I was listening to The Fray this morning and one of my favorite songs of theirs (though I really do like them all) is You Found Me.

In that song is a verse that really speaks to me and inspired me to write today’s blog, it is:

“Who I am, Who I’m Not and Who I Want to Be”

And it got me thinking about those things and how easy it is to not really know… especially in a business that WANTS YOU to be so many things… it’s easy to lose yourself. Sounds ominous, right? It really isn’t… it’s about self discovery and your true professional passion. Let me explain…

Who I am… When was the last time you asked yourself who you were? Have you defined, YOU? In order to grow, in my opinion, you need self awareness and understanding. This means being totally honest with you too. Look in a mirror and see you… just you.

Why is this important? Because in order to be who you want to be, you have to first understand all about who you’ve become and who you are today. Are you bubbly and outgoing naturally or because of your job? Are you analytical in life, or just because you’ve been doing your variance report all day? Are you someone who can easily talk to others and sell, or do you just have really solid product knowledge? Are you the kind of person who enjoys leading a team, or did you just work your way up to becoming a Regional Director and so it sort of fell in your lap? Do you genuinely have an interest in the growth & development of others, or were you just great at your job so it was assumed you should train?

Ask yourself the tough questions, answer honestly and you might just surprise yourself. From there…

Who I’m Not… I remember asking myself this question back in 2003, when I was faced with a tough decision on which career path to take… and who I’m not, is someone who wants to manage multiple multimillion dollar assets. I have no interest in writing several budgets, being called out in the middle of the night because a building is on fire, or getting bids and supervising cap-x projects. Being a Regional Manager (though I have done it), is not the fire in my belly. It’s not who I am or who I want to be. But, it took me a long time to learn that… I abandoned who I was and what I was passionate about to give it a try. Someone once told me that “I’ll never run a multifamily management company, being a trainer”… but the thing is… running a management company is not who I am or what I want. I wanted to run the training and development for a multifamily company (which I do now), but running a whole company was not in my area of interest. So I know pretty clearly, who I’m not. Do you? Last up is…

Who I Want to Be… I’ve often met other professionals whom I admired and I’d like to think that I’ve taken a little nugget or two from them along my journey, really trying to mold together exactly who I want to be. But, as with most things, this is an evolution. Who I wanted to be a year ago is different than who I want to be today. My personal life has changed, so it makes sense that my professional life would as well. What was important to me then may not be important to me now, so who I want to be is ultimately different. Who I want to be will continue to be different, but the beauty of it is… that I’ve recognized it. So I won’t be chasing a dream or working toward a goal that isn’t important anymore, I’ve renegotiated my goals and I’m chasing different dreams. Have you defined who you want to be? Recently?

Ask yourself… “Who I Am, Who I’m Not and Who I Want to Be”… and remember the only thing holding you back, is you.

I hate being reminded that general common courtesy (as well as common sense, a lot of the time) is just NOT common anymore. I’m left, after numerous interactions and transactions on a daily basis, scratching my head wondering where the service is. Is it just acceptable now to provide sub-par service? Is it OK to be rude to a customer? Is it just no longer a focus of companies to provide training for and more so, demand their employees provide good service? I’m truly beginning to wonder.

Let me tell you about the kind of day I had… it started with Kohl’s department store. Many of you know that Paul and I are expecting our very first baby, Luke! We’ve had sort of a tumultuous pregnancy and after a scare we quickly realized we needed to start buying the essentials. On Sunday, I noticed that Kohl’s was having a sale… I also had a coupon for 20% off and free shipping (which ended that same day). While browsing their site I’d found several things we needed and promptly scooped them up (along with some savings). This morning, however, I’d received an email saying that they cancelled my order, with no further information.

I was quickly frustrated.

