Here are seven ways that you can do to start becoming a better at active listening right now.

When you are listening, listen.  Don’t talk on the phone, text message, clean off your desk, or do anything else.  Make sure you are making comfortable eye contact.

Avoid interruptions. If you think of something that needs to be done, make a mental note of it and put it aside until the conversation is over.

Aim to spend at least ninety percent of your time listening and less than ten percent of your time talking.  This truly takes a focused mind set.

When you do talk, make sure it is related to what the other person is saying.  Use questions to clarify, expand, and probe for more information.  These are key tools to show that you are truly listening.

Do not offer advice unless the other person asks you for it.  This just shows that you have already come to a conclusion on what needs to be done and you have already disregarded what the person is talking about.

If you are not sure what they want, then ask!  Never ever assume.  That is a huge block to effective active listening.

Make sure the physical environment is conducive to listening.  Try to avoid noise and distractions.  (“Can we step over into this other room so I can hear you better?” is a great line to use)  If possible, be seated comfortably.  Be close enough to the person so that you can hear them, but not too close to make them uncomfortable.

If it is a conversation where you are required to take notes, try not to let the note taking disturb the flow of the conversation.  If you need a moment to catch up, choose an appropriate moment to ask for a break.  When I take notes I do my best to just focus on the key words only.  

The old expression always rings true for us.  We have two ears and one mouth so we should do twice the listening and half the talking.  These are critical skills that every leader needs.  Listening is a huge aid in employee retention and it serves as such a validation to your team members that they really matter.  So what are your keys to listening better today?  If you have anything to add please feel free to express yourself in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Join us for a complimentary Webinar on improving employee performance.  February 21st, 2011

Here are 5 tips to keep in mind and keep the meeting under control.

1. Problem defined: it is difficult to build consensus when you do not know what you are trying to overcome or achieve.  Define the problem as a goal to achieve.  Have the participants give you the goals.  Encourage those who are not participating to do so.  Remember you have to get a general agreement from all.
2. Everyone expresses thoughts respectfully: you will find that people will want to say things against opposing ideas. Encourage them to frame their venting positively and allow them to do it.
3. Alternative solutions explored: have the participants come up with various solutions to the problem. Then reduce the alternatives to a short list.  In essence you have created a problem solving team.
4. Choice is made: before this is done, has everyone agree that the alternative selected is the best for the team and they will support it. Make the choice.
5. Everyone agrees to support the solution: get everyone’s approval verbal and publicly in the meeting room before you adjourn.

Building consensus takes time and could happen over several meetings, depending on the complexity of the issue. Nonetheless, bringing the team back to the table to reach a consensus should never stop.  Meetings are critical facets to communication and to help your property management team make progress.

Written by Mechelle Flowers

Want to learn 4 secrets to improving employee performance?  Sign up for our complimentary webinar today! 

So let’s review the seven protected classes

So what happens when you are accused and convicted of breaking Fair Housing laws? You face litigation, fines and then you are forced into taking training sessions. Why not do everything you can to avoid the first two items by focusing on the third. And it is not a simple matter of memorizing the protected classes, it’s a matter of applying them with what happens onsite. Many times just out of pure innocence you can ask a wrong question such as: “How many kids do you have?” and be accused of violating the Fair Housing act. You may think that this is just friendly conversation but after a solid Fair Housing class you will learn that there are different ways to be a friendly communicator without getting yourself into trouble.

The big lesson to take away from this is the need to be compliant in our industry. Don’t water it down. Don’t dismiss it. Don’t guess.  And certainly do not be negligent. If any of your employees are resistant to taking Fair Housing training just simply ask them: “Who pays your liability insurance?” (I am going to be addressing this challenge in a future post) The fact is your property management company needs to be protected!

So please share with me your take on Fair Housing training. How important is it? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Up and Coming Webinar February 21st: 4 Secrets of Improving Employee Performance by Cynthia Samuels- Register Today!

