Before we continue with our budget discussion on the topic of resident referrals, I want to back up and remark on a comment that I saw this last week. The comment was posted on Facebook and whether it related to our post or not, I found it a bit amiss. It was along the lines that discounts for specific groups be it students, seniors, city service workers are dumb.
Now I would not debate the merit of the remark in the sense that there are more creative ways to give money away. I would/will take the position that if it works – do it. It’s kind of like print media. Despite our need/want/desire to get away from our reliance on print media and ILS’s – if they work – we should use them. That is until they run their respective courses.
Resident Referrals
I am fairly certain that resident referrals or giving money or gifts away in exchange for move-ins is employed by every multifamily operator out there in some form or fashion. On that note – are they dumb? If I apply the same logic as our Facebook commenter then I posit – yes. It’s a concession given to a specific group. And, there are more creative ways to give money, influence or incentive to that group. That said, I am both a fan and an advocate of using them be it in the form of a concession, gift card or otherwise. After all they are much cheaper that most print media and or ILSs.
Resident referrals are used to reward your best in place marketing machine. The people who live with you currently. Every single one of them are a marketing opportunity waiting to happen. And, giving them reward can/is a good thing. And, that reward can come in any number of means.
They are monies given in the way of a concession, gift card and or hard tangible item (think flat screen, iPod, iPad, etc..). Now, we could debate the amounts given or the merit of a gift in lieu of money. We can suggest that money is not remembered after it is given. In my mind, we could suggest the same for a gift.
It doesn’t matter where you book it (Read: which line item it hits in your budget) it all shakes out in the bottom line.
Make it Smashing
No matter how you give it away, I would suggest you make it an experience. If you give them a concession – couple it with an impromptu in-home celebration. If you give them an iPod – record an uber-cool celebration message and load it in. Have a party centered around resident referrals and introduce the idea of making a commitment to share 10% (matched by your company) of the fee. Invite the charity in to share in the experience. Get creative and make it worth remarking about.
Your – believing that if it works – use it – multifamily manic,
M
0 Responses
I’m OK with one time incentives for any group (including and especially referrals). My main point in my Facebook rant is actually reducing month rent by some value/rate. I don’t see the point in that. Yes, incentives can work, but just like I would not reduce a resident’s rent by 1% every time they referred someone, I don’t think it makes sense to reduce it for a special interest group either. Good post Mr. Brewer. Next time feel free to reach out or just call me out on it. I threw it out in the first place. 🙂 Hope you’re having a killer week!