Wants, Needs. The difference between objections and conditions.

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?

What I began to see initially as just an occasional insensitivity blossomed into what I feel is an industry-wide problem: a complete lack of understanding of the difference between an objection and a condition. We hear both of these in the course of a typical day, sometimes half a dozen or more. The problem is, one can be overcome and the other cannot. Knowing the difference is crucial if your leasing team is going to win residents, respect and market share.

An objection is heard in almost every sales pitch. It’s a natural reaction to prey getting cornered. An objection is simply a way for a prospect to slow down the sales process, and provide the leasing agent an opportunity to solve a problem.  But rarely is this a deal breaker. Chances are, the objection being offered up is something that can be easily, or creatively, overcome. For instance, a prospect who is in love with 95% of the apartment they have just seen, but isn’t too sure about being on the ground floor. Easy enough, assuming you have the same type coming available on the third floor. Problem solved, objection met.  Someone who is uneasy about the lack of assigned parking. Well, let me show you a garage right over here! Problem sated, client enthused. Most of the typical objections heard on site each day have a relatively simple solution.

The peeve I am petting is when a leasing consultant doesn’t understand that not every objection has a solution. It is true that an engaged and thoughtful leasing agent should try to move past each one they hear. It is good for them to work through the entire issue with a prospect to see if a reasonable solution can be reached. Unfortunately, many trainers and supervisors have told their teams that each one is able to be overcome. I am writing to tell you that just isn’t true. Some guests don’t present you with a simple objection, a preference, a wish, a concern. Some tell you straight out they have a condition.  A condition that will prevent them from leasing from you. Something you do not and cannot satisfy.

Come back with me to my twenties so I can illustrate. When I would mention my pet situation to leasing consultants, most of them tried to work around this, as if it were merely an objection. Some of the things they said to me were laughable. Others were quite offensive. I wish it were not true, but I was asked on more than one occasion if I could “put one down”. See how helpful the leasing agent was? Problem solved! Just murder a beloved animal that gave me joy, so she could earn her month’s leasing bonus.  Very few leasing agents had the confidence, training and gravitas to tell me what we both knew to be true: I could not lease from her. I had a condition which made it impossible for me to live at her community. I didn’t have an objection, like where would I put the china cabinet? I had something preventing me from living with her. Substitute pets for another thing people sometimes gather, children. We have to enforce occupancy standards for reasons ranging from fire code to fair housing. Too many kids is a condition just the same.

What does a person want? What does a person need? Knowing which is which and getting to the bottom of your client’s list of particulars is what the entire leasing process was designed to do. That is why we ask those questions. A successful interview and tour should generate a bevy of useful knowledge about a customer’s needs and wants. There is even a handy form for all of this stuff. It’s called a guest card. As your leasing team matures and builds confidence, they will learn that they cannot satisfy the needs of everyone who walks in the door. But they can certainly try and fulfill all the wants. Quickly recognizing when a condition is getting in the way of closing a sale can be the difference between offending your prospect and winning a fan who will tell their friends all about you. That is something you want and that your property’s success needs.

Christopher Higgins is The Apartment Guy, an industry educator and owner of multifamily assets in 6 states and two Canadian provinces – all of which accept pets enthusiastically. 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.