Let’s take a moment and reflect on the impact all of you apartment maintenance professionals have on the daily operations of your community. Does fair housing play a role in your job? Absolutely! A hat tip to all of you who exceed expectations and avoid emotions when dealing with your residents. What about resident retention? More than likely you have the most interactions with the residents. You are out there with them every day. Thank you for being polite and friendly. Thank you handling your maintenance assignments that most of us never would touch with a smile!

What about safety? Many of your assignments can be quite challenging. You need to be careful about your back when lifting. Trip hazards can be common. Ladders can be tricky. Dealing with mold can be challenging. Thank you for being smart and safe when dealing with these challenges.

From our vantage point we can see clear reasons why our apartment maintenance professionals are doing well. It’s one word: Training. We are experiencing a large surge and shift on how property management companies view training for their maintenance pros. It is no longer a “Should I?” it’s a “This is a must”. Picture an individual who has a nice crisp clean shirt on but dirty pants. Is that person representing themself properly? The same is true with the onsite team. We can’t just focus on our leasing and management team and forget about the need for training for the maintenance team. They are part of the daily wardrobe and are part of the representation of the onsite team and the property management company.

To all of our apartment maintenance professionals please keep up the great work. You are an integral part of the daily operations that make the residents happy to call your community home. If any of our readers have any feel good stories about apartment maintenance operations please feel free to share in the comments section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Ten Tips to Improve Internet Responses

1. Don’t send back a template response – it is a big turn off. They just came from your website so they don’t want a recap.

2. Ask questions to entice the prospect to communicate with you.

3. Actually answer the questions the prospect asks in their email.

4. Try to make a personal introduction/connection.

5. Use a creative subject line.

6. Use fluffy words to describe the “features” the prospect is interested in.

7. Speak in terms of benefits.. Example – Shopping is right around the corner which can trim hours off your busy schedule.

8. Keep the most important part of the email in the first 200 words.

9. Use urgent words… Let them know you don’t have many available.

10. Don’t rattle on and on about price, security deposit, pet fees, etc… They can discuss all that once they come in and complete the application.

When we bring on new clients to our program and launch their first mystery shopping campaign, can you guess what the average non response there is to internet leads? Approximately 25 % of internet leads do not even receive a response. Then there is the elapsed time it takes for the actual response. Speed of response is absolutely critical. When the email comes in, the lead is hot. The longer you wait to respond the colder it gets. Think of all your wasted marketing dollars when you review stats like these. You spend all this money driving traffic to your community but if your people aren’t coached and trained properly of what value is that?

When crafting your email you need to tell a story. You need to make the community come alive. Imagine that you are actually taking the prospect on a physical tour and put that conversation in your email. If I may add one little bonus tip to the apartment internet leasing process, make sure you spell the prospects name correctly. People typically get offended when they signed their name Bill in the email and you respond with: “Dear Bob”.

What tips can you share on how to be successful with apartment internet leasing? Please feel free to share them in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Would you like to learn more about apartment internet leasing?

How many apartments have your prospective residents shopped for today? Chances are several. What on your guided tour will make a lasting impression and set you apart from your competition? I can tell you that the paper brochure and Xerox copy you handed them with smeared ink is not it. You want to stand apart and want to stand out loudly, get yourself an iPad.

Imagine hearing the “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” from prospective residents and guests when you whip out your iPad and show them your full color portfolio of floor plans at your apartment community that you will be showing to them. They will be amazed at the colors bursting off the mobile friendly iPad.

Let prospective residents and guests scroll through the details of the apartment. Watch them pass it back and forth to one another. Using the touch pad functionality of the iPad allows you to draw your prospect into your presentation by creating paths they can choose or allowing them to tap a presentation to go to the next slide. This kind of engagement often improves attention and allows you to keep the technology intimate and allows the prospect to think that they are in control.

If you are unable to take your prospect on a tour of your apartment model, do not worry. Lead them on a virtual video tour of your community amenities through a quick you tube or QuickTime video. You can display them the community Face book and Twitter page to show them what is being said about your community in real time.