Not jumping to conclusions, I simply called the number on the email and discovered it was their fraud department. I was unsure why I was directed there, but none the less, I waited in the queue and finally spoke to a live person. I explained the situation, gave them my information and then upon hearing the next few things… I really got boiling. Let me recap the conversation:

Kohl’s: This order was being shipped to a Tara Furiani. Correct?
Me: Right.
Kohl’s: But the card used to make the purchase was in the name of Paul Furiani.
Me: Uh-huh. That’s my husband.
Kohl’s: Well, he needs to place the order.
Me: Umm… what are you talking about?
Kohl’s: Is Paul Furiani there?
Me: Yes.
Kohl’s: I need to speak with him and verify.
Me: Ok. (Hands the phone to Paul)
Paul: Hello?
Kohl’s: Is this Paul Furiani?
Paul: Yes.
Kohl’s: Are you aware that a Tara Furiani placed an order for baby related items using your credit card?
Paul: Um… yes. She’s my wife.
Kohl’s: Can you verify what items she purchased?
Paul: No… she placed the order, can’t you speak to her about this? This doesn’t really make any sense!
Kohl’s: So Tara Furiani used your credit card?
Paul: Ok, first of all… it’s our credit card. She’s on the account too and second, what is the issue here?
Kohl’s: An order cannot be shipped in someone else’s name and billed to someone else.
Paul: Well, what about gift orders? This is ridiculous… it’s the same shipping and billing address that you’re charging and sending to. Here’s Tara.
Kohl’s: What you’ll need to do is have Paul re-place the order and make sure it’s shipping to him, in his name.
Me: Ok, I will re-order and just put his name.
Kohl’s: No, you cannot do that. Your husband needs to place the order.
Me: Right.

From here; I hung up and began to cry. I know… I know… I am not even a “crier” but I’m pregnant and hormonal and this just sent me over the edge. I would understand if Kohl’s needed to verify the card, had it been being shipped to another address. But the billing and shipping addresses were the same. The ONLY difference was my name, Tara Furiani, was in the ship to field and my husband, Paul Furiani, was listed in the bill to field. The real kicker came when the Kohl’s fraud person told me that I also would not be able to use my Sunday only promo code.
Suffice it to say, I’m adding Kohl’s to my list of places that I will no longer patronize. I’ll also use it in what not to do, in customer service situations and let everyone I know (which is a good amount of people, both personally & professionally) not to shop with them either.

In a time where America is struggling financially, more and more businesses are going into bankruptcy (and a good number closing altogether) and “nice to haves” just aren’t even considered… why wouldn’t a business do everything it could to keep whatever business they still have? To me, there is nothing more impactful to your bottom line like good, old fashioned, SERVICE.

Word of mouth is powerful… can we say Apartment Ratings? Facebook? Twitter? Google+? Yelp? TripAdvisor? People talk and I know, for one, I’ve been TALKING about Kohl’s all day long and NOT in a good way (obviously). A smile, a friendly tone… heck, some civility at this point… could have totally changed this whole experience for me.
At Sterling, we believe that customer loyalty is achieved by exceeding customers’ expectations.

That is the cornerstone of our business, and the foundation of all we do. No matter the objective of our customer, our goal is to develop and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship.

So, how does a rapidly growing organization stay attentive to their customers’ needs? How do they not only maintain good customer service, but continue to surpass their expectations?

The mission adopted by our colleagues is to exceed customer expectations by providing “+1” service. This involved first identifying our customers’ expectations, achieving those expectations, and then providing something further to exceed them.

This new initiative, called “Sterling 925,” drives our company culture. Why 925? Well, that is the atomic weight of sterling silver, and we are nothing less than Sterling! This initiative will continue to evolve as Sterling does. Customers will always be the heart of our business, and our charge is to embrace the challenge of finding new ways to provide “Sterling Service” and exceed their expectations into the future.

What does your company do to ensure it doesn’t miss the mark, from a customer service standpoint?

December 29th, 1998. It was my first day of “real” work. I was now a professional… trading in my costumes (I was Cinderella at Disneyland and Marilyn Monroe at Universal Studios), for suits and business attire (which I bought at places like Wet Seal and Clothestime)… hey, I was only 18!

I was psyched! I was a “grown up” now… and to boot, I had a 50% rent discount at a very nice community (my primary motivation for becoming a Leasing Consultant, by the way).

