Are Your Leasing Consultants Motivated? If Not, It Is Your Fault!

Leasing Consultants are an interesting breed.  They are a roller coaster of sales motivation, when they are up they are up, but when they are down ... it is the fault of the market or product.

"This is a bad market, our rents are way to high for everyone."

"I can't rent that unit because it has dark brown carpet in it."

Have you ever heard any of the above excuses?  Yet the interesting part is, if you check their guest cards you will find them in complete disorder with limited to no follow up documented.  If you ask to see their outreach log, you will find it empty.

Many people feel that these individuals are lazy and are just looking for excuses.  Well the fact of the matter is, they are financially bored.  The key to keeping a leasing team on track, motivated and successful is to consistently mix up the financial pay offs for them.

As soon as you put an additional $100 commission on that over priced apartment with ugly brown carpet it will be rented within a matter of hours.  Oddly enough, it has sat vacant for 90 days costing us well over $2400 - why did we not offer the bonus spiff?  Probably because we think it is their job and it shouldn't be required.  Well, fact of the matter is, the same program day in and day out is like eating mac and cheese every night for dinner, you just get tired of it and desire something new and different.

It does not always have to be as costly as $100.  It just has to be something new and exciting.  Please see examples below.

• Apartment Mystery Board - Put up a board with envelopes for each vacant unit, unit number on the front.  Inside the sealed envelopes have gift cards, cash, a free day off pass, etc.  When they rent an apartment and the applicant has been approved, they get to open the envelope and claim their prize.
• Rental Wheel of Fortune.  Again have sealed envelopes with letters in them that complete a mystery phrase.  Each envelope could have differing amounts of letters.  When they rent an apartment and the applicant is approved they get to choose an envelope.  Whoever solves the phrase gets a prize.  Everyone keeps trying for more letters even once the first puzzle is solved.  At the end of the month you have a super phrase that they can use their prior earned letters on to win a super prize.  Each person gets to put up one letter and try to guess. Then move to the next contestant.  When you run out of letters you have run out of guesses and are out of the game.
• Who Wants To Be A Commissionaire - Set up small sealed boxes on a table, one for each vacant apartment.  Each time someone rents an apartment and the applicant is approved, they are able to open the box and see their commission.  Commission amounts should range from their standard commission to higher commissions.
• Mystery Gifts - Buy items at your local Target such as CD's, candles, DVD's, T-shirts, etc. and wrap them up beautifully.  One gift for every vacant apartment.  When they rent the apartment and the applicant has been approved they get to choose a gift.

Remember, most of the time it is not the rental amount or the market ... it is the motivation of the sales team.  A great sales person can sell a drowning man a bucket of water if they are motivated.  It just requires some pre-planning and dedication on the managers part to keep them on the right sales path.

Enjoy your journey to the land of higher occupancy!