Feeling Boxed In With Your Present Job Or Position?

I can't tell you how many professionals I meet each week who openly share with me how unhappy they are with their career or their present place of employment.  It actually makes me sad, because life is short and we spend most of it at work, so we should enjoy what we are doing.  After all, there are only 168 hours in a week, of which the average American consume 112 of working and sleeping, leaving us with only 56 to enjoy.

I wake up each morning and know that the tasks I have in store for me are personally fulfilling.  Be it a speaking engagement, an employee mentoring session, an apartment association board meeting, a corporate financial meeting, conference planning, writing curriculum, completing expense reports, meeting with vendors, etc., I look forward to the days challenges.  Of course there are duties that are less pleasant, such as counseling or terminating an employee, but I still find reward in knowing that I am doing it correctly, professionally and with the best interest of both the employee and company in mind.

As professionals express their career woes to me, it often becomes apparent that in fact it is not their career or job duties they are are unhappy with, but instead a working relationship with a specific supervisor or colleague.  Being 49 years old (turning 50 this December - EEK!), I have had my fair share of experience with colleagues/supervisors and can certainly relate to the positive/negative dynamics they can bring to the work place.  However, over the years I have realized that I am 50+% of that dynamic and need to be able to recognize when I am being positive and when I am being a stubborn bitch, when I am being sensible or when I am merely wanting to win the fight.

One of my bosses post college was Cruella DeVille.  For some reason, her position as an Elementary School Principal gave her the right to treat adult professionals as children.  She would make teachers sit in the center of staff meetings on a kindergarten chair encircled by their colleagues, should they come 1 minute late or ill prepared without pen and paper.  While her expectations of timeliness and preparedness were admirable, she never recognized that embarrassing the employees that she personally hired and interviewed only caused the rest of the staff to question her hiring ability and lose respect for their fellow colleague.  NOTE TO PROFESSIONAL SELF:  don't publicly embarrass colleagues or employees.

One of my bosses was a certified martyr.  She worked harder and longer hours than anyone else in the company and made sure you were aware of her extreme sacrifice for success.  Oddly enough, I only found that my phone calls and emails were returned Monday through Thursday between the hours of 10:00 and 4:00 pm.  Additionally, in reviewing weekly corporate rankings, I consistently found our district to be in the bottom five.  For such a hard working woman, her efforts were certainly proving to be fruitless.  NOTE TO PROFESSIONAL SELF:  don't verbally express your work ethic, let it be noticed by your actions.

One of my bosses was justifiably paranoid.  An extremely talented woman who had proven herself year after year of having the "Midas Touch".  She had built a dedicated team of long-term talent that consistently exceeded expectations, unfortunately, her supervisor was a male chauvinist determined to build a boys club.  Each day was an emotional nightmare that she was unable to hide from her in-tune team.  NOTE TO PROFESSIONAL SELF:  know when to hold them and know when to fold them - and don't let "golden handcuffs" blur your judgment.

One of my bosses started out awesome, but ended up a Diva.  This guy had the ability to look at you with the sweetest of sweet smiles and make you feel like you were the best employee he ever could hope for.  I was blinded by his acknowledgment of my talent, and never realized how hard I was working to meet his unreasonable expectations.  Nor did I realize, that most of his demands were to further his career, completely unaware or uninterested of his employees' career goals.  NOTE TO PROFESSIONAL SELF:  know your employees, recognize their talents and sincerely work hard to promote them, because their promotion is a reflection on you.

From these four examples it is evident how a supervisor can definitely impact the positive or negative work experience.  Equally, so can you.  It is easy to get caught up in negative energy and focus on the bad and ignore the good.  It is easy to talk about the accounting department who consistently loses invoices, or the human resource department who slowly responds to termination requests, or the information technology department who can't seem to fix anything, or our maintenance teams who move to slow or our leasing teams who couldn't rent a life preserver to a drowning man.

But the fact of the matter is, you continue to choose to work with/for these incompetent idiots.  That means, you are either too lazy to pull your resume together, too frightened to leave, too insecure about your ability to achieve elsewhere, just love complaining or have built a mountain out of a mole hill.

I know this, because I was all of these things approximately three years ago.  It was actually my limo driver that slapped me into reality.  Having come in on a delayed flight out of Washington D.C., originally to arrive at 10:00 pm, instead arriving at 2:00 a.m., I got in the car and started bitching.  I complained about the company, my supervisor, my colleagues, the employees, etc., wrapping it up with, I am going to resign and move to Florida.  He responded with a deafening, "Whatever, you have been saying that for over ten years now".  And he was correct!  I had built a box with walls of excuses and sealed it with a lid of negative attitude.  It was not the company or the people around me preventing me from happiness, it was me.

The next morning the sun rose, I updated my resume and six weeks later moved to Florida.  But this time with a new philosophy, "I control my career happiness", even in a bad economy. And now, I LOVE MY LIFE in Florida as much as I originally loved my life in Chicago.

So, remember, life is short, stop bitching and get happy ... even if it means you have to move on!  You built the box you function within, you can modify it, move it or even tear it apart at any time.

To Put On Hold, Or Not To Put On Hold - That Is The Question

In almost every sales training class I have ever attended or presented, participants ask a question regarding the appropriateness of putting customers on hold.  Many are concerned about missing potential sales calls, others not wanting to do it because they feel it is rude and others feeling forced to do it due to being under staffed.  No matter what the motivation, because the topic comes up so often, it is evident our employees are pondering the question and are in search of the answer.

Putting customers on hold is definitely tricky.  We live in a very fast paced immediate gratification society.  We want everything NOW, with no waiting.  We no longer go into the bank and have a conversation with a bank teller, instead we execute immediate withdraws and deposits through an ATM machine.  We no longer wait in a long grocery store line to purchase our groceries, instead we execute our own transaction in the Self-Serve line.  We no longer drop off our pictures at the photo lab and wait a week for their development, instead we print them out on our home printer or better yet view them on our wide screen TV.  We don't like to wait!

It has been said that every 10 seconds on hold feels like one minute.  As I listen to taped sales calls where customers are put on hold, it quickly becomes evident that frustration sets in at warp speed.  If the caller is on hold for 90+ seconds, I have found they typically hang up.  This means, if we do choose to put someone on hold we need to be dedicated to making it an extremely minimal hold.  Below are some of my suggestions for evaluating if customers should be put on hold.

