The Teachable Moments of Learning Software

When I was in the fifth grade, the class was divided with all the girls in one room and all the boys went to another room – for, what else? The Talk. I don’t remember much about what was said (I was nine years old!) What I do remember was looking around the room at all the other girls who were sharing side glances and nodding knowingly. I had no idea what they were trying to say in the little filmstrip the teacher had popped into place on the projector. Afterward, we were dismissed to go to the playground for recess. I watched as my friends all gathered into various groups whispering all about The Talk. Then someone asked me what I was going to use during “that time of the month.” I answered what I had already heard my friends say, my friends who all had older sisters and mothers who cared about supplying such information to their daughters. In truth, I had absolutely no idea what The Talk was or anything else about “becoming a woman.” And, I didn’t really care.

Eventually, I had to figure it all out about a year later and it was scary and I had no one to talk to about it. (And no internet – Egads!!!)

I am reminded of that time because I started with a new company and was trying to learn Yardi all over again. (All the other companies I was with had switched to Onesite.) It kicked my butt all over the office as I was stumbling through a part of the program I had never even known existed in purchase orders and payables. So, reaching out to a manager at another property she came over to “teach me.” However, what she did (and I do appreciate her efforts!) was just tell me to point and click on this and that and go to this and click on it and hit submit! See! Understand?

Uh, nope. Not at all. So, I tweeted over to Yardi who suggested utilizing some tutorials and I found a manual and I dove right in trying to learn how to use this part of the program. It was be a while before I will master this, but at least I have an action plan.

Communicating how to do something and the steps needed to accomplish a task is very different from imparting the reason something is done the way it is. Every person processes directions so differently. And the thing is that is all right. For me, I need to understand the whys of doing something in addition to the ways of doing it. If you are training a new hire, please remember this – your staff learns differently and as a trainer, it is up to you to figure that out for each person under your tutelage. Or, at the very least, provide an illustrated booklet all about “Becoming ….” Reference materials are almost always welcome because if you aren’t ready for the information at that particular moment, there will be a moment in your future when it will become imperative to understand it.

Going the Distance

Why don’t people flush the toilet? And if they don’t flush the toilet, does that mean they also don’t wash their hands before exiting the restroom?

Why don’t people put their unwanted mail into the trash receptacle sitting right beside the bank of mailboxes instead of discarding it casually on the ground?

Why don’t people bother to scrape more than a small hole in the ice on their frosted over windshields in the middle of winter BEFORE they pull out of the driveway?

Why don’t people pick up their dog’s poop?

After reading so many blog posts recently about relationship selling and customer service, I am intrigued by the concept of why people do what they do. I have always been fascinated by this and perhaps missed my calling (except that in property management we all know putting on your shrink hat is commonplace. :-)) Coaching our teams is the first step in helping our residents to stop their laziness. That's what it is - simple laziness - when people so obviously ignore the right thing to do.

Flashback to high school. I was always a fairly proficient runner and enjoyed the short distance race. I excelled and often finished, if not first, then in the top three. One day after the spring season had already started my Coach told me he was pulling me from the short races and entering me in the long distance races. I protested. I whined that I wasn’t good at the long distances, that I would let the team down, that I plain ol’ didn’t want to run the long distances.

His response? I need you in the long distances, so that is where you will run. I was mad and pouted but did it. I never won the mile or even finished in the top three. However, by placing in the top five or even ten – heck, just for having someone competing – brought enough overall points to our team’s total to qualify us for Sectionals. My meager point count contributed to our total success and our ability to keep competing.

Flash forward to real life. At some point in our lives, we have to ask someone on our team to do something he or she does not want to do. If our residents continue to ignore the obvious, we may have to do it for them until we can train them to do it for themselves. Educating residents to do the right thing means we have learned what it takes to go the distance and we are up to the challenge.

And, I doubt we will ever get people to scrape their whole windshields before pulling out of the driveway. But I won't give up trying to convince them to take that little extra time so they can actually see where they are going and get there a bit more safely.

Be a Lifelong Learner. It's Free.

I believe with all my heart that we, as human beings, should embrace lifelong learning. I don’t think it matters what we learn, we just need to keep at it. I don’t think we grow if we tuck our heads into our arms and lay our heads on the table after dinner every night. I cannot imagine how anyone could advance in his personal development if he does not seek knowledge from others.

I remember when I was small and struggling to comprehend the fact that the world was not a safe, secure place, the one thing I clung to was my wish to learn to read. Instinctively almost, I knew that once I learned how to read, the magic of the written word would, not to be dramatic, but give me a sense of freedom. Once I did learn to read, I can tell you my books did indeed open up a new quality of life I never knew before. The written word provided hope.

