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Creating the work environment where leasing people thrive and stay.
Warning: I am making some gross generalities in this post. My comments don’t apply to all onsite personnel. Yet, forty years of leasing and managing high producing apartment leasing pros leads me to this profound observation:
“Effective onsite apartment managers and productive leasing consultants are different animals. They are wired different, see the world different, have different goals and motivations, and bring different expectations to the onsite team.”
Leasing folks – “sales personalities” – require a unique management style that is often a mystery to even the experienced apartment manager. Consider these tips. You may not agree with them all.
- Motivate with Short Term Rewards – Annual goals are important for your onsite team but top salespeople prefer immediate gratification. Motivate these racehorses with weekly goals and occasional daily challenges.
- Don’t Assume They Like Your Management Style! – Learn how your salespeople like to be managed. Relax a bit on your expectations of perfect paperwork, exemplar behavior, and YOUR definition of professionalism. Listen and laugh with these salespeople.
- Collaborate When Possible – In addition to recognition and rewards, the sales personality wants to be heard and respected. All team members want this, sure, but it is crucial to top sales pros. This personality type tends to believe other team members are less informed than they and should be getting more input from them, the “front line” leasing team. Often this is correct.
- Exaggerating is not Lying or Misleading – At least not in the mind of a sales personality. Stressing the positive side and minimizing the negatives of a sales transaction is what they do. And they do it well.
- Remember Your Leasing Goal; More Move Ins and Long Term Residents – Give your salespeople more flexibility in reaching that objective. As long as it is legal and ethical, give them the latitude to find the best marketing and leasing strategies to reach their goals.
This is certainly not an inclusive list for managing your leasing professionals. What I have included are principles for