My first day of work consisted of being given a really thick “Employee Manual” and I was assigned a “Buddy”. My excitement quickly turned to panic. This community was huge, at 512 apartment homes, I was confident I would never be able to get back when I was out touring. To say that I was overwhelmed and completely scared out of my mind… would truly be an understatement. My “buddy” didn’t have much time for me and I sensed she was going to be no “buddy” of mine. She told me to go shop the comps and tour the models, I was to get “familiar” with the community. I had no idea what she was talking about…

I was never actually trained to lease, believe it or not. My company had no training program to speak of and come to think of it, no training department at that time. Being that I was in school, “training” or being in a classroom was all I’d ever known… working was a slightly foreign concept to me. I was the youngest person at my community and one of the youngest in the company and I knew that if I wanted to “make it”… I would have to just figure it out on my own.

And I did just that…

I wanted to quit just about every day I worked there! It was miserable! I wasn’t doing things “right”, but no one would take the time to show me the “right” way… so I just did it as best I could, and tried to figure it out. Thankfully, I have the gift of gab and have never met a stranger… so leasing came fairly easy for me and eventually I uncovered the “right way” of doing things. After several months, I became pretty excellent at my job… and I was set on helping anyone who was new to my community, learn. I would be the teacher that I never had… a true “buddy”! Sometime in May we’d hired 2 new Leasing Consultants and I was excited at the chance to help out someone who was new. I was assigned one of the girls and MY originally assigned “buddy” got the other.

Before her arrival I made instructions/directions/worksheets/etc… that I placed in a 3 ring binder for my trainee (her name is Danielle). Also included was a map of our community, all of our floorplans, our latest market survey (so she knew who our comps actually were), etc…

I made her, as it turns out, a LEASING NOTEBOOK!

I’d never been given one before… but it contained everything that I’d figured out, through trial and error, that I needed to know. Every time a prospective resident asked me a question that I didn’t know the answer to, I found out the answer and I added that info to my notebook. Needless to say the other trainee was bummed she wasn’t partnered with me, but took the bull by the horns and asked if she could have that info too! I was helping to create a Roadmap for others and let me tell you, it felt good! My only wish is that someone would have given ME all this info when I first started, because if I wasn’t the stubborn, I’m going to show you that I can do this with or without you, kind of girl that I am… I wouldn’t have made it past the first week!

So long story short… my on-boarding & training experience when I was new to the industry, new to my company and new to working in general… was something that I would hope no one else has ever had to, or ever HAS to, experience. It was from that point on that I vowed to help as many people as I could. In time, my self-starter efforts were rewarded by my company. I was quickly promoted, promoted again, and again and finally went on to develop our in-house training department.

At long last, all of our new associates were getting the kind of first impression that we ask our on-site colleagues to provide for our residents (it’s sad how we were asking them to give great first impressions, but yet we weren’t giving THEM a great first impression)! I was able to take what I’d started at my community and roll it out on a global scale! The efforts my company started putting into our associates on-boarding & training boosted both employee retention and ultimately resident retention (we all know how residents cling to certain people… if they are their longer, residents tend to stay longer). It was truly a win-win… and something I’m happy to say that I started.

So let me ask you… Are you giving to your newly hired colleagues an excellent first impression? What are you doing for your newly hired colleagues to ensure they have a seamless first day? Do you use leasing notebooks? Do you assign a “buddy”, “mentor” or “pro”? What does your 90-day training plan look like? Are you making each colleague feel welcome and as though they could make a career in property management? How have your efforts improved your employee retention? Resident retention?

At Sterling, we’re moving to twice monthly hiring and set to start offering an interactive and highly engaging New Colleague Orientation… that’s done live, via webinar (with live and pre-recorded video as well), on a new employees first day.

Also included in their “welcome” kit are their business cards, name tag and all their relevant new hire paperwork.
If they’re in a sales role, they’ll also receive the contents that will make up their leasing notebook and each new colleague, in all positions, will be assigned to a “Pro” (our “Pros” are hand selected and go through PRO Training… truly the best of the best).

In addition, each colleague is given their Sterling Story Career Path, which outlines their training plan for their current role and an additional training plan to get to the next level.

Finally, we also provide each colleague with a Technology Welcome Letter which outlines the websites we use and their user name and passwords for each (including how to access our truly awesome employee geared LMS, so that they can take our required first day courses; Fair Housing & Sexual Harassment).

