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Is it a lease…or a person needing a home? It IS personal.
You hear this often at an apartment community office. “I’m gonna get this lease!” Is that your only intent? A lease? Or do you want to gain a resident?
We are in the housing business. We find shelter for people. It IS personal.
Let’s face it. Sometimes we dehumanize that person known as the rental prospect. Rather than seeing them as human beings needing a home, we reduce them to a tick on our marketing database and call them a prospect, a lease, traffic, or even a “piece of traffic”.
Looking for an apartment to rent is stressful. The internet and the great Internet Listing Services have made access to apartments easier and faster, but it has also heightened the anxiety of apartment hunting. All the available online options, a vast amount of information, and a myriad of online reviews make the apartment search confusing and nerve-racking.
Be human. It IS personal.
Your prospect is a person looking for one of life’s basic human needs; shelter. They come to you with mixed emotions and many different life experiences. For the leasing professional, this transaction is just another lease. For your prospect, this is a significant and possibly life-changing event…finding their next home!
See each new prospect as a person who needs and deserves your personal attention. Take time to ask questions and listen to their story. This rental transaction is a BIG DEAL! It is a human being in search for a home.
Treating your prospect as a person needing your help rather than just a “piece of traffic” pays off in three ways:
- Prospects enjoy the leasing experience and leave your property feeling respected and validated. (You get positive reviews and public goodwill even if they don’t lease!)
- Your leasing job is more fun because you really connect with people, help them in a time of need, and hear their stories. (Kinda a salt and light thing)
- You get more new residents who move in as happy, satisfied customers! (And that could mean more commissions in your pocket, too.)
