mikebrewer
Multifamily Leadership: Know Your People Know Your Business
In the world of leadership it just makes sense that you would be out there glad handing, cheer-leading and relentlessly challenging those who serve your business. I have long held the belief that organizations exist to serve the people that serve it. Thus, it is the leaders calling to serve. And, baked into that calling is the need to know your people.
We have all been there, “Hey Fred, now what is that porters name again?,” “And, what is the assistant manager’s name?” I’ve done it myself more than once. Not only is that embarrassing, it just plain wrong. No a fact I am proud of for sure. Can we all agree that people want to feel like and more importantly know that they are part of something bigger than themselves. They want purpose, they want mission, they want values that are in alignment with their own. They want to be dignified. And, they want you to know their name and be genuinely interested in them.
Multifamily Management by Wondering Around
MBWA was made famous by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman when they researched and wrote about it in the book, In Search of Excellence. The practice was a cornerstone of Hewlett Packard’s business model. [A practice they seem to have forgotten; as of late at least.] The thought was that the most unadulterated pulse of your business comes from the front lines. The forward facing people that serve the people that participate with your goods and services. They are the ones that give you the best sense of what is and what should be as it relates to running a profitable business.
How do we do that?
First, we show up. Go ahead, make an appointment with your front line people today. Make two or three and stick to them.
Next, we ask probing questions. Get that list together ahead of time. But make sure you leave the environment open for fluid conversation.
And then, we listen! There is a reason you have two ear and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk and you are guaranteed to learn a lot about your people and your business.
That’s it. Simple as it sounds it is likely the most overlooked and underutilized piece of our business. We get so caught up in the deal, in the reporting, in the fire drill that we put the site visit off. We assume the people will understand. They get that we are in growth mode. They get that we are busy. They get it. It’s all good. Truth be know you rob them of their dignity, their pride and their wherewithal.
Your making several meaningful front-line appointments for next week contributor,
M
Apartment Marketing: Cinema on the Lawn – Redux
We wrote about this idea back in the summer of 2007 when we experimented with it at Park Station Apartments in Saint Louis, MO. It was a big hit not only our residents but with the community at large. Park Station is set in the historic DeBaliviere Neighborhood near the popular Central West End. It is surrounded by condominiums and 100+ year old mansions. The one amenity the neighborhood lacks is a reason to get together. There is no cool factor.
Create the Experience And They Will Come
That was and still is the reason we host the outdoor movie series in the summer time. We team up with the neighborhood home owners association, DeBaliviere Place Association along with Frontyard Features to organize and execute the event. It’s set one of our parking lots near a large grassy knoll with provides for comfortable seating. Our team also provides chairs, drinks, popcorn, pizza and hot dogs to movie goers. The movies are new release features which we purchase license for via Swank [make sure you get the license as the fine is very hefty if you don’t].
Invite The Neighborhood
In the spirit of marketing apartments – Cinema on the Lawn was a project targeted at the neighborhood at large. The implied effect that we were after was to get the neighborhood together – stimulated by a cool experience that they would have reason to talk about. It worked as evidenced by the growing number of attendees. The last movie we presented was attended by over 100 people more than half of which did not live in our apartments. While I can not prove out a number as it relates to leases, I can say with confidence that we enhance the experience of living in the DeBaliviere Neighborhood and as such we were raved about.
Build Your Own
I caught this on my train ride back from Chicago on Sunday – it’s not all that hard to build your own outdoor theater.
What kind of things are you doing this summer to draw in the community at large?
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Predictive Apartment Marketing
Great read over @BrianSolis’s blog this morning called The Predictive Web
Really got me thinking about mediums like Twitter, Foursquare and the such. We already see the menu being set for us in the way of Tweets like this from EmilyBland
- just started looking for apartments in st louis for after graduation. gahhhhhh this is so weird. i kind of don’t wanna grow up!!!
- apt search already stressful. add that to the fact that 2 years ago today, i was about to arrive in madrid. WAAAAHHHHHHH emo emo emo
Now – it’s only halfway to predictive but just imagine if Emily [and, had I the time this morning – I would find an example] had mentioned she was going to look at Park Station Apartments in Saint Louis [Disclaimer: I am a Regional/New Business Manager at Mills Properties] and we were all over Twitter [we are brewing our strategy now]. We could prep a somewhat specific and relevant experience for Emily knowing that she was coming our way. It becomes a very meaningful interaction.
Have to run for today but look for more on this subject. And, as always have a compelling day –
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