1. I personally do not believe Prospective Residents should be put on hold if at all avoidable, especially if it is to answer another call.  Prospective Residents are like a bird in the hand, you have them on the phone, they are interested, and you do not want to interrupt the sales flow.  Therefore, I would let all other calls go to the voicemail/answering service.  (I might reconsider this opinion if I were 100% occupied, 100% leased and had a huge waiting list)
2. Often existing residents realize how busy our offices can be and tend to be a little more flexible.  Provided you have one of those understanding residents on the other end of the line or in front of you, then I think it is ok to put them on hold for a quick minute.  However, I think you definitely have to limit the number of times to two or less, otherwise they we fell less important.
3. Angry residents absolutely cannot be put on hold.  Putting a frustrated resident on hold only adds fuel to the fire.  They need your undivided attention, expecting you to be fully focused on solving their customer service issue.
4. Family and friends need to be trained that between the hours of 9:00 to 5:00 you are off limits other than for emergencies.  If they do happen to call during business hours, it is perfectly acceptable to put them on hold as many times as required.  In fact, if you put them on hold enough times, you might actually train them, calling you at work isn't worth it and they will think twice before dialing your work number next time.
5. Vendors should be considered part of the family, needing to understand you are at work and have to focus on the job at hand.  Putting vendors on hold or asking them to call you back at a different time when you are better staffed and less busy is perfectly acceptable.

I much like the rest of the world hates to be put on hold, it definitely is not a customer service focused choice.  However, sometimes it is a necessary evil, so be sure to evaluate who you are putting on hold before making the decision by using the five points above as your guidelines.  Most of all, remember 10 seconds is equal to a minute.  So as quickly as you put them on hold, you need to remove them from hold - or at least check in every few seconds.

Also remember, having to leave a message is typically not considered frustrating by the customer - especially if the office person gets back to them rapidly. 

Good luck, and remember, never put your commission on hold!

An EXTREME Maintenance Service Story

Upon my official entrance to the multi-family housing world I was hired by one of the largest players in the REIT (Real Estate Investments Trust) industry at the time.  Having one year of leasing experience in the private sector, I was naively awarded, and naively accepted the position of Marketing and Training Director.  It was truly baptism by fire, nine states, and 25,000+ units.  Luckily, I was young, dumb and equipped with a yet unscarred ego.

One of my states was Michigan, and one of my cities in Michigan was Ann Arbor.  My employed REIT owned multiple assets in the surrounding areas of Detroit, but this community was by far their unrecognized gem.  A beautiful community, off the beaten path, exceptionally well maintained and managed by a delightful staff.  When you walked this community, you couldn't help but feel great, feel happy, feel refreshed, feel .......... HIGH???

So, for those of you who do not know about Ann Arbor, Michigan, sit back and relax, you are in for a treat.  Ann Arbor has very lenient laws regarding the possession of marijuana – a $25 fine for your first offense, a $50 for your second and $100 for your third (and subsequent) offense(s).  More notable, if caught, it is a simple civil infraction rather than a criminal offense, such as misdemeanor or felony.  In fact, the first Saturday of every April at high noon, the Hash Bash festival is legally held, also known as the Monroe Street fair.

Oops, I must have spaced, back to the maintenance service story.

So, I am visiting this cozy little property, and I tend to have the habit of asking residents how they like living at the community I am visiting.  I first venture out to the pool, where I see a lovely middle-aged woman relaxing in the sun enjoying a novel.  I introduced myself and posed the pending question of her resident enjoyment level.  She quickly provided neutral and positive comments about the environment and staff, but rapidly related the EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE that a specific maintenance technician by the name of Larry provided.  I thanked her for her invaluable input, and moved on to walk the property.

I met another young lady walking her dog on the grounds, again introduced myself and posed the question leading to her community approval rating.  Again, I was presented with neutral and positive feedback regarding the property and staff, but was quickly redirected to the awesome service that a certain maintenance technician by the name of Larry provided.  Again, I expressed my thanks and moved on.

During my walk I witnessed a woman struggling to get groceries out of her car in an attempt to carry them to her apartment, I offered my assistance.  She accepted and during our trek to her apartment, again I posted the rating question.  Without fail, I received the neutral to positive answer regarding community and staff, but received the standing ovation for maintenance technician Larry.

As I left her apartment home I could not stop myself from wondering what made Larry so popular with the residents.  Unfortunately my mind wondered to the negative; is he the pot provider to the community,  is he the community gigolo and exceptionally gifted at it, is he the king of free and unreported upgrades, what is it that makes Larry so notable among the residents?

While walking, as all property management people do, I soon found my hands full of garbage that I had unconsciously collected during my pondering stroll.  In the short distance I noticed a maintenance golf cart, so I headed for it to deposit my collected garbage.  I was greeted by a short, horizontally challenged older man with a Cheshire cat grin that quickly extracted the contents from my hand stating he would take care of it.  Upon noticing his captivating smile, his substantial girth, his balding head and his untrimmed eyebrows ... I then noticed his name tag, Larry.  Sorry to say, I quickly ruled out resident gigolo and moved to pot supplier or unreported upgrade provider at warp speed.

Soon I found myself walking along side an elderly woman who invited me to see her lovely apartment home that she had been living in for 13 years.  Minutes later I was on her balcony chatting, having coffee and missing my grandma.  The only difference being, my grandma grew geraniums on her balcony, not marijuana like this resident grandma.  Having been offered a cookie or a joint, and selecting the cookie, I once again posed the satisfaction question.  As she took a long drag off of her freshly rolled treat, holding it in for maximum enjoyment, expelling the smoke intoxicating me and anyone else within 20 yards of her - she moved directly to Larry.  A few puffs later from her, and a few peanut butter cookie nibbles from me, I found out that Larry had a maintenance customer service program he had put in place.

After Larry completed work orders, he would leave a miniature roll of wild cherry Life Savers and a note that said, "I am your personal maintenance Life Saver Larry, call and request for me if you need anything".  WOW ... no wonder everyone loves Larry!  I quickly excused myself and made an immediate dash to the office.

Upon arrival to the office I spoke with the community manager about Larry's customer service program, she was clueless, but noted that an uncanny amount of people requested his services.  We got on the radio and requested Larry to come in the office.  Upon questioning him about the program, we found out that it was one of many "Larry Programs".  He had large orange stickers, that his wife ink stamped with the words, "Larry went the extra mile for you today".  While he was in the apartment, he would search for other things he could fix and leave the sticker on them.  He had laminated cards that he would put under windshields in the winter saying, "Have a safe warm drive to work, your windows were scrapped by Larry today".  OMG! OMG! OMG!  If only maintenance staffs were made up of Larrys, we would never have to worry about renewals.

Suddenly, I forgot that he may have been the pot dealer, the free upgrade provider or the over  weight furry eyed gigolo ... all I recognized was, that he was my EXTREME MAINTENANCE SERVICE provider.

Wherever you are Larry, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ... start writing your own maintenance blog.  I will be your first dedicated follower, because you were the first maintenance dude to ROCK MY EXTREME MAINTENANCE SERVICE WORLD!  You truly became my Maintenance Service Life Saver.

Are You A Demonstration "SUPER STAR"?



