Customer loyalty
Influence: Consider this…
The next time you serve a fellow employee, vendor, prospect or resident by way of your thoughts and actions – consider this:
Please share the stories that come to mind from the video in the comment section below…
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Influence: That resident in 205 is such a….
Over the course of the last two weeks I have picked up coffee at two different Starbucks locations in Saint Louis, Missouri. On one occasion I sipped my freshly poured coffee and listened to a Barista belittle management over a time clock issue. It quickly struck me that there was a total ill regard for those who were in ear shot of the conversation. It was as if the customers in the room were deaf to her words, somehow shielded by an invisible sound deadening shroud.
No less than three days later I sipped coffee and listened as three Barista’s took turns making fun of various customers that had made their way in over the course of the day. As each story ended and the next began, the Baristas seemed to take on an almost perversive sense of pride in their topping of one another. It ended only when a customer entered the door and made their way to the counter to make an order. It really took me aback and in the same respect, it gave me recall to times when I sat on-site and poked fun at residents. Many times with frustration over events that just transpired.
The worst instance happened while working in San Francisco back in the early 2000’s. It was right around the time that the dot.com bubble burst. The fall out drove two bedroom apartment rents from $4100 a month to $1750 nearly overnight. It was mayhem. My days consisted of back to back one to two hour meetings with existing lease holders who were locked in to twelve month leases paying top market rate. All looking to negotiate a rate reflective of the street. Or, in many cases looking to get out altogether. Somewhere in month three I encountered a resident who not only tested my every nerve with personal jabs and barbs but managed to get me over the edge. I stood my ground, prevailed and puffed my chest as she stormed out of the office in defeat. I turned to make my way back to my office and piped up with “that resident in 205 is a real…,” – the about the time I was going to drop the adjective of all adjectives, I hear [in a voice so familiar it make the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention] – “careful.”
It was the resident. She made her way back into the office to, of all things, apologize for her behavior. I will say, if not by her grace or the one who governs the universe, I would have been toast that day. And, these were the days prior to Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin…
Takeaway: Influence has a new name: Always On! Be Mindful of your surroundings as you are always influencing [Starbucks Barista’s – if I didn’t like the coffee so much, I would move to Panera] – if you would not want it repeated as front page news – it’s likely best left unsaid.
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Apartment Marketers – Stop the C[r]ap
I ran across Stop the Cap this evening while reading some blog post and Google alerts. At the risk of causing discord with the fine people over at Mid-America – I have to ask, is it really worth it? I recognize the value in exclusive marketing relationships and revenue shares and advocate them myself but this one seems very anti-resident. In jest, I kind of wish I had a few Mid-America communities in my various sub-markets, I could use a few occupancy points.
Maybe the story has it all wrong and if so my apologies for drawing a spotlight to it. However, if it is valid the following excerpt really sums up the downside:
Mid-America earns a significant kickback bonus from Comcast for mandating cable service on all of its renters. That upsets many renters who choose not to have cable service, or subscribe to a satellite provider like DirecTV or DISH. The $40 fee doesn’t go away if you don’t want the service. Earlier in July, Stop the Cap! covered Mid-America’s mandatory cable service introduction in other parts of Tennessee and Texas.
My question comes in the context of an era of social media – did anyone consider the potential for bad buzz?
What does the community think? Good idea? Bad idea? Other points?
Be gentle –
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Apartment Marketing: Gather the Group
Over the next month or so, I will be reaching out to some of our apartment Facebook friends asking if I can enlist them in a virtual ongoing open feedback Tell Dell like mechanism. The intent is to prompt the forum in the coming weeks, months and years as we move forward in building out Mills Properties improved web strategy. The friends are coming from a mix of our like pages that span across our 43 communities [Note: not all are published as of this writing] in Saint Louis. The only catalyst to their selection is – on balance – they participate more than others. Our real hope – as part of a much larger strategy – is to build on the success of others in and out of our industry by including consumers in the process. That said, it never ceases to amaze me just how easy it really is to get acquainted anymore. This quote below is part of a response I got to reaching out just this past week –
…..been here just over 5 years and really like it. My main interests include Conservative talk shows and Trance/Techno music. Odd combination……
I can’t wait to get some discussion going with this resident. 5 years – can you imagine the change she/he has seen in five years? Can you imagine the potential value he/she might add on the premise of that 5 years of history?
What are you doing to leverage the power of your networks?
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Apartment Leasing: The Friendly Factor
Short and sweet post today – could have been a tweet but really looking for a comment or two on the subject.
So here it is –
How much is unfriendly costing you?
I wish I could suggest that this post was inspired by an experience of mine outside this industry but it was not. It was inspired by a couple of emails I received this week suggesting as much about our firm. Yikes! But but but… In my position – it is sometimes hard to separate the juiced up aggressive nature of a hostile prospect or resident who just had a bad day and or the position of the – more times than not -pushed to the limits on-site leasing and management heros. My bias always leans to the on-site team and in the same breath I would say – I have read some compelling prospect and resident statements that made me wonder. That said, it all comes down to delivery – in my opinion.
More times than not – the statement: they are not friendly – comes up.
So, I wonder – How much is unfriendly costing you?
And, have a very friendly day –
Also, a quick shout out to the NAA bound folks from the Multi-family world. Have a great week in NOLA –