I have to be honest with you, I am feeling rather uninspired with many of the leasing “professionals” in our industry lately. Over the past few months I have been doing work for and with a vendor company, which requires my being in touch with communities (and associates) all around the country…and the results have often been awful!
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve called communities and the person on the other end of the line sounds like this …
I UNDERSTAND! I DO!
I worked onsite for many years, so I understand the feeling many of you have when the phone rings. Listen, after answering dozens of phone calls every day, when the phone rang AGAIN for the 30th time, I had my days when, all I wanted to do was this…
It wasn’t always easy to answer the phone and sound like I cared, but I knew it was important to my company, my career and my paycheck that I answered the phone like I really did care every time.
So step one is to make a decision to be friendly on the phone.
The second is to sound like it!
Here is a tip that I learned a long time ago on how to sound friendly, engaging, happy and nice on the phone….
Learn From the Radio
If you have a favorite DJ, haven’t you noticed that they all speak in a certain “DJ Voice?” They speak that way because on the radio they need to find some way to be engaging and entertaining because you can’t see his/her face. Guess what, you’ll need to approach your phone calls in the same way!
Develop your phone voice by listening to the radio and emulating some of the techniques that they use to sound interesting and friendly. In a nutshell what seems like too much energy in person will sound just right over the phone. So, while your co-workers may look at you funny, your clients on the phone will think you sound great.
It’s Not the Leasing Olympics
So many leasing associates treat the tour like some kind of race to collect as much information as possible as fast as possible. It’s NOT the Olympics and this is not a race. Your job during the leasing process is to build a connection and a relationship with your client, which will increase your chances of closing the sale!
BTW: This doesn’t mean that you take your time with everyone, or that you ignore the fact that some prospects may need for you to do a tour at light speed! You need to be flexible on tours and adjust to the needs of your prospect!
It does mean though, that your approach shouldn’t be that of an order taker-simply asking questions and writing answers, with no personality, no friendliness, no connection. In other words, you need to work it! I mean, this isn’t Walmart! You can’t just point to the general direction of aisle 4 and hope your client finds the “Chee-tos” in the aisle.
You need to give your prospect a compelling reason to choose you!! Because pointing to the Chee-tos isn’t enough anymore.