I love shopping apartment communities and meeting Leasing Consultants.  I wish I could tell you that nine out of every ten are awesome, but unfortunately it tends to be exactly opposite.  During most of my visits it becomes obvious that they were hired because they were nice, not because of their sales savvy.  In today's economy, we need effective commission driven sales people.

A few months ago I was visiting a community in central Florida and received such a thorough tour that the leasing professional even presented me with the objections I should have.  Starting with; no ice maker, no ceramic floor tile, no granite counter tops, no ceiling fans and my personal favorite, no water pressure. I do have to admit, while presenting me with the potential objections she immediately presented well rehearsed answers to over-come them, but I could not figure out why she brought them up in the first place.  So of course, curiosity killed me and I had to ask.  Her response was that she doesn't like dealing with objections (oh yeah, this is a good hire), so she just puts them in her tour demonstration to get them out of the way.  Upon our return to the office, I came clean as a shopper and asked to talk to the community manager.  I was told by the community manager that they were in a very tough market, they were offering up to two months free rent on new rentals and one month free on renewals.  I was then told, that even with those concessions they were barely holding on to an 89% occupancy.  We had a conversation regarding tour to lease closing ratios of which she stated were in the 20th percentile, solely due to the tough market, none due to sales talent.  When quizzed about the demonstration strategy of building the objections and answers into the tour process, she quickly stated how well it worked and that the trick was handed down to her from her regional manager. 

Once again, my mother's words echoed in my head, "The fish stinks from the head down"!

I happen to think that the tour or demonstration of the model and/or vacant unit is a skill that must be taught, coached and fined tuned to perfection.  Following are some of my favorite tips for effective apartment home demonstrations.

1. Be a demonstration "SUPERSTAR".  Check your attitude before meeting with your clients.  Dig deep, find an energy source and rev up for the tour.  An excited, positive, fun tour is one of the best closing tools you have in your leasing arsenal.  Your tour and demonstrations should be an academy award winning performance every time.  So know your lines (your product), know your fellow actors (your clients) and know your villains (your competitors) and keep a happy commission ending in mind.
2. Welcome them to their new apartment home.  Never enter the apartment first, always open the door, motion for your prospective residents to enter and say, "Welcome to your new apartment home".  This suggestion gets them to subconsciously consider the surroundings as their new home while touring.
3. Do not announce the rooms.  Never say, "This is your living room" or "This is your bedroom" or "This is your kitchen", etc.  These announcements are insulting; they can identify the purpose of the rooms independently.
4. Get them to decorate.  Upon entering the rooms ask questions like, "Where would you place your sofa", or "Where would you place your favorite piece of art", or "How would you decorate your dining room", etc.  There is an old saying in the real estate world, "If you can get them to decorate, you can get them to move in".
5. Know interesting facts about the rooms.  "Notice, our kitchen has 22 cabinets and 4 utility drawers", or "Notice, our living room has cable connections on both walls" or "Notice, every main wall in your bedroom has an electrical outlet".  All of these items are important, but my not be noticed by the typical prospective renter.  However, when recognized and reviewed, may be just what you need to tip the scale your direction and away from your competitor.
6. Actively involve the customer.  Be sure to ask them to open appliances, explore closets, step onto the balcony, test water pressure, etc.  Tours should be interactive and interesting, you do not want to turn your clients into little puppy dogs following your lead.
7. Hide special visitor surprises.  During your tour have your guests find gifts with your community logo and phone number, thanking them for their visit.  Possibly mugs in the cabinets, t-shirts in the closets, bottle opener key chains in the drawers, travel tooth brushes in the medicine cabinets, etc.
8. Always carry a tape measure.  Know standard furniture sizes and demonstrate how the specific floor plan you are visiting easily accommodates furniture with space left over.  "A standard sofa is 8 feet in length, and end tables 2 feet in width.  As you can see, our main living room wall is 16 feet long, easily accommodating your required 12 feet and providing you an additional 4 feet ... possibly for a beautiful decorative plant or tree".
9. Customize the tour to their needs.  Don't give the same verbal tour to everyone, customize the tour using their names and knowledge you have regarding their lifestyle.  "So Jennifer, you said you love cooking, check out the 23 linear feet of counter top space you have in your new kitchen" or "Suzy, come check out your new room, look at all of the shelf space you have for your stuffed animal collection you told me about" or "Jack, step out into your new attached garage, perfect for your new Mustang convertible".
10. Avoid taking them back to the office to close the deal.  The office is full of chaos, ringing phones and unpredictable residents.  Have applications and pens available in your model units and let them fill out the forms in solitude.  If you do not have models, be sure to put them by the pool with a cool drink or in a clubhouse amenity away from the actual leasing offices.

To be a "Demonstration Super Star", you have to have the closing ratios to prove it.  That means each of you have to step up your demonstration skills by implementing new ideas and creating a personalized experience that wins your clients over.  If they don't fill out an application and write out a check, it will be hard for you to become a box office hit at your company.  So I ask, are you and your product ready for your close up?

If so, bend down on one knee, put both of your hands in the air, give me the peace signs and say it... "Super Star". 

(And if you have no idea what I am talking about, rent Molly Shannon in "Super Star")

Can You Relate To This "To Do List" Video?

 

“I have too much to do”!  How many times do we utter these self-defeating words in a day?  Well, GET DOWN OFF THE CROSS MARY, SOMEONE ELSE NEEDS THE WOOD!  You have the same 24 hours a day that Bill Gates had to build his empire, the same 24 hours a day that Martin Luther King had to influence Equal Rights and the same 24 hours a day that Benjamin Franklin had to invent electricity within.  The biggest difference probably being, they each had a strategy and a prioritization plan for successful accomplishment; unlike you.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I visit under-performing assets and when asked what the cause is for their less than adequate achievement levels, they respond at warp speed, "Too much to do"!  I quickly follow up that response with, "Show me your prioritized list of what you have to do today", and they look at me like I am a three headed monster.  The next line out of their mouth is my absolute favorite, "We have a, to do list, but we don't have time to prioritize".  It is so difficult for me to refrain from saying, “Then you only have time for failure - dumb ass".  But being the professional I am, I conjure up a sweet smile and merely say, "Let's take a look, maybe I can give you some helpful hints that will lead you to a higher level of success".  One day I will get the Academy Award for my acting skills.

Every single person I know, who has ever achieved at an admirable level had a game plan.  They evaluated and re-evaluated this game plan every day.  They made a conscious effort to make sure that the items they focused on each day, brought them at least one step closer to their ultimate goals.

