How many times have you heard a leasing consultant finish up a phone call only to find that she had written only “Harold. One bedroom. Large dog.” on the guest card? Isn’t it a good feeling to know that your community just spent $400 to make the phone ring, only to have your associate collect ZERO information from the prospect? (Sarcasm absolutely intended.)

Studies and experience tells us that many leasing agents are not effective on the telephone. But, what is an effective call? I define an effective call as one where the consultant does (or attempts to do) the following things:

• Gathers the caller’s name and contact information
• Determines what the customer is looking for in an apartment
• Determines if the community is able to meet the client’s needs
• (If applicable) Presents specific options tailored to the customer’s needs
• Schedules or asks for the appointment

Did you know that only 60% of leasing consultants asked for a customer’s name on the phone, according to a study done by CallSource? According to the same report, only 17% of leasing agents asked their clients for their “specific needs and preferences,” while 40% of agents asked to make an appointment. Ouch!

In spite of the importance that everyone in the industry seems to place on telephone performance, why do so many associates still struggle on the phone? After training on this subject for years, I believe it is because there is often no plan and/or no training provided to associates. So, what can you do to give your people the tools they need to be effective on the phone?

Have a plan: You need to have a comprehensive telephone script program. Period! Your people need to know how to take control of a conversation and how to ask and say things in a way which will motivate their customers to want to provide them with the information needed to help. 

The most effective way to do this is with a phone presentation program. Too many leasing agents believe they can just “wing it” on the phone and that is simply not true! When your people know what they’re going to say in any given situation with their customer, it allows them to spend less time thinking about what they’re going to say and spend more time, energy and effort building a true connection with the customer. 

Train: When I was a community manager, I would not let my new hires touch the phone until they went through my phone training program. I would spend almost two days with my new hires going over the basics of the phone presentation; providing them opportunities to role play, practice, ask questions and phone shop competitors. 

Believe me when I tell you that your people want this! I recently did a phone training workshop for a large apartment association and a few of the attendees came up to me and said, “This is what I have been waiting for!” Of course I was thrilled to help, but also a little sad that people would have to wait months before getting equipped with the right tools to do their jobs. 

Equip: As a manager, I provided my leasing agents with a full copy of the phone presentation and a phone guest card that was pre-printed with the fundamental phrases of the phone presentation. 

Monitor: If you already use some type of call recording system, I recommend that you listen to a sample of your associate’s calls on a consistent basis. Encourage your people to listen to their own phone calls as well. Even if you don’t have a recording system, you can still regularly eavesdrop on the calls to make sure they are what they should be. 

Being effective on the phone is not easy ... so, give your people the best possible opportunity for success!