This is why when I found out about a training opportunity being offered by a national multifamily training company, I posted about it on a Linked-In discussion group. Wow, an opportunity to simply let this group know you are interested and would like to learn – all you have to do is post your comment – should be hard to pass up. I know if I were a multifamily professional with limited means to learn how to do a better job, I would take full advantage of this offer! As it is, I take every free webinar and class out there and I pay for others, as well. Education is important to me. (Must be why I used to teach.)

Someone posted a comment asking how much I was being paid to “promote” this offer. Am I naïve? Is that the assumption these days that the only reason someone would share the opportunity is because of personal gain?

No, I am getting zero dollars for posting the link. Nothing expected at all! In fact, I am completely offended that someone is questioning the post. Come on folks! Isn’t this what you would call a true testimonial?

Clearly, Training IS Important!

Has anyone gone furniture shopping lately? My daughter recently moved into an apartment and was excited to shop for a new couch and possibly a dining set, specifically the pub style with four raised chairs. She wanted to accomplish this before the move took place so that her furniture could be ordered and the delivery could coincide with the move in date, or at least close to it.

Now, she had gone with me when I went shopping for my new furniture the year or so prior but I had done most of the footwork by the time I was ready to actually make the purchase. With her, we were starting off together. Now, like most Gen Yers, she had researched on line catalogues and store sites, so she was familiar with what lines each store carried. She just wanted to see the items “in store” before she actually ordered. After all, furniture is not really inexpensive these days.

The first store we went to, we were nonchalantly greeted by a salesperson that did not approach us, which was fine because we really wanted to kind of wander around first anyway. At one point, a saleswoman walked over to us as we were discussing a dining set. I admit, I barely noticed her at first. But then I looked up as she announced to my daughter who explained she really preferred a set located across the store.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. This set here is kind of cheap. That other one is much nicer. Yeah, I agree.”

This woman was dressed in the shortest, tightest skirt with a low cut blouse and five inch “hooker heels.” She looked as though she had stayed out all night clubbing and had just rolled in on the Walk of Shame carpet that morning. Her voice was raspy (probably a smoker) and her nails were all glittered. Never mind that she looked older than me.

Lauren and I looked at one another. Her language and attitude had piqued my interest. Being in our business – the business of providing homes for our Residents/Customers – giving excellent service is very important.

“Hey,” she added, “Have you ever been to a Big Lots? You can usually find those smaller tables and sets there for pretty cheap.”

I watched my daughter’s face take on an expression I have seen over the years. Uh, oh. She was offended by this salesperson’s implication that since she was young, she couldn’t afford nicer things. Now you have to know and understand that my daughter may have champagne taste on a less expensive wine budget, but quality is important to her and she is patient about comparison shopping and waiting for sales and deals.

“I think we will continue shopping,” I said and looked at Lauren.

Lauren turned to me and asked, “What about me says I even want to buy furniture at a Big Lots?”

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with a discount store. However, when you are standing in a so-called nice furniture store, WHY on Earth would a salesperson, one, mention a clearly inappropriate store (not even a true comp) and two, risk insulting a customer?

We left that store and went to several others where she ended up selecting a beautiful sofa. She was so happy with her purchase and found a dining set, too, that she is willing to wait to purchase as it is much more than she can afford right now.

Sadly, I noticed that most of the stores hired salespeople who had no training in providing selection service to those walking into their stores. I wonder how many sales they are missing because of that. Plenty, I would say. All these people need is a training program geared to listening to what the customer says and helpfully guiding them to the product. Then they need a basic knowledge of the product! No one could even tell us in half these places what kind of wood a table was made from, plus they had to go to a computer to look up the price! That entire sales force could stand to get some direction from our industry!  

Residents Are Real Chatty Cathys

This is the kind of situation that must drive Residents crazy and I understand completely because it kind of drives me crazy, too. My daughter moved back into an apartment community where she had lived with a roommate for a short time. She liked the community a lot, not just because they pay for the gas utility and she is always cold, she lives in a cold weather climate and well, you get the picture but also because she feels safe there. She has a couple of co-workers who also live in the same community. One of those took a six month lease and it is up for renewal.

Those of us in Property Management should not kid ourselves. Residents talk. They do talk about how much their rents are and we are only deluding ourselves to think they don’t compare their rent amounts.

She found out that her co-worker’s new rent amount is going DOWN if he renews for another six months. “WTH(eck)?” she asked me. I kind of shrugged my shoulders.

“It’s the time of year,” I guessed. But honestly, it should not be less; at the least, it should remain the same, wouldn’t you think? And this is a big company in Indiana. They are known to NEVER run specials or lower rents even when they have a huge number of vacant units.

So, I’ll offer a word of caution. Offering a lower rental price at renewal may be your strategy; however, it offends those Residents who did not take that short term lease. It offends those who chose to stick it out a year trusting that you will make their year worry-free and thinking they were locking in a great rent rate for an entire year. How is it fair to lower someone’s rental rate when the person took a shorter term lease and was NOT even charged a premium for that convenience? Explain that to me so I can explain it to my daughter, please.