Leasing is not about romance. Leasing is straight up
about sex. You can’t get to the romance stage, the stage of wondering if this
person is The One, the complement to you, your better half, unless you have the
innate, insanely physical, wonderfully blissful chemical attraction. That’s
sex, baby, an unadulterated, raw, feral passion.
Leasing has been compared to dating lately, but I am
wondering when the last time most of you have been on the dating scene. That’s
all changed since some of you married, even five years ago. Once you are
married, your priorities change; they evolve. When’s the last time you went on a date?
Gone are the days where the guy sees a girl and asks
her for her phone number, waits politely until Monday and then calls and asks
her to a Friday night dinner and a movie. Gone are the days where he arrives on
time, rings the doorbell, perhaps brings flowers, and helps her on with her
coat, opens the car door, and demonstrates impeccable manners at all times.
Nowadays, people meet in groups and travel in packs. People see someone in the
group they are interested in and casually start conversations. This may lead to
a hook-up long before it leads to dinner. This may happen many times, or may
happen only once. He may go to her place and end up sneaking out at some point
leaving her to wonder if he will call, or thanking her lucky stars he had a
condom. Dating may be frequent and there may be plenty of online chats, texts
and Skype chats which may lead to online intimate moments that would never have
happened in the fifties! And guess what? Ladies often pay their own way. Girls
still confide in their friends and guys still share info, too – info gotten from
Google. Yeah, expect that your “facebook friend” will have googled you at some
point. Dating is typically very casual these days. This is not to say it can’t
or won’t lead to a long term relationship. That may be the end game; but the
short term goal seems to be most likely: finding someone to have fun with
without a commitment.
Translate that to our Leasing Consultants and their
jobs. Compare that to a few of the Top 40 songs out there and redirect your
Leasing Teams to lease like it is 2014. You can take any song playing on the
radio, on your ipod, through your Beats headphones and apply it to leasing
(property management.) Often when we work with new hires or send our veterans
to training seminars, we are looking for new ideas for touring, tools to speed
up our application processes, and new ideas for resident retention. All great
things! But, I truly believe it goes back to the basics.
Maps by Maroon 5: “I’m following the map that leads
to you.” Leasing consultants must be able to give correct and accurate directions.
You don’t want your Prospect whom you’ve been chatting online with for the last
two days to not know how to get to you or how to find the Apply Online button
on your website.
All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor: First, the
most important thing is for leasing consultants to be real and dress for their
body type. “Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top.” Second,
quit using photos from when your property and models were brand new. Quit “working
that Photoshop!” People feel cheated when the current product is not shown.
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell
& T.I.: Not suggesting sleeping with the Prospect; however, there is every
reason to let the Prospect know that you know he “wants it” (the apartment) and
that you certainly do “want it” (the lease) and flaunt that instant happy
connection you felt when he walked through the door. Just for the record,
wearing cut offs that leave nothing to the imagination is a No-No. Wearing a
super smile, displaying interest in his needs and wants and meaning what you
say can be intoxicating to a Prospect.
Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off: Even Superstars can
have off days. “Players gonna play, play, play. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate.
I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake. Shake it off!” You can’t win everyone who
walks through your door or sends you an online lead, but with the right amount
of charm and sincerity, you can capture the bulk of them!
Once that lease has been signed, sealed and filed,
the next phase happens. In dating, this is known as a Booty Call. In property
management, it is known as the after-hours call to emergency maintenance. And,
this my friends, is where the love begins. There is nothing more wonderful for
a resident than to want someone RIGHT THAT MINUTE and have her every desire
fulfilled when SHE NEEDS it. Think about it. The phone rings in the middle of
the night. The on-call technician picks up his phone. It’s her! He dresses and
speeds over to her apartment. She opens the door, so relieved he’s here! That
allows the love to ignite and grow from a professional one to a more personal
one. That happens first with Sam Smith’s Stay With Me and cemented with his Latch.
Ahhhh, the perfect song for resident retention!
Am I Wrong (Nico & Vinz)?
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