Many people believe that property management is an old-line business that moves slowly. If you believe that then your team is already half a mile behind in a one mile race. In other words; you are toast because the competition is using all the best practices at their disposal to make sure they close every new prospect that steps on their property.
If your on-site team is "under-trained" consider revising your procedures to get quality marketing in motion in real-time. In other words, implement best practices with the end goal in mind; closing more (lease) sales. Following are three areas to implement improvements.
Leasing and Sales Staff Training. All of your marketing falls down if once the prospect come to your door there is no one there to greet them and begin the process of becoming a new resident. Your team must know how to implement the leasing sales process and engage accordingly. The process must be seamless. Gaps in training lead to fewer closed leases.
Market Surveillance (knowing competitive assets). Full time property management businesses understand that market dynamics change at a velocity much faster than the casual observer believes. Utilizing current market information means keeping continually in the loop on pricing and incentives offered by competitors. Knowing, really knowing, the attributes and pricing of directly competitive assets is paramount to understanding your place within the market.
Absorption (unit counts). Being up-to-date with changes to unit counts in your marketplace (and submarket) is imperative. With new construction, absorption is an absolute number but there is more to unit counts. Assure that your team is aware of current and pending changes to the competitive marketplace.
Gaining a new lease is a process. Preparedness is the initial stanza of the process; prepared leasing staff, sales material, office reception, ready units, grounds. These are all part of your property presentation towards making the sale and gaining a new resident.
Mr. Wilhoit is the author of two books: How To Read A Rent Roll: A Guide to Understanding Rental Income and Multifamily Insight Vol 1 - How to Acquire Wealth Through Buying the Right Multifamily Assets in the Right Markets. Multifamily Insight Vol 2 is set for release in 2015.
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About This Blog: Multifamily Insight is dedicated to assisting current and future multifamily property owners, operators and investors in executing specific tasks that allow multifamily assets to operate at their highest level of efficiency. We discuss real world issues in multifamily property management and acquisitions. This blog is intended to be informational only and does not provide legal, financial or accounting advice. Seek professional counsel. www.MultifamilyInsight.com