The simplicity and ease of use make leasing with an iPad a no-brainer. Communication boundaries are expanded. Sometimes the frustration of communicating all the benefits of leasing at your community does not get communicated fully and leaves some of the prospective resident looking elsewhere. Stop that! With the iPad you have everything you need to walk them through floor plans, price sheets, amenities and videos. It will do everything for you, leaving you to ask for the deposit.

Just imagine being able to sit in front of a prospect and tap through the different choices available to them. The iPad is easy to use and it will fulfill the needs and wants of you and your leasing team. The iPad stands next to the mobile phone and email as among the most important business innovations of the last 50 years. Best part is for the moment it’s also got the WOW factor. The iPad is a game changer. If you want to lead the game, get one and get leasing!

If you have any experiences how the iPad or other technology has helped you lease apartments please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Looking for apartment leasing classes? Then look no further.  Check out our apartment leasing & marketing courses here.

Why Do You Love the Multifamily Industry?

Resident Events- Solid Impact on Retention

Ten Reasons Your Apartment Community has a Waiting List

Mystery Shops are Training Tools..Period!

Resident Retention Tips from our Facebook Buddies

Apartment Leasing-The Art of Closing

Confessions of a Multifamily Mystery Shopper

Introducing the Multifamily Scholarship Program

Just Say Know to Bad Grammar

Rental Insurance Programs-An Interview with Melissa Foley

Thanks again for a great year! If there is any topics or tools you would like to see from us for 2012 please share in the comment section below.  Don’t forget to tell me which of the posts resonated the most with you as well!

Where we see the most challenges in shops is usually the telephone and internet category. Why is that? More than likely it is a result of the lack of face to face interaction that inhibits a flowing conversation. A flowing conversation is such a crucial element to the leasing cycle. When we don’t have that face to face interaction then we can sometimes forget how to talk.

You really need to visualize the person you are talking to on the phone or crafting a response email to. Simply acquiring a phone number is simply not enough. The first contact is more than likely your one and only opportunity to close the deal. If you get the phone number and find out that they need a two bedroom apartment but still do not close on the apartment, can you call that a successful sales process? That is why we have found it so crucial on our shop scoring to make sure we include the conversational piece into the equation.

That is another reason why it is so crucial that you know your community well. We need to know not only the community where the prospect will be living but the community at large. Are you aware of the local businesses, parks, and community centers etc. that are in the area? Whether we are on the phone or writing an email, we need to be able to tell a story about our community and literally enchant the prospect to come in and take the tour. Step outside your guest card and talk to people.

What are you doing to make your telephone calls and email more personable? I would love to hear any apartment leasing tips you may have to share. Please post them in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Be sure to check out the demo for The Secret Shop Experience

With their new advanced web version it will make things even easier for apartment communities to monitor. It can serve as a great tool to attract potential residents. I remember shopping at a department store not too long ago and when I checked in a note popped stating: “Since you are so close to ABC community why don’t you come and check out our…..” What was ironic was that this apartment community was off the beaten path and had almost zero visibility from the main road so I would not even had known that it existed if it were not for that Foursquare update.  This is a nice example of apartment marketing.

Adoption may still be slow in many demographics but since it is relatively simple to set up a single community or multiple communities under one brand name, why not take advantage of the opportunities that do present themselves? A friend of mine sent me this picture you see in this post. Even though this is for a commercial community the application I feel can cross over into multifamily. How creative would it be to set something like this up for your residents? Imagine creating a community game out of it and incorporating the structure into your newsletter or your Facebook page. Then give some thought to how your overall community at large would be eyewitnesses to the event as they see their friends constantly checking in to their apartment community. This is a very basic concept but it certainly has my wheels spinning as to the possibilities.

