Lease like an Athlete – Finish Strong

In a previous blog; Train like an Athlete, we talked about training to be Leasing Superstars with repeating great fundamentals to instill great leasing habits.   That got me to thinking about other ways leasing is like sports….and the infamous words “finish strong!”

Being in softball and soccer as a kid, I always heard my coaches yelling out “Finish strong!”  Which meant, keep playing hard until the very end of the game.  Even now, as I watch my son during his baseball practice and games, I often hear his coach yelling the same words to him and his team, “Finish strong boys!  Finish strong!”  But what exactly does “Finish Strong” mean when it comes to leasing?

Our company does secret shops for many property management companies.  Our shop evaluation form is like most companies.  It’s broken down into 4 basic categories and contains many questions for evaluating each stage of the leasing process; Phone Call, Greeting & Qualifying, Demonstration, and Closing.  Closing would be the ‘finish strong’ portion.

All too often on shop reports, we see good, even great scores on agents phone, greeting/qualifying and demonstration sections, but then scores plummet on the final section – closing - they fail to close.  They don’t finish strong.  Even when our shoppers go on and on about how nice the agent was, and they were “really friendly”, the ultimate question is – did they attempt to close the deal?  Did they solicit an application, a deposit?  Did the agent invite you to live there?  More times than not, the answer is, “No, no they didn’t”.  That’s a shame.  It’s like you’re behind 1 run, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, you’re at the plate, the pitcher’s throwing strikes and you just stand there.  You don’t even swing at the ball!  Why as a leasing agent, would you not try and close the deal?  To close everytime?

There are tons of ways to close the deal, but we have to not be afraid, be prepared and in Nike’s words “Just Do It”.  Regardless of when they’re moving, that their partner may not be present, always, always ask for the lease!  A direct approach may be your style.  Assuming the lease technique is another great close, the counselor close is great too!  So, as you train to be a Leasing Superstar, don’t forget that if you don’t attempt to close the deal, you’re not finishing strong.  And Superstars always finish strong.