Our industry goals are not that difficult to grasp; increase revenue, decrease expenses and create an awesome atmosphere for residents and employees alike.  From an employment/professional standpoint, our prioritization guidelines should be motivated by these three items .  In other words, you have to use these three goals to prioritize the order in which you execute your work tasks.  For instance, on my task list today I have; 1) collect rent, 2) review budget vs. actuals, 3) submit commissions, 4) organize resident party, 5) clean out storage room and 6) buy a new plant for my office desk.  Item 1 clearly impacts revenue, item 2 clearly impacts expenses, item 3 clearly impacts employee morale and item 4 clearly impacts resident retention - therefore these four items must be prioritized in the top of your to do list.  However, items 5 and 6 do not directly impact any of the three company goals, so cannot be considered a justifiable priority.

The problem is, cleaning out a storage room or going out to buy a new decorative plant may be a fun distraction from something like boring yourself with tedious budget comparisons.  This is where will power, discipline and a prioritized attack plan pays off.  It is a known fact 20 minutes of planning each day provides the average person an additional 60 minutes of work time, gained from being organized.  This 20 minute planning period needs to be a time set aside from distractions and interruptions.  Some people like to do it in the evening prior to going to bed, saying it helps them to sleep better knowing what is in store for them the following day.  Others like to do it first thing in the morning, saying it wakes them up and gets them motivated for the day.  As far as I know, no studies have been done regarding a.m. or p.m. planning, but all studies have concluded that it is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY and that people who do it are happier, reduce their stress levels and achieve more than those who don't.

So, let's summarize the steps:

1. Start with a 20 minute uninterrupted planning period (either end or beginning of day)
2. Create a to do list for the day
3. Prioritize your to do list by using the three industry goals (increased revenues, decreased expenses, happy employees & residents), and put them in order of greatest impact
4. Protect yourself from fun distractions that stand in the way of accomplishments
5. Focus, dig in and remember - you have the same 24 hours as everyone else

I happen to love and surround myself with optimists if at all possible and avoid pessimists at all costs.  I love when I hear my friends and colleagues say, "I got so much done today, I can't believe it"!  Their accomplishments motivate them to do more, their accomplishments make their careers fulfilling and their accomplishments boost their self confidence.  On the other hand, when I hear people say, "I worked my butt off today and got absolutely nothing done", I cringe at the negative energy that comes from them.  I watch them organize their parade of sympathetic followers, playing their one man band anthem of "Woe is Me", all marching to the village of crosses to crawl upon their repetitive place of comfortable defeat.

Life is short, and we spend most of it at work.  So choose to win, or choose to lose - it's actually up to you.  But the moral of this blog is; the ones who choose to win, more often than not, have a prioritized daily game plan!  So tomorrow morning when you wake up remember, you can pick up a saw & hammer for your cross or you can pick up a pen & pad for your prioritization list, the same tools are available to everyone every 24 hours of their career.

An Employee Fairy Tale

To the leaders of our industry and those of you who might consider yourselves motivational professionals, I humbly request your indulgence in reading this fairy tale come true.

Once upon a time, in a desert far away called Tucson, lived a shy untapped talent by the name of  Ms. Lindsey.  Each day she diligently arose, assisted her children with their morning routines, gave her soul mate Rodney a kiss goodbye and reported to her place of employment  in a timely fashion.  At the end of the day, she returned home to her loved ones, confident that she had completed her required tasks.  As she tucked her Princess Sydney, Prince Jerran and Princess Emma into bed, she knew the day's events would surely repeat themselves the following morning.  Having lived this life for quite some time, she had grown comfortable with the security of the daily routine.  She subconsciously recognized that her role as a mother was the most important, her role as a life partner equally important and her role as Community Manager, a mere financial requirement of life.

One morning upon reporting to work, she was confronted with the news of pending new ownership.  In the days that followed hoards of people converged upon her once predictable community, all liberally offering up ideas of change and endless criticism.  As the long days of investigative due diligence continued, Ms. Lindsey returned home each night hiding her concern for the future from her loved ones.  Temporary relief was felt when the investigative teams parted, but then the tedious waiting of potential ownership transfer began, though quite sure of the inevitable.

Her desert felt smaller than ever before, limited of options.  Though her future path seemed lined with great cactus, full of unavoidable pricks (pricks to remain nameless) during her unsure journey, she held on in hopes of a comfortable mirage. Ms. Lindsey knew, she must travel outside of her comfort zone, hope for the best and face the day of takeover with courage.  This dreaded day came and went, infinite changes awaited her each day and turmoil seemed to fill her dreams each night.

One morning she bid her loved ones farewell, gave her soul mate a nervous kiss and braced herself for a new corporate visitor ... a Vice President, she had yet to meet.  With golf carts waxed and shined, unit keys carefully selected for tours and stacks of reports prepared, she took a deep breath nervously awaiting another day of interrogation.  Soon maintenance radios echoed warnings of his arrival, and the team prepared themselves to deliver their well rehearsed greetings.

The Leasing Center door opened and a tall semi-slender man entered.  He was well groomed, nicely dressed and appeared to be somewhat of the typical professional.  As he made his way across the room Ms. Lindsey took notice of his salt & pepper hair, his sincere smile and his honest blue eyes.  Something was different about this corporate representative, but what was it?  On alert, she monitored his every move.  As he introduced himself and shook each employees hand, she noticed he placed his other hand over theirs, using both of his hands like a loving guiding grandparent.  She also took notice that he did not use this moment for an impressive elaborate introduction of his personal achievements, but instead used it to thank them for staying on board and welcoming them to the corporate family.

Alert to the differences, she still prepared herself for the inevitable looming interrogation.  But instead, she found herself, upon his request, temporarily closing the office and forwarding the phones for a brief meeting with the entire management team.  As the meeting began, it became evident that he was not posing questions entirely to her, but was actually gathering experienced historical advice from her and her team.  He asked the question, "If you were to invest $100k in this community, how would each of you invest it - of course after giving yourself a raise".  His humor and sincerity brought calm to her team, and surprisingly to herself.  However, her calm was short lived when one of her team members brought up the stupid idea of building an asphalt path throughout the community for small children (specifically her son) to ride their tricycles on.  Expecting a reprimanding Executive lesson on how to spend investment dollars, she was surprised to hear him say, that he understood how that certainly held personal importance to her as a desired amenity, and diplomatically moved on to brainstorming more ideas.

Upon the conclusion of the brief meeting, the property tour began.  But this tour was different, this time the tour seemed comfortable.  Compliments of landscaping, compliments of cleanliness, compliments of make-ready quality were freely provided by this once dreaded visitor.  Golf cart time was spent brainstorming creative ideas on how to improve employee workspace as opposed to making mental lists of required changes.

Upon arriving home that night, tucking her loved ones in, and curling up next to Rodney - Ms. Lindsey wondered if dreams could come true, if brainstorming ideas had possibilities of reality?  Little did she know, weeks later she would find herself in the exciting thralls of renovation and gratefully moving her and her team into desperately needed and beautiful offices designed especially for them.  Team motivation soared as job security increased.