Part of apartment marketing has to incorporate perception and image. Foursquare can certainly be an excellent tool to facilitate that. I am very curious to see what you have found successful though. What have you done to leverage Foursquare as a marketing tool? Any experiences with your apartment community that you can share will certainly help us all. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

Many of us are afraid of confrontation with our residents regarding the ever-sensitive subject of delinquent rent. I think many of us are afraid to push our residents to pay rent for fear our customer service score will fall below the company expectations. But is this thought process really helping us achieve the ultimate goal; having a low delinquency that will help increase our economic occupancy?

How can we effectively collect on delinquent rent yet at the same time still give good customer service?

First, everyone needs to remember we are running a business. Our owners expect us to work in their best interests, which is making sure the rents are collected. As Ross Blaising says: “You have to think like and act like an owner.” Understand every decision through the lens of risk and reward. Ask yourself: “If these were my dollars at risk, what would I care about?” And then make decisions accordingly.

With this in mind, how would you want your rent collected?

Not everything is always sunshine and roses. Sometimes you just have to be the thorn!

Before you say: “Well I will do everything the legal way: the 3 Day Legal Late Rent Notice, contact three times and then file evictions.” think about the cost of sending someone to evictions. If you do nothing but the basics all because you are afraid of confrontation and not promoting excellent customer service, then you just hurt your owner. If a full eviction cost $523 (based on my attorney fees) and you file on 10 apartments a month, which is $5230.00 in legal fees if these apartments go to full evictions. Then there is the loss of income that is happening for the next 60 days on a unit that you could have already turned and put another paying resident in. Now, we are losing rent on a unit with an occupant that is not paying rent and have just cost our owners thousands of dollars because of the fear of the unknown. I don’t know about you, but if I was your owner I would be asking you to find another way to collect on the rent, clear up delinquencies and avoid evictions.

How can we effectively collect on delinquent rent?

Be firm in everything you do and don’t back down when talking to the residents. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to bring a property delinquency down. Trust me, I know. I took a property with a high delinquency of $25,000 at close out, down to $767.00 in delinquencies at close out. This was not done by being fluffy and nice. I did not go to my residents’ doors with roses and ask for their rents.

Step 1: Send out a Late Fee Policy/Warning Notice to everyone on your property reminding your residents of when your rental payments are due.

Step 2: Don’t accept Promise to Pays after the 15th. You can require they attend a financial class in order to receive the PTP. This is going to be beneficial to your residents and to you. They will grumble and say it is unfair but in the end they will thank you for it.

Step 3: Charge back the monthly concessions given to move in as long as you have a concession addendum. It is a privilege to have a concession; they need to pay rent on time in order to receive it.

Step 4: Call, text, email and knock on their door every day. Deliver the 3 Day Legal Notice personally to their door.

Step 5: Putting a warning door hanger on their door, letting them know that evictions will begin within 24hours.

Step 6: Get bold! Put up a bootleg sign out front letting the residents know that evictions will begin today.

Remember, you are running a business and the goal is to collect the delinquent rent. Always keep your voice tone even, and never raise the tone to match the resident’s when they are screaming at you in your office. I had to learn this the hard way. My rule is: you do not enter my office unless you are going to be calm…and it works! Sometimes tough love stinks at the beginning. I won’t lie. You will lose residents who are always on your delinquency list, but the ones who want to stay will shape up and prove to you that they can pay on time. This may be because they get tired of seeing your love messages. When they do pay on time, make it a point to thank them by phone or with a card. I call this “Jolene” brand of customer service. Remember you are to act and think like an owner every day you go to work. Owners don’t want delinquent rent.  So start thinking like one and collect the rent.

Now I want to put this discussion out to you readers. What are some other effective, firm, and creative ways you have used in dealing with a delinquency and collecting rent?

Be sure to check out Jolene’s Facebook page FLY Apartment Leasing Ideas for great multifamily conversation!

Jolene is the Imagination Guru at FLY Apartment Leasing Ideas, an assistant community manager at an affordable housing community in Jacksonville, Florida and the mother of three beautiful children who are the source of her inspiration. She has a passion for the multifamily housing industry and blogs regularly on multiple industry sites.