well designed newsletter with good content can be a desired source of information, but its quickly becoming an antiquated mode of communication. Recently Eric Brown of Urbane Apartments suggested that we ditch our newsletters and try a Community Blog in his post DITCH THE COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERS Urban Lab Project#033809 on multifamilyinsiders.com. Eric's idea is viable as one can communicate all that is needed and than some on a Community Blog and do so less expensively and in real time.

Community Blogs are meant to be less formal. Although you control the content they become part of a conversation where residents can comment. They are also a great way to join residents' discussions, provide tips and insights and receive feedback. When used in a forum where one's main objective is not to sell, a deeper connection forms between residents and the on-site team. The benefits of a Community Blog allow companies to:

• Offer an easy way for residents to find the information and resources they want and need.
• Deliver communication timely and keep the information current.
• Build community. Through good content and discussions stronger relations develop with existing residents.
• Broadcast a unique lifestyle at their community(s). Postings and comments reflect a community's personality and set it apart from other apartment communities.
• Build creditability when on-site staff post and respond to comments. According to Edelman's 2008 Trust Barometer Report, consumers say that a company that blogs is 1/3 more trustworthy. Trustworthiness skyrockets to almost 2/3 for "people like me"-that is, people who share interests and activities with the consumer you want to persuade.
• Control their brand. The main advantage of a blog is that it provides a microphone for the community setting it up, offering control over the subject matter and the degree of interactivity.

Company's concerned about receiving negative comments should remember that objectivity raises trustworthiness. So if a company or representative has made a mistake, own up to it. Then when a company praises itself its more credible. One can restrict comments to residents only and generally speaking residents are less inclined to make baseless comments when their identity is posted along with their comments. While this will not stop someone from making negative comments, monitoring and responding appropriately to such comments can keep a community's reputation in a positive light. Foul and truly inappropriate comments can be removed.

At a time when we are feeling intense market pressure to offer renewing residents the ‘same deal' as we are offering new residents, decisions not to increase rents and/or offer renewing residents some discount is helping ease the pressure. Even in good economic times, renewing residents often ask or at least wonder "What's in it for me?" at renewal time. Rewarding residents based on their length of tenure is a way your community and company can reassure residents that they are more important than gaining new ones. Additionally, a rewards program can diminish ideas residents have of moving down the street for a better deal. Offering a good product and great service is best, but it doesn't always guarantee a renewal. Life changing events cause residents to move as do tempting discounts down the street especially if someone is trying to save a buck or two.

Today affordability dictates many renewal decisions and renewal programs have to include a pricing strategy. Through my experience it is preferable to stay away from offering upfront rent concessions as a renewal incentive even if a community is offering it to new residents. Renewing residents understand that upfront concessions are absorbed by the cost to move. Furthermore once an upfront concession is given as a renewal incentive it is expected from then on forward. Offering a reduced rate or percentage discount off the market rate helps make their home more affordable. Yes, one could argue that a reduced rate or percentage discount off the market rate promotes the same behavior as an upfront concession; however these incentives are psychologically easier to replace with tangible rewards as the economy improves.

Once the pricing strategy is decided offering additional incentives in the form upgrades, logoed gifts, services and/or perks is a great way to retain residents. One way to do this is to provide renewing residents with credits that they can use toward any number of options to get the things they want. It is good idea to develop a brochure displaying the options available to promote the incentive program. Offering a higher value of credits for each successive term (i.e. 12 months, 36 months and 60 months) of residency will create an appeal residents won't easily give up by moving down the street for a better deal. Incentives do not have to cost a lot to deliver a big value proposition. They can be offered in many forms including free use of community amenities and perks like the return of one's security deposit or flexible lease options that allow residents to terminate their lease without penalty. Here are a few more thoughts of the types of incentives one could consider offering:

More and more I've reading about companies who are implementing programs that make it easier for residents to get out of their lease if they lose their job (see links below). They are doing so in hopes of attracting new residents and keep existing ones. Companies I've worked for in recent years have implemented practices of releasing resident's from their leases without penalty if their home becomes uninhabitable due to no fault of their own or that of their occupants/guests and for heath related reasons specifically for a terminal illness or the need for hospice, rehabilitation or nursing care. We are now considering doing something similar for residents that lose their job. As it stands now residents that lose their job cannot afford pay early lease termination fees anyway.