Her career dedication quickly grew, she stepped outside of the safety of her protective shy shell and began to offer her opinions to her new trusted corporate confidant.  She was secure in knowing that her good ideas would be recognized, and her errors would be turned into diplomatically handled lessons leading her to higher levels of success.  Her paranoia of making mistakes, turned into healthy concern of disappointing someone she respected.  And most of all, her once accepted status quo position, offered hopes of growth, which ignited her professional motivation.

Soon Ms. Lindsey found herself taking her family to exciting new lands of challenges, confidently wrangling greater expectations and reaching higher levels of success.  Once easily defeated by failure, now secure in her abilities to re-attack and conquer ... with insured corporate support.

While her intriguing Vice President moved on to other lands, she was blessed with the guidance from his most respected mentor, carefully placed and residing in her career world.  She receives occasional correspondence from her respected role model, and eagerly expresses her gratitude for his sincere attention.  She eloquently shares endless stories to her staff, in hopes of gaining a portion of the motivation and dedication he was able to inspire from her.

She goes home in the evening, confident in her decisions, but ever gauging how she could have improved, envisioning his face, asking the question, "What would TD do"?  She opens her laptop, holds Princess Emma in her arms, and creatively turns his blogs into oral stories of folklore.  Her double duty, as sleep inducing story telling mom and career professional brings most evenings to a fulfilling, yet exhaustive end.

Little does she know.........................................

TD goes to bed wondering what great successes she must have accomplished today.  He wakes each morning thinking how lucky he was to have had the unique opportunity to work with such an incredible professional.  He wonders if her team realizes how lucky they are to have her as a leader.  He goes to bed each night, dreaming of the day, that she, Rodney, Princess Sydney, Prince Jerran and Princess Emma shall re-enter his professional life - but taking great comfort in knowing they shall always be in his personal life.

As a leader in a corporation or an industry, shield yourself from focusing on your personal success.  You do not have enough talent, skill or intelligence to independently secure this position.  Instead, focus on mentoring those around you, instill confidence in their self-recognition of talent and prepare them to take your position as they establish justification for your move upwards.  Their growth and success is what will surely elevate yours.

I dedicate my blog tonight to Ms. Lindsey, a constant inspirational and motivational colleague and friend in my life.  I am honored and thankful to have had and continue to have the opportunity to mentor this exceptional individual.  On this night of her birthday, I hereby name her "Queen Lindsey", ruler of the land of "Exceeded Expectations"!  For those of you wondering if I have the authority to name her Queen, you obviously do not know me well enough to be aware, that I am certified and well proven as being experienced in delivering the title of Queen.  More importantly, you must have forgotten, that you are reading this blog in "Trainer Don's World" where the land of "Exceeded Expectations" is part of my realm!

So, to one of my most respected colleagues, "Happy Birthday", I bow down on my knees to you "Queen Lindsey", in appreciation for your friendship and trusting in me as a mentor.

TD

PS... tell Rodney, Sydney, Jerran and Emma, "Trainer Don" said, they better be on their damn knees too!

First Impressions Are Everything! You Only Have 5 Seconds, So Make It Count!

Psychologists around the world tend to agree that the typical human generates a first impression within five seconds.  WOW ... do we live in a judgmental society or what?  And more importantly we judge at warp speed.  It is said that these rapid first impressions are generated through our five channels of human perception.

1. Touch is suggested to make up 2% of a  first impression
2. Taste is suggested to make up 3% of a first impression
3. Smell is suggested to make up 7% of a first impression
4. Sound is suggested to make up 14% of a first impression
5. Sight is suggested to make up 74% of a first impression

 Let's start with the big one, sight, and work our way back.  Sight is suggested to make up the bulk, 74% of our initial impression.  Most of us immediately jump to the conclusion that we are talking about first impressions of another human being.  But in the case of business, we are not only talking about the employees, we are also talking about the surroundings.  If you drive by an apartment community where residents are allowed to store anything they choose on their balconies, you may subconsciously get a first  impression of the community being poorly managed.  If the landscaping is unkempt and garbage is strewn about, you may get the subconscious first impression of it being a dirty community.  If you walk into the leasing center and see files stacked high on messy desks, you may get the subconscious first impression of disorganization.  And finally, if you are greeted by a shabbily dressed and poorly groomed individual, you may get the subconscious first impression of limited professionalism.  Sight is by far, the most powerful perception we need to focus on and control, regarding insuring a great first impression.  This means, clean offices, well groomed employees, freshly pressed uniforms, well maintained grounds and facilities are necessary in order to gain a positive first impression.

Sound is our next largest impact factor regarding first impressions.  While we may not be able to control the occurrence of all sound interruptions, we may be able to limit, muffle or block many of them.  Simple steps like turning down the volume on your desk telephone ringer while working with a customer, having light music playing in the background or requiring personal cell phones be set to vibrate are all steps in the right direction when it comes to controlling sound impressions.  From a personal standpoint, monitoring your voice volume, tone and speed of verbal delivery can also have a positive impact.

Smell is our third most impactful human perception.  We have all been disgusted by foul odors in our life, and we can also relate to semi foul odors like mildew being easily noticed.  Unpleasant odors motivate a person to remove themselves from a specific location.  Therefore maintaining a pleasant aroma in our facilities is key.  It is suggested that vanilla scents relax people, citrus scents suggest cleanliness and spice scents provide a feeling of home.

Taste is our fourth most impression generating sense.  Such things as hot fresh coffee lead to a positive impression, while cheap stale cookies lead to a negative impression.  Ice cold lemonade lead to a positive impression, while old leftover Halloween candy leads to a negative impression.  Whatever we may offer our guests, we need to make sure it is of quality, fresh and served at the right temperature.  If we cannot guarantee this, it is better to not offer them anything at all.

And finally touch.  This is all in the handshake.  Limp, fingertip handshakes are DISGUSTING!  When you receive them all you want to do is find a bottle of anti-bacterial wash.  Male, female or somewhere in between, we are all expected to provide a firm handshake.

Many of you may be reading this article thinking to focus on this is natural, automatic or even common sense.  You are correct.  But to focus on it within a five second period is truly an art, that is only judged by looking at your personal success.  So, the next time you think about waking up late and letting your hair dry naturally, don't, it is a bad first impression.  The next time you wonder if people can tell that you have been out all night drinking because of your voice tone, wonder no more, they can, and it is a bad first impression.  The next time you wonder if you remembered to put on deodorant, take an extra five minutes and re-apply to make sure.  The next time you are in Big Lot's buying leftover candy because it fits into the budget, stop, go to Target, and make up your budget overage elsewhere.  The next time you question if you want to shake the manual laborers hand because it is slightly dirty, do it, your first impression success depends on it ... and who are you kidding, money is filthy anyway, but you are still commission hungry!

