Have you seen their checklist?

 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.

In my seminars, I spend a bit of time talking about the “checklist”. I want my audience to imagine it. If it helps, I have even asked them to draw one. Then list the things they hear most often, the things their typical prospect is looking for. Do you have these things? Do you offer those services?

There is often healthy debate around the idea of the prospect interview, tour and the use of a guest card. I have made my opinion on the importance of guest cards known in previous posts, but whether you are for them or against them, you can still achieve success with a prospect if you keep the concept of a checklist in your head during your interview. What items are on their list? This doesn't have to be metaphorical, you can ask them to list the ten things they want or need.  You want to work those out of them and then show, systematically, how they can check off that box. Simply put, you have to get all the items in their basket or they probably won’t be checking out with you.

So what about hidden objections? Do you always hear everything a potential resident needs in the course of your tour? No. Believe me, sometimes this is even a good thing because you are just being spared a bigoted comment or some sort of unrealistic expectation. But you want to probe as much as you can, so that you can accurately gauge whether a real objection is blocking your aisle, keeping you from making a sale.

Every prospect has one. That list of things they need, the things they want in their next apartment home. For some, it is a long and detailed list with lots of thought and contemplation. For the guys, it usually says “dishwasher” and “place to grill”. Either way, your prospect has a list of items they are just waiting for you to sell them. Peeking at your prospect’s checklist is a surefire way to close a sale, every time.

Christopher Higgins is The Apartment Guy, an industry educator and owner of multifamily assets in 6 states and two Canadian provinces. His 20 years of industry experience is the source of numerous seminars and articles on the business of succeeding in apartment management and marketing. For more, visit www.theapartmentguy.net.