When you’ve just posted a photo on social media, do you find it hard to stop checking your phone? Like glancing at it every sixty seconds to see if your pic has more likes and comments? There’s a reason for this: dopamine.

Not to get all sciency on you, but your brain’s functioning determines your behavior in ways you may not realize. Dopamine is the chemical that is released in the brain after something pleasant.  The happy, exhilarated, contented feeling that you’d get from eating a hot glazed donut, hugging a cute puppy, or seeing your favorite baseball team hit a grand slam? That’s due to a rush of dopamine.  Seeing a text, getting a Facebook like or an Instagram comment triggers the same effect in the brain. Once this happens, the brain wants more.

Basic sales training has forever instructed that if you can get a customer saying yes to small things early in the presentation, when it comes time to ask for the sale the customer is more likely to agree to it too. Dopamine explains why.  If we can get this happy action going in our prospective residents’ brains, we improve our chance of their moving in to our communities, and keep them content once they’re there. The dopamine effect gives them happy associations with the property and us.

Seek small ways to make that ZING! effect happen:

• When responding to online inquiries, 1) Do respond! There are many of your competitors who won’t bother or will do so with canned, impersonal automated messages. 2) Personalize the response using the prospect’s name and incorporate information from the inquiry.  Give a mild compliment like “You are so smart to start looking two months in advance.”
• Phone calls give many opportunities to make that happy and reward feeling happen. Start with “I’m glad you called. We can help you with that.” When taking work orders, thank residents for letting you know about problems so that you can correct them.
• This won’t come as a huge surprise: follow up after the tour, and include a compliment with a superlative. Something like “You have most pleasant child I’ve met all month” or “I can tell you must have the most phenomenal wardrobe, and that walk-in closet will be the perfect place for it.”
• Make your office environment one that consistently brings joy to residents.  Just like the dogs who love to stop by for treats, residents will too if they’re greeted with a “It’s good to see you” and a “How have you been?” Buy a bag of Lindor truffles and give them to residents when they pick up their UPS packages.  Because, well, unexpected chocolate is good.

Your new goal: Deliver such a positive and dopamine-rush filled presentation that prospective residents won’t need or want to look at their phones to feel good about the time they spent with you. This will be your new competitive advantage.