So remember, first impressions come in many formats, but they are all a reflection of you.  So take a long look at you, your employees and your community in the mirror, and make sure each of you are dressed in the suit of success EVERY SINGLE DAY!

What Does Your Employee Retention Program Look Like After These Hard Economic Times?

The economy has taken a large toll on employee reward programs in almost every industry.  As I travel the nation I receive many comments from front-line employees within the apartment industry expressing their disappointment in their present employers focus on recognition programs.  Most of these employees actually state that their companies no longer care about them.  This is TERRIFYING to me!

One of my favorite shows on television is "Undercover Boss" on CBS.  These exceptionally successful CEO's of big companies leave behind their posh homes, fancy sport cars and high-rise offices to go work undercover in the field of the very company they lead, for an entire week.  Each day they work on the front-line in a different position under the supervision and direction of an employee presently holding the position.  This managing employee has no idea they are directing the CEO of their company.  More times than not, at the end of the day the managing employee informs the undercover CEO that they did not pass the test and will not be chosen for the position.  Most of the time, the CEO agrees 100% and leaves embarrassed and horrified at the expectations they and their corporate colleagues have placed on the front-line employees.

Having now watched multiple episodes, I have realized that there tends to be a repeating trend of historical decisions that each CEO recognizes and acts on to remediate.

1. Wage Freezes
   Due to the economy many companies put freezes or major restrictions on employee raises.  Gas, food and utility costs continue to soar, but their wages remain the same.  Most of these employees have had to work much harder and with less support in order to meet corporate expectations, yet with no additional financial reward for motivation.
2. Hiring Freezes
   Due to the economy hiring was often halted, leaving positions empty but adding those position responsibilities to existing employee workloads.  Those employees soon realizing that the quality of their work decreases and their ability to meet deadlines diminishes, causing a demotivating environment due to their weakened achievement level.
3. Cancellation of Employee Programs
   Due to the economy many companies removed programs such as national conferences, supplemental education programming and employee outings.  This ultimately creating an isolated atmosphere absent of colleague networking and motivation.

The above three items are strategies that I personally have observed used in our industry over the past few economically challenged years.  The mistake that each CEO consistently realizes in the television program is, they are unaware of how well informed their employees are.  There employees accept the hiring freeze, but fume over the email blast welcoming the two new Vice Presidents to the corporate office.  They accept the wage freeze, but feel robbed when they read their REIT's CEO wage increase in the Wall Street Journal. They accept the cancellation of employee programs and outings, but are devastated to see pictures of corporate employees at the corporate office annual bowling party on Facebook.

It is time that Corporate Officers trim their own fat and the fat in departments at the top. It is time for them to  realize they are feeding off of the efforts of the skinny, tired and motivationally deprived in the field.  Corporate officers of the company need to switch from staying at the Hyatt and settle in at the Hilton Express.  Corporate officers need to switch from renting their luxury full size auto and get comfortable in a compact.  Corporate officers need to temporarily stop inspecting the assets and start inspecting the front-line employees for deferred pay and motivation issues.  Front-line employees are what make our companies successful.  WE MUST TAKE CARE OF THEM FIRST, for they are truly our GREATEST INVESTMENT!  It is imperative that we find a way to give them an acceptable raise, to provide them with the staff they need in order to run an asset successfully and reward programs that recognize their outstanding efforts providing them with a source of motivation.

The economy is rebounding, and so must we.  Make it a goal to figure out a way to recognize the individuals who pulled us through these tough times, your front-line employees.

Attitude Is Infectious! A Positive Attitude ROCKS THE HOUSE!

I can't tell you how flattered I am when I get calls from individuals saying "I needed a Trainer Don fix".  I am more than happy to be the peoples drug of choice. 

I love hearing Tiffany of SEFAA refer to me as her "Don Crack",  Kris of Park Baldwin Palms commenting that she gives her leasing consultants a "A daily dose of Don" or Shannon of Laramar saying when things become a challenge, she hears me in her head saying, "I am only hearing you present road blocks, focus on positive detours that lead to answers".  It is a huge responsibility to be a consistent positive inspiration, and it can only be accomplished with an optimistic attitude.

I remember exactly when in my life I went from pessimist to optimist, and who taught me to always have a positive attitude, or should I say - fake it until I make it.  I was living in Oak Park Illinois and an ex-nun moved in across the hall from me in my apartment building.  Both our front and back doors faced each other.  I remember meeting her for the first time when she introduced herself as Karen.  I was so disappointed, I wanted her to be named Angela, because she was the spitting image of Angela Landsbury, from "Murder She Wrote".  Oddly enough my disappointment was quickly turned into excitement, when I first heard her pecking on a typewriter through our back screen doors.  I remember cooking in the kitchen each evening, being serenaded by her peck peck peck on the typewriter.  It was culinary inspiring music to my ears.  (Yes I can cook and yes this was before the dawn of computers, we only had typewrites my young ones.)  Of course I imagined her typing deviant entangled murder plots that only the smartest and unsuspecting character would figure out.  Unfortunately,  I was once again disappointed when I later found out it was her nightly personal journal entries, seriously, how exciting could that be from a nun?

Interestingly enough, we were on the same morning schedule, leaving the apartment building at the same time.  I had a car, but she took the bus.  Through morning conversation we discovered that her bus transfer was literally in front of my office, so she started riding with me each morning to my office, to avoid the first leg of her public transportation commute.

One morning she cordially asked, "How are you", I responded, "Tired".  There was a long silence, and then she informed me that she believed what we spoke came to be true - or in this case truer.  The following morning, forgetting her one time philosophical warning,  I made the mistake of responding with "I feel lousy", of which she quickly responded with "What you have just spoken I pray to come true".  So, for all intensive purposes, if I said I felt crappy - she prayed for crappier, if I said awesome - she prayed for more awesome, if I said sick - she prayed for sicker.  Interestingly enough, this annoying little morning exercise quickly made me realize that negative words were more apt to come out of my mouth than positive.  Yes, I hate to admit it, but I once was a total doggy downer!

This realization was horrifying to me!  I was a healthy young man with an upwardly mobile career and a more than adequate lifestyle - I had absolutely no reason to be negative comparatively speaking.  So, I made the attitude change, deciding to be positive, even if I was tired or suffering from a stomach ache.  Before I knew it, I was happier, my employees were happier and the business I was managing was setting company records.  I became my own "Don Crack"!

It wasn't hard to figure out what new dynamic was causing company financial success.  The leader had received an attitude makeover, from an ex-nun who later ended up being a stalker (but that is another blog).  More importantly, the leader started executing attitude makeovers on his staff.  The lesson learned was, positive leaders attract positive followers, which insure positive business results.

So, the next time  you walk in the door and someone inquires as to how your are, reply, "If I got any better I would be twins", or "I am so freaking fabulous Dolce & Gabanna think I am their new seasons line".  No one wants to hear about your stomach ache, fight with your fiancé or infinite car problems.  However, they cannot wait to smile at your positive entertaining comments. 

