Not a Fan of Craigslist, Are You?

I am not a fan of Craigslist in this market. I am not a fan of Craigslist in my Indiana market either. In fact, I am just plain old not a fan at all for using it to rent apartments for a long term lease. Maybe it works in larger metropolitan areas, but in small towns, I am not happy with it – not for generating good traffic. I am sure there are going to people who will tell me I am just not creating “quality ads,” “good ads,” or catchy enough titles for our ads. While I don’t necessarily disagree, I don’t think the ads are unprofessional, bad, or even lame.

We always get calls on the ads, and we have gotten a few rentals from them, but somehow, it never fails to disappoint in some way. My biggest complaint is that:

People just do NOT SHOW UP for their appointments!

Leasing Consultants base their entire schedule around appointments: talking on the phone trying to book an appointment, setting up the tour each day, sprucing up vacant apartments and/or Models to show, and getting the deal done – you know, closing the lease. What a time waster it is for them to have to deal with NO SHOWS. When I hear them lament about this, it makes me want to pick up the phone and call and ask those Callers why they have no common manners. Isn’t it just polite to call and let someone know you have gone elsewhere, had something else come up – you know, the “It’s not you, it’s me” speech?