Our colleagues feel supported from day one and our Mission and Guiding Principles are not just words on a wall… but actually lived through our actions. I’m proud to say that I’m a part of this culture and helping it to continually evolve!

View the article on Multifamily Insiders here: http://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/home/multifamily-blogs/a-roadmap-to-success-one-girls-journey-to-make-on-boarding-better-.html

I’m sorry… I don’t need you. No, seriously. If all I needed was someone to get the guest card basics (name, phone number, size & date) when they answer the phone and proceed to recite the same old tired “speech” time and time again… I may as well just have a really great pre-recorded message that at its conclusion asks the caller to leave their name, phone number, size apartment they’re looking for and their desired move-in date… because that’s about how good your calls are and about as much good as they’re doing you, your community and even more big picture, your company.

This might sound like I’ve given up… but I haven’t.

I know, for a fact, that the lack of quality phone sales skills in our industry is not, I repeat NOT, a training issue. I can speak with certainty here because 1. I know that I provide stellar telephone training and the proof is; some of you get it… your fantastic call conversion ratios, rockstar closing percentages and ultimately (and most importantly for you) the higher income you’re enjoying demonstrate that!

What I don’t get is those of you who purposefully choose NOT to try doing things a little differently. I mean if you can do a call that makes me want to bang my head against a wall, is it THAT much more difficult to do a call that might… I don’t know… earn you a few appointments and perhaps an additional lease or two? Crazy I know…

So what’s the difference between a good and bad leasing call? Here are my thoughts:

BAD: Giving the prospect totally useless information (i.e.: We have two different 1 bedroom floorplans to choose from, one is 874 square feet and the other is 918 square feet).

GOOD: Give the prospect information they can understand (i.e.: We have two different 1 bedroom apartment homes to choose from; the first enjoys an open kitchen with breakfast bar, queen sized bedroom, a bathroom that’s just outside the bedroom- so your guests won’t have to go through your room to use it and a generous balcony with an additional storage closet. The second is a little smaller than the first, but similar in style. In this style you’ll enjoy an abundance closets as well as a very spacious island kitchen and relaxing oval tub. Which of these sounds right for you?)

The BAD example gives information that can be overwhelming to a prospect. They don’t care about square footage; they care about their lifestyle and what an apartment can DO for them. It also uses jargon (floor plans, square feet), something our prospects don’t need to hear. I cannot visualize the difference between 874 square feet and 918 square feet, can you? There are also no questions being asked, just information given. THIS IS NOT SELLING! THIS IS TELLING (just like a pre-recorded message will do).

The GOOD example paints a “visit us” picture. It doesn’t mention square feet because that information is arbitrary. Instead, it tells them about the homes themselves. It paints a “visit” us picture, it forces the prospective resident to visualize the two different apartment homes and THIS, my friends, is key! Finally, it asks the prospective resident to make a choice, but notice the way it asks… “Which of these sounds right for you?” It utilizes the assumptive close, in that we’re assuming one of these will work, and lets them know we’re concerned about them and their wants and needs.

To have a successful, resulting in an appointment (and ultimately a lease) phone call, just remember GLAPS:

Greet the prospective resident, with a smile (they can hear it). Be articulate, slow down, display sincerity

Listen to what they tell you (nothing is more annoying then when you ask when they’re moving for the 3rd time).

Ask better questions (yes you need the “basics”, but you need a lot more than that to be successful!) What do they need? What are they looking for? What does their ideal look like? Do they like what you’re saying? Does what you’re telling them about working for them”?

Paint a “Visit Us” Picture… don’t just tell them the same stuff they can find in a print ad or online… tell them details
about the home you’ve selected for them and insider secrets about living at your community. EVERYONE has a “resort style pool” and “state of the art fitness center”… do BETTER!

Sell! Remember that this is a sales call and getting them excited about coming to see their new home is key. Keep in mind, people don’t call apartment communities for fun (unless you’re in the biz of course, but we’re the exception). They have seen something they liked about your place… otherwise they wouldn’t be calling.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg of what can make or break a leasing call and just a snippet of some of the training our on-site colleagues at The Sterling Group benefit from.