Also remember, as a professional you have the right to promote colleague makeovers.  And the best way to do it, is to stop negative energy immediately.  So the next time your colleague walks in the door and says, "You are not going to believe what my rotten teenager did last night", quickly respond back, "Your right, I'm not, conversation closed"!  Protect yourself from negative energy, it will only feed off of your professional soul!

Positive happy attitudes are contagious.  It doesn't matter if you bring it or fake it, it is still contagious ... even to yourself.  Be on the alert for negative employees, work hard at changing their attitudes or make the decision to remove them from the positive pack.  You are in charge of your personal success and a major factor in the success of your community  Serve your negative energy employees a 7 day notice, let them know their bad attitudes are about to be evicted to the unemployment line, if they don't start paying their positive attitude back rent.

Remember,  if YOU ROCK, everyone around you will ROCK! 

Never Give Up!

It is odd how the most unsuspecting characters in your life can become mentors.

As many of you know, my father was a truck driver, therefore I had limited "Dad Time" due to the many hours he spent on the road providing for his wife and children.  The times I looked most forward to, were those Saturday mornings when he returned from his long hauls with a Dunkin' Doughnuts Bear Claw or Toasted Coconut doughnut, especially selected for me.  Of course I knew he was trying to make up for his absence, and as much as I enjoyed the treat, I even more enjoyed the short time on the sofa with him  watching The Road Runner and Wiley Coyote on those precious Saturday mornings.

Don't get me wrong, my father was an incredible inspiration to me who instilled great values, the most notable - work ethic.  Equally mentor worthy was the Road Runner, both deserving of my recognition for intelligence, expediency and ability to get themselves out of tight spots.  But with all of that being said, oddly enough, Wiley Coyote was my first recognized life mentor and inspiration.

I watched this character on TV get blown up by dynamite, get ran over by trains, get anvils dropped on his head from cliffs and a multitude of other road blocks thrown at him each and every Saturday morning.  I quickly realized that many of his cartoon competitors would not have been able to handle his challenges, yet he rose from the dust, brushed himself off and tried again the following Saturday morning.  When you are young, you think your Dad is a Super Hero that can save all, but deep down inside, you know that a super hero only exists on TV.

Well, Super Hero or not, Wiley Coyote became my first mentor in life.  He taught me that life was not going to be easy.  He taught me that major road blocks were going to be put in my way.  He taught me that I had a choice, a choice to give up, or a choice to get up - brush myself off - and try again for success.

As a kid growing up in a small Central Illinois farming community, I was unfortunately blessed with infinite road blocks from birth.  Sports took priority over education, especially any creative arts.  The safety of remaining within a small community took priority over the exploration through travel.  Limited parental world experiences instilled a rigid acceptance thought processes in the majority of the population.

Screw it, let's cut to the chase, I grew up in a narrow minded redneck community of morons.  Their minds absolutely could not process anything beyond their severely limited experience.  Anything outside of that, terrified them and was adamantly condemned to protect what they considered their safe world.

Wiley taught me safe is boring!  Wiley taught me stepping out on a cliff is exciting!  Wiley taught me, you may fail, but if you dig deep you always can find the courage to get up and try again.  Wiley taught me, just because one thing doesn't work, it doesn't mean that something else won't.  Wiley taught me fear prevents you from traveling outside your comfort zone, which is where a better life may exist.  Wiley taught me, renewed energy comes from trying.  Wiley taught me, NEVER FREAKIN GIVE UP!!!

Wow, how lucky I was as a child.  Awesome father, safe town and well provided for ... yet, something told me deep inside - Escape!  Wiley Coyote instilled that courage to leave the safety, to leave the known and to explore.

To each of you who have uttered the words, "We've tried that and it didn't work", I am so sorry that you have so easily accepted permanent defeat.  For those of you who have uttered the words every week, "Thank God it's Friday", I am so sorry you can't see beyond your present unhappy state.  For those of you who have uttered, "No one understands", I am so sorry that you have isolated yourself from human comprehension.  But, most of all, I am sorry that you don't realize that if life sucks, you are the only one who can change it!!!

So, as Wiley Coyote taught me ... take the anvil off of your supposedly smashed head, pull yourself together having been blown to pieces from your unnoticed hard work and get up from under the bus that everyone has thrown you under .... and try again!

Or stay there, and know, IT SUCKS TO BE YOU!

Meet John, Your Maintenance Renewal Hero!

Who are we kidding, our maintenance team plays one of the most important roles in our renewal success.  As communities and third party companies poll residents regarding reasons for non-renewal, inevitably poor maintenance service floats to the top.  Conversely, when we poll why they are renewing, great maintenance service takes the top ranking.

It actually makes sense.  The office staff deals with the beginning process of recruiting and the ending process of renewals.  After move-in, rental checks are dropped in slots or paid online, giving the office staff little to no opportunity to have face to face interaction. However, the maintenance team deals with the in between times.  Maintenance is seen more consistently due to the fact that they are regularly out on property, in common areas or working within the resident's apartment home.

Keeping this in mind, I pose the question:  Have you told each of your maintenance team members that they have the opportunity to become your RENEWAL HERO?  Have you taken time to train them on how to be a Renewal Hero?  Do they understand the importance of greeting everyone, waving if they are not within speaking distance, thanking the residents for the opportunity to repair their apartment home issues, asking the resident if they have exceeded their expectations, helping them if they are overloaded with groceries, etc. 

Many companies have a 24 hour maintenance guarantee, which is good if met.  My questions is, are we tracking and acknowledging teams that beat that expectation?  Do we have some type of independent or shared bonus program in place to reward our maintenance teams for their vital role in renewals?

Let's face it, while we are sitting in our toasty warm offices, they are out scooping snow so our residents can get from their apartment to the car.  While we are sitting in our cool air conditioned offices, they are sweating their butts off in the burning sun fixing an air conditioner.  While we are curled up dreaming sound asleep in our beds, they are out on an emergency maintenance call plunging a plugged toilet. 

No, they do not seem to have a very glamorous job, but their dedicated efforts certainly have a glamorous impact on our increased revenues and decreased expenses.  So, give credit where credit is deserved.  Acknowledge their outstanding efforts, especially if they exceed expectations and give them a slice of the bonus pie ... they actually may deserve it, even more than you.

Are You Effectively Delivering Rental Prices Over The Phone?

I often call and shop competitors and am consistently amazed at how easily they deliver the rental amount for a specific floor plan at the beginning of their apartment description.  Equally as shocking, as I do training sessions for apartment associations, I am amazed at how defensive leasing consultants become when I attempt to provide tactics on how to avoid immediately providing the rental amount.  Like an angry demon escaping during an exorcism Leasing Consultants tend to yell out, "It doesn't work, they just want to know the priiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!"

