Would you agree that sales is part and parcel showcasing just enough benefit to overcome another’s fear
of making a decision? I mean people by nature are afraid to make decisions and
many go so far as to put the burden on others. How many times have you made your potential resident’s mind for them? I think it was Tony Robbins that said you will make a decision when the
pain of not making it outweighs the pain of making it: the pleasure and
pain principle. That said, it is incumbent upon us to bridge that gap between fear and comfort in the leasing process.
I am interested in hearing your strategies for getting prospects over that hump in the apartment leasing process. I am especially interested in hearing the strategies for getting Mr. and Mrs. Silent to speak up. You know the prospects I am speaking of; the ones that are so scared out of their mind that they can’t even mumble word. I never did learn how to do that.
Drop us a comment as I think it will benefit the entire community of readers, especially given the current economic environment. You better believe that people all over the country are becoming more hyper-sensitive in their decision making processes. You better believe fear is going to be the biggest factor you sale against in 2009 and the better part of 2010.
In the mean time check out this great post by Seth Godin.
0 Responses
Mike, An interesting post.
I believe that the leasing process can set the tone of the emotional state of the perspective resident touring the property. In that, I am not implying that we have complete control of someone else’s emotion, but there are opportunities to enhance them. There is much we can do in our camp. We need to Effectively Lead. I suggest we start by being a bit more careful with our vocabulary around the water cooler, in and around our models when interacting with our staff. Perhaps is time to step up leadership, and dust off those Peter Druker books for some tips. I am not implying that anyone should ignore the economic storm; however, being afraid only lowers our ability to enhance the situation. Fear is debilitating and must first be removed internally before we can affect our external situation.
There is ALWAYS opportunity in every situation. The ones who find it get the prize. Become more of a story teller with the staff, keep them excited and focused. If there are negative things that must happen, act swiftly. Layoffs and downsizing are just part of a down cycle, but can be explained that it is improving the health of the organization. Dissolve the unknown for your staff. Focus on creating something Remarkable. Remarkable wins, every time. Creating Remarkable is easier now than ever, everyone else is running around being afraid.
The real point here is, unless the staff is up and ready, we have little chance of shifting the prospects emotion, but if they are, we can then focus on engaging the prospect and making the rental.
E,
Well said!
I could not agree more with your line; “Disolve the unknown for your staff.” There is nothing more dangerous in any business then leaving employees in the dark. Leaving them to armchair speculate leads to disgust, angst and worst of all distrust.
Times are tough and in the same respect, like you said, they are ripe with opportunity. Leadership is key in that and it will be those who take that responsibility seriously that will prosper at the end of the day!
Here’s to you and your continued success!
Thank you as always for taking the time to give very thoughtful feedback.
M
I couldn’t agree more. Well said.
There was a Grace Hill class that I took at the begining of my career it talked about reading people and what kind of people react to certian selling techniques (if you will) I am one of those people who comes home at the end of the day exhausted becauseI invest everything in my prospective clients. I have the gift of being extremely diverse.. That and im persistant. I just find if I ask enough open ended questions and I pay attention to how they answer those questions I will find something that sets that spark for them. I build a friendship with them starting with that spark. I believe people will not lease until they feel secure.
As far as the close, and pushing their comfort level. I feel compelled to ask them to live here. In most training classes I have taken they always say ask fro the sale 3 times in your tour. I feel like a used car sales person ( no offense) Iwill usually start by saying I think this community has what your looking for and list three or four ammenities that ive found that fit their life style by that friendship we have developed. Then as we are waiting for the elevator to take us back to the leasing office I make a personal invitation. ” I would love it if you guys were to live here, I think you'd be really happy and a great addition to our fantastic group of residents.. If you wanted you could swing by our next resident function to get to know some of them” and then as we are walking to the desk I usually say, ok so lets go ahead and hold that apartment for you, it will give you 72 hrs to think about it, and it will hold our specials which are due to change tomorrow.
My focus is to not let them out of the office with out leaving a deposit. But making it a chat between friends so it seems like less of s decision and more of a positive change for their life.