Leasing Training. Building Skills that Last.

Leasing Training. The magical myth that a leasing agent can attend a 3 hour class or spend a day at a seminar and come back to the property and be a leasing rock star for life, just isn't true. There. I said it.

Being a trainer myself, I wish it were true! I wish that everyone I had the pleasure of spending a day or a few hours with, practiced all the fantastic tips & skills we learned in the training class day in, day out. It just doesn't happen like that. It would be like spending an hour at the gym and thinking it will get you the same results as someone that works out 365 days a year.

While it's vital that leasing agents get the opportunity to learn from classes and seminars, this isn't what instills great habits and skills that are performed on a regular basis. Training needs to be reinforced daily to be effective. It's a daily event. Rooted in positive habits practiced throughout the office, by the entire team is what makes training work. If you're sending 1 leasing agent in the office to training, are you confident everyone else in the office is practicing the same skills they're about to learn?

It would be like just one person in the leasing office trying to eat healthy. They bring their neatly packages carrots, fresh green celery sticks and gallon of water to work one day. But everyone else around them is snacking on candy, Snickers, ordering greasy fast food daily and swigging down sodas, every day. What will happen to those carrots and celery sticks? Chances are pretty good they're going right out the window.

The next time you send a leasing agent to a training class, make sure that the skills you're wanting that agent to learn and develop are being supported and demonstrated by EVERYONE in the office. Maybe send the entire team so that they can learn together and plan on how to support each other practicing great leasing habits. Repeating, reinforcing and rewarding great skills is what really makes leasing training effective. How do we make sure the skills are consistent & rewarded? Mystery Shops. That info coming up in a future blog. Stay tuned!