Unfortunately this is not true.  As I am phone shopping the competition I never ask for the price, I only ask for a description of the floor plan.  Yet, like a bad case of verbal diarrhea, they first and foremost spew forth the price.  "Our 2 bedroom apartment rents for $1685."  This all followed by a litany of interrogative questions and strict instructions relating to multiple money orders that I need to bring if I choose to pursue the honor of renting with them.

The fact of the matter is, most prospectives have found us on a website or in a guide book and actually have the rental information in front of them.  In a sense, they are actually calling for a description of the floor plan and amenities in order to justify the price.  In today's economy, I am finding more people are calling asking about specials and are not focused on base rents.  No matter what they are calling about, we must do some justifying of price through amenity descriptions before we deliver the monthly rental amount.

You have to think of it like retail shopping.  You go to the store to by a sweater with a budget of $65.  You find a great sweater but the price tag is $125.  You immediately look at what it is made of hoping to justify the price.  It ends up being made of a pure wool and silk mix, therefore justifying the price.  You like it, the material is worth it, so you go out of your budget and buy it.  In leasing apartments our amenities, granite counter tops and ceramic floors, are our wool and silk.  These amenities collectively justify our rental price.  These items must be introduced, prior to announcing the monthly rent.

In the case that the prospective resident does demand just the price, we still want to control the delivery of that information.  The best way to do this is to start by providing a price, like a deposit or an application fee, any price that is equal to your competitors so you are not immediately ruled out.  By giving these types of prices, the prospective renter gets the subconscious feeling that you are willing to deliver all prices as requested, so their price demanding demeanor calms down.  The next step is to verbally commit to giving the exact rental price, but letting them know, in order to do so you just need to ask three quick questions.  At this point, your questions need to contain amenity choices.  "Do you prefer a ground floor apartment with a spacious patio, or an upper apartment with a grand balcony?"  "Do you prefer an apartment with a serene lake view, or one with a view of our resort style pool?" and finally "Do you prefer the floor plan with the open loft like kitchen, or the one with the galley style kitchen?"  By implementing this technique, you are actually introducing amenities, all of which they believe are allowing you to come up with the exact rental amount.  Obviously summarize by saying:  "And for all of that, the monthly rent is only $1685, what time today can you take a tour of your new apartment home?"

In summary, here are the steps of an effective sales call.

1. Listen closely to what the caller is requesting.  Often, it is not price.
2. Always provide a stimulating description of amenities prior to discussing price.
3. If pushed to give price, start with not competitive prices such as:  deposits, application fees, etc.
4. Implement a summary closing statement implying that the loaded amenity package more than justifies the price.
5. ALWAYS ask for a tour appointment!

My hope is that this article can become the cure to Leasing Consultant "Verbal Sales Diarrhea" throughout the world!

So, stop spewing the same sales pitch on your customers!  Mix it up a little bit, customize it to their questions and watch your call to appointment ratio increase.

Have Your Team Members Earned The Right To Wear This Badge?

When I first posed this question to myself I came up with a plethora of answers.  My prediction was cheap rent and great amenities would rank at the top of the expectations list.  These predictions were fueled by my knowledge of markets handing out concessions and developers putting in over-the-top amenity packages.  As I actually started my survey with residents, it became obvious that neither I nor the market had paid our Dionne Warwick Psychic Network dues, because our predictions were wrong.

During tours of A, B and C level assets I would meet prospective residents and existing residents and ask the question, "What are the three most important things you look for in an apartment community"?  While this informal survey was not based on thousands of residents, it was definitely based on more than a hundred.  Inevitably, no matter what the asset level, three answers always seemed to be at the top of the list:  1) safety, 2) cleanliness & 3) good customer service.

Having been subjected to the consistency of these answers, I could not help but draw the conclusion that these three items should become every owner and management team's guiding principles for running their business.  GIVE THE CUSTOMER WHAT THEY WANT!

While we cannot guarantee any one persons safety, we can certainly implement and maintain tools that assist in this endeavor.  I often tour assets with controlled access gates and magnetic sidewalk pedestrian gates.  It is not uncommon for these to not be in working order.  When staff is quizzed regarding their repair, it is typical to receive a response of, "The repair is not in the budget".  If we adopt safety as one of our guiding principles for our business, this is no longer optional.  It needs to be treated like a leaking roof that is damaging our asset until repaired.  These unrepaired items cause our residents and prospective residents to feel unsafe, therefore failing to meet their first expectation.  Many other variables can be managed to help our customers feel comfortable, such as;  burnt out exterior property lighting, broken down perimeter fencing, tall landscaping providing hiding spots, etc. 

Cleanliness can be one of the easiest guiding business principles to implement and maintain.  Initial investments may need to be made for such items as additional trash receptacles, power washers and grounds clean-up in order to meet this customer expectation.  The true challenge is motivating the management team to realize, this needs to be top priority.  Additionally, I find that management teams tend to ignore cleanliness related to seasonal amenities, such as swimming pools during off season.  Pool decks are still visible during tours and to the residents.  These areas need to be maintained daily and most importantly not become storage areas during the winter months.  One company I worked for went so far as to design small garbage bags displaying their logo and both maintenance and office employees looped them through their belts as part of their uniform program.  While on property they used the bags to pick up random trash.  They received great feedback from prospective residents and residents alike regarding this very visible effort to maintain the cleanliness of their communities.

Good customer service seems like such a basic and implied expectation, yet I totally relate to why this has made the top three on the importance list.  For years now I have witnessed customer service dwindle in every industry throughout our country.  I believe much of this is due to automation.  Our young people have not had the modeling of Tom, the customer service focused professional bank teller, due to ATM machines.  They have not had the customer service modeling of Esther the sweet grocery store clerk, due to self check-out.  They have not had the customer service focused attention of Francis the efficient smiling gas station attendant, due to self serve.  The list goes on forever.  Automation has made us a society of expediency.  This expediency has robbed us of the opportunity to develop a customer service focused relationship.  Instead it has sentenced us to a life with an auto responding voice messaging system.  It has replaced warm handshakes with pushing numbers on a phone key pad.  It has replaced once flexible decision making of humans, with rigid and limited phone options and responses.  It has made it nearly impossible to speak with an empathic person within the company, instead sending us to a third world customer service representatives that hides their disgust for our first world spoiled expectations as they deal with us.  None-the-less, we need to recommit ourselves with strong team dedication to provide consistent stellar customer service.

We need to think of this as an open book test.  There will be three questions and we have been provided with the three answers – safety, cleanliness and customer service.  As we take this test each day, it will require us to adjust budgets, realign focuses and train the young.  But, if we consistently use these three expectations as our guiding business principles, we will surely experience higher renewal rates and increased closing ratios – and that is the key to SUCCESS!