At Sterling, we offer many opportunities for our colleagues to learn new telephone sales techniques and hone their craft. I’ve developed blended learning programs that include webinars, classroom style learning, self paced courses via our LMS, customized coaching and so much more! Our growing course catalog includes; Ring! Ring! Hi, It’s a Lease Calling, Coffee is For Closers, ‘Til They Buy or Die, Intro to Leasing, Advanced Leasing and so much more! We also include One-on-One Coaching, Call Review & Customized Feedback and Peer Role Play… we encourage our colleagues to continually push themselves and grow professionally, while providing them with the tools to be successful.

What do you do to get your team members more excited about taking calls? How do you work with those who just don’t get it? What approaches do you take to telephone sales training?

Recently, I developed a Virtual Leasing Webinar that was all about the ever so neglected email leads that we receive on-site, daily.

After secretly shopping several communities (both within my company and external companies) I found that the response “rule” is to send a generic template email that tells me essentially everything I just found on the website I was just on. Can we say, redundant?

So here I am, shopping for a new apartment home… I found a few I like and now, I need to find out more information (you know, stuff the website doesn’t tell me… most of them anyway; there are a couple really great ones out there which are totally virtual… I’m talking to YOU Archstone, high-five!). But let’s say I’m on a “normal” website that doesn’t tell me which apartment home I’m renting and doesn’t have an interactive map showing me my location. These are things I want to know. I’m picky and I need to find out if you have a 2 bedroom on the top floor with a view of the trees or something and NOT staring right into another apartment home. So how do I find this information out? I don’t like to call… so instead I’ll click the “want more information” button and start crafting my email. It would look something like this:

Hi, I’m looking for a 2 bedroom and I have a couple of questions.

Tara Furiani

and THIS is the response I normally get:

Thank you for choosing ABC Community, where you’ll love where you live. We have beautifully appointed 1, 2 & 3 bedroom homes to fit your lifestyle.

The ABC Community Team

So some of you are wondering what is wrong with the response? Fair enough of a thought, this might be something new for you, but here’s the bottom line it doesn’t tell me ANYTHING I didn’t already know by looking at your website, viewing your online ad, liking your facebook page, etc… I KNOW that you have a beautiful resort style pool and that your apartments have 9’ ceilings and crown molding… THAT’S WHY I EMAILED YOU! Prospects aren’t going into this blind, like they used to back in the day.

In today’s technology driven world, I can clearly see WHAT you have to offer. What I may not know is if you have the one I WANT that also has my additional requirements (see above).

So let’s dissect the email response. 1. Were any of the questions addressed? NO! 2. Was it customized to the situation? NO! 3. Did I learn anything I didn’t already know? NO! 4. Was this email a complete waste of my 30 seconds? ABSOLUTELY! The email goes on to say that IF I want to schedule a tour, I need to call… well kids, if I wanted to call I would have done that to begin with. Get the picture?

How could this have been better? Well, for starters… we could teach our site teams about using email effectively. Do offices get busy? Yes! Does that mean this response will “suffice”… heck no! I wouldn’t call and schedule a tour appointment, and I’m starting to not be the exception here. I don’t have time to call, I want to do it online, just like I do 90% of my other transactions. Templates are fine, they save time… but copy & paste them… then proceed to customize based on the info that was given by the prospect. Like this:

Hi Tara,

Isabella Joseph
Leasing Specialist at ABC Community
ijoseph@abccommunity.com
615-521-3024 office

So let’s dissect this email response. 1. Were any of the questions addressed? YES! 2. Was it customized to the situation? YES! 3. Did I learn anything I didn’t already know? YES! 4. Was this email a complete waste of my 30 seconds? NO WAY! What it also does is ask questions BACK in order to get a reply from the prospect (an often missing piece of our email replies… and then we wonder why we don’t hear from them again). It also creates a sense of urgency and closes them on their terms. The appointment is asked for, IN THE EMAIL, so they can reply and schedule.

We spend so much time, money, effort into leasing/sales training and the majority is spent on phone calls, touring, overcoming objections & closing. But we need to add one more thing to the mix: EMAILS! It’s a trend that’s going to keep getting more and more widely used… are your teams ready for it?
Let’s recap, shall we?

OUT:
Generic template emails that just list out what the community offers
A BOT sending our email responses
Asking a prospect to call to schedule when they’ve emailed to begin with

IN:
Customized emails that are specific to my needs & wants
Actionable emails that encourage a response from the prospect
Using the same techniques we teach for tours/phone calls in an email (urgency, closing, asking questions, etc..)
Allowing the prospect to continue to communicate with you in their preferred method

At the Sterling group we are hosting Virtual Leasing Webinars, including email leasing in our initial Intro to Leasing class, holding random contests for “best email responses” and tracking our email leads & conversion ratios. What are you doing or going to do to get your teams into this new technologically driven multifamily universe?

Since sometime in February, we’ve all heard the news that our multifamily economy is stronger than it’s been in a decade… that this is the time of the “landlord”… that the demand will far outweigh supply… that we should do away with concession and increase rents… etc…

As a company we’ve been sharing this “good news” with our on-site teams, promoting contests around renewal increases and really driving home the “this is our time” mantra that seems to be everywhere related to our industry. I’m happy to report that it does seem that it’s “our time” in a lot of instances. The Sterling Group has had our NOI increase 14% from March to April… but not without some serious effort on our part, and by that I mean… we’ve really had to sell this “Our Time” stuff to our site level colleagues!

Now I get it… I’ve worked onsite; I know the day to day is often fraught with unfriendly residents, unbelievable maintenance requests, unimaginable late rent stories, unrealistic prospects and uninterested co-workers. Having Corporate tell you that you need to be pushing rents, garnering higher renewals and pushing that ancillary income can be, well, totally annoying. They don’t really know how busy you are. They don’t get that your renewals aren’t going to pay $50 more per month, They don’t understand that your competitors are STILL offering a month free… They just don’t know what’s it’s really like. And I’ll pose a tough question here… Do we? Do we really know what’s going on in OUR individual markets?

Let’s assume that you do, you’re very clear as to the market conditions and we should be pushing rents and reducing or eliminating concessions… Where does the madness stop and the actual realization that the ball is, in fact, in our court… happen?

My thoughts are, on this (and most things, really), is that there is a lack of communication & understanding. So often we roll things out or share information and it ends up being “just another email” or “just another thing to add to the checklist”. We don’t fully explain what we’re telling our site level team members, we don’t show them what to do or how to do it, we don’t give them the benefits of the information. What I mean by this is; Let’s say I send out an email with an arbitrary multifamily article saying what a great time this is for our industry that we need to be raising rents and increasing our renewals even more than we initially budgeted for.

And that’s it! Nothing more!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, my fellow industry colleagues, but THIS IS THE WRONG APPROACH!

What I should be doing is sending this great article & that we should be raising rents and WHY. Cold hard facts work wonders in obtaining the buy in you need to get the results you want! If I was to ALSO tell a site that our traffic is up 25% from last year at this time, our comps are offering less than ½ the concessions they were offering this time last year and that our comps have raised rent by 7.5% from last year to now… well then that’s information that a site manager can buy into and gives them an arsenal of tools to get buy in from their team members. When I also tell them that if we increased our leases by just one additional per week at the newly raised market rents, they’d be making their budgeted NOI and the whole team would be getting their bonuses… well then that information is now actionable (remember, to include the “what’s in it for them”) and tied to their personal income. It may take a little more work on our part (Corporate), but isn’t the reward worth it? I say yes!

At Sterling we are big on numbers and sharing them with all levels of employees so that they understand the “big picture”. We don’t just tell our colleagues to do something (we aren’t dictators, after all), we show them why they should and what the benefit is to them, theircommunity and the company overall. We’ve found that this creates that “sense of ownership” we all, as industry professionals, talk about. We don’t just talk about it at The Sterling Group, we live it!

How are you getting your on-site team members on board with the upswing in multifamily housing? What are you doing to take advantage of our industries economy? Have your site teams bought into it or did it require some creativity on your part?