On February 11, 2009, I published an article "Recession Proof Your Rent Payments" http://www.multifamilymanagementconsultants.com/journal/2009/2/11/recession-proof-your-rent-payments.html that garnered a lot of attention. In light of this article, I'd like to emphasize that there is a way companies can let residents who lose their job out of their lease and minimize their loss of income. In the article I wrote:

"...renter's insurance providers offer an option for Involuntary Unemployment Insurance. This optional coverage offers protection when the insured is affected by unemployment due to a lay-off or termination by an employer. One such known provider offers a policy that features monthly benefits paying up to $500 per month for two months directly to the landlord. Resident's can purchase as many policies as needed to cover their monthly rent payment. The cost per policy ranges from $60 to $80 per year..."

By telling residents about renter's insurance companies that offer this option and encouraging them to purchase it or even reimbursing them for purchasing an adequate amount to cover their rent payment for two months, companies can make it easier for residents who need to terminate their lease due to a job loss. With this Involuntary Unemployment Insurance option the apartment owner will receive two month's rent while he/she or the management company tries to re-lease the home. Companies can still give the resident the preferred choice of staying in their home while they look for a new job and the first right of refusal if another resident is found before the expiration of the two month period.

As an overseer of multifamily operations I have often been frustrated and disappointed in why I could not implement change more effectively. Even when I exhausted a great deal of time and effort in getting my team together and talking to them about change, listening to their ideas and allowing them to effectively plan out their change in behavior, little if any change occurred. It was not because they didn't like the ideas or the plan, but because habits are really hard to break and it always seemed like more pressing things took the place of the intended change. What I've learned is that change is a process of communication and repetition. Change is made over time in small steps in the form of an agreement, practice, accountability, recognition, follow-up, review, refresh agreement, practice, accountability, recognition, follow-up, review (repeat as necessary). To explore this process of communication and repetition a bit further, let's talk about the steps.

An agreement is formed during the discussion of the topic and the need for change, exploration of concepts and ideas on how to improve or change behavior that leads to the strategy and goals necessary to affect change.

Practice is the reinforcement of change by showing and actually performing changed behavior internally with the team and externally with customers. After the agreement is made it is essential to reinforce the key changes in behavior by coming together with the individual or the team a few times a week. A supervisor and trainer can do this by presenting periodic feedback sessions or simple challenges that cause new behaviors to form. For example, let's say one wanted to improve customer service by changing the way customers are greeted. A challenge could be focused on the number of times team members remember to shake hands and warmly greet residents and prospects by name that day. At the end of the day individual successes are discussed together and more importantly new habits have begun to take hold.

When asked how his company hires such good talent, Bruce Nordstrom said, "Hire the smile, train the skill." He couldn't be more right.

Our industry has its share of traditionalists and those we've promoted up the ranks way too quickly. When hiring on-site staff, previous industry experience should not be a determining factor. Right now there is a wealth of educated talent out there that could really enrich your property(s), your company and our industry. You can teach someone the policies and procedures, but you cannot change someone's personality. Look for people that have customer service and supervisory experience and ask the right questions. Below is a list of 15 or so of my favorite that help me determine the best candidates for the job.

When I hire, the only skill I generally ask about is the candidate's knowledge and comfort level with Microsoft software other than that, I focus on their customer service and supervisory abilities and how well they know themselves. The following six questions focus on service. In our business where we provide and care for homes, it is important to know that the person you plan to hire is professional, confident, compassionate and willing to serve residents in a personal way.

1. Describe a time where you did something special for a customer?

Answers like "He was unhappy, so I gave him a discount" are nice, but also expected of service providers who make a mistake. You are looking for someone who stepped out of their comfort zone or the norm and helped a customer in a unique way.