Search Results for: 2011
Apartment Prospect
I have been thinking a lot about the words consumer, prospect and resident lately. It seems as we continue to scale our social being over the likes of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or otherwise; we become more human. [Read: open, sharing and personable to those we know and are getting to know] That goes for corporations as much as it does people.
Apartment Prospects
Prospects and residents are human beings and or people first. Think of it this way, treat them as prospects or consumers and you are treating them according to your needs. Turn that around and treat them as people or humans and you are treating them according to their needs. Up to this point a prospect has been thought of as a head on a bed, a occupancy basis point or a check in the bank – a person on the otherhand is thought of as someone who dreams of a place to call home; a place that he/she can be proud to tell their friends about and someone you can have a long term relationship with.
Who are you serving today? You or other people?
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Apartment Prospects
I have been thinking a lot about the words consumer, prospect and resident lately. It seems as we continue to scale our social being over the likes of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or otherwise; we become more human. That goes for corporations as much as it does people.
Apartment Prospects
Prospects and residents are human beings and or people. Treat them as prospects and you treat them according to your needs. Turn that around and treat them as people and you treat them according to their needs. A prospect is thought of as a head on a bed, a occupancy basis point or a check in the bank – a person on the otherhand is thought of as someone who dreams of a place to call home; a place that he/she can be proud to tell their friends about.
Who are you serving today?
*Photo credit: Spreadshirt.com
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TYE – Mr. Apartment Resident; That’s Goes Against Our Policy
TYE is is short for The Thank You Economy by Gary Vay-ne-chuk; I started reading it right after it’s early morning release today. I have made it through the preface and the first chapter and would highly recommend picking it up or downloading it.
No – That’s Our Policy
Gary starts the book by telling a story about a guy who comes into his father’s wine store to redeem a coupon after the fact. The manager in the story quotes a strict interpretation of the coupon policy and sends the guy away empty handed. Gary recalls feeling, in his gut, that the guy was never going to come back to the store and let’s the manager know as much. He goes on to suggest that his gut was wrong about the guy returning but right about another thing.
Apartment Company Policy
The topic has been written about over and over, many times in our business we push our prospects and residents away over policy and procedure. I don’t have enough fingers and toes [even if I count my Facebook acquaintances] to count the number of times I have witnessed it over the past fifteen or so years I have been in the business. I can’t honor that, I can’t waive this, I can’t waive that. I know it’s your first month being late after twenty-three years of living here but late is late is late [Read with a good cheer in your voice]. The really good ones displace it on corporate; it’s a corporate thing! I wish I could help but corporate won’t let us do that.
Apartment Company Policy of tomorrow [Read: Today]
Understanding that Fair Housing plays a necessary and important role in our industry; the world of business has changed. Getting back to Gary’s Gut; the guy returned to the store to let them know he would never buy another thing from them – ever! We know the rest of the story [pre-social media and smart phones]; the man likely told ten of his best friends about his experience. And, so on and so forth.
Business has changed and we not only have to adapt but rather stay ahead of the competition and the human beings we do business with. One of the ways I try and stay ahead is reading books of all kinds and participating in our industries social spaces. And, believe me; I learn something everyday. The preface of Gary’s book reminded me of how being rigid and using strict interpretation turns customers away and unlike the guy in the story, many never return. And, today they pull out the social media bullets to get you back. Trust me, many of us, sad to say, deserve it…
I can’t wait to read the rest of the book and share some more thoughts. In the mean time; what have you learned in the short year of 11′ that speaks to the point of rigid policy and or procedure that turn customers away?
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QR Codes in Apartment Magazines
The jury is still out in my mind as it relates to the use of QR codes. I wrote about them three or four years ago and at the time I thought they were cool but today I have a very different opinion. Back then there was no real mass use commercial or otherwise and in the same respect there was a neat kind of novelty about them. It was cool that I could make my own but really confusing in that that I had no way to read it after I made it. That was before that proliferation of smart phones and the apps that make them so powerful. For now I classify QR codes under the “just because you can, does not mean you should” category.
Waste of Time
For example, I am reading The NOW Revolution by Bear and Naslund and it is full of QR codes. I give them high points for novelty. I give them high points in quantity. And, if it mattered, I give them high points in placement as it relates to aesthetics. They really packed a ton of information into 200 pages or less. But, I would never, in a million years, take the time to pull out my phone, take a picture and wait for the page to load. It’s too much work. Don’t make me pay [in the way of my time and in my money] twice for information.
Think Twice
As a result of The Now Revolution, I will never buy another book without flipping through it more thoroughly. If I see QR codes; I see that money more well spent in my bank account.
QR codes in Apartment Magazines
QR codes are pasted all over the pages of ForRent Magazine and others like it. I wonder, outside or AEs presenting a WOW moment, if people actually use them in a meaningful way. I hear the echos of “value add” but I think “what a waste of space.” Tell me what the value is and reduce my bill accordingly and keep the crazy things off my page.
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Power of the Written Word
I heard a story not so long ago about the power of a thank you card. Seems she had set out to find a new wallet for her husband; a gift to mark their fist anniversary as a married couple. With a little thought she picked Coach as her place to make a purchase.
Get Personal
The sales associate she happened across was more than eager to assist. He went about learning the exact nature of her purchase and took the time to match up the perfect wallet for the occasion. He picked off that the wallet was her gift for their first year of marriage. In doing so he also picked off a deep emotional moment that two people shared.
Take Action
By getting personal; he yield some insights for meaningful action. People are emotional. As such people are moved by emotion. If our actions are emotional in nature; suffice it to say that those emotions will be reciprocated back to us in like kind. In the case of the Coach associate; his action has yielded him a customer for life.
Gain Loyalty
How, you ask? He wrote a very kind; very personal note of congrats to the young lady. He included some very kind words regarding the wallet and the years of use he would garnish out of it. Loyalty for the price of a pen, some paper and a few minutes of time. Hand written and mailed the same day of the purchase. Sound familiar?
The young lady in this story told me she would never consider shopping at another retailer for leather related products. Not a novel concept in the apartment industry but one that I wholeheartedly believe is lost in the struggles of time, attention and willingness to extend oneself under the premise of fostering meaningful connection.
Whether you are B2B or B2C; the power of the written word is rarely for not. Take some time today and pen a few cards to people you have interacted with this week. And, come back and share some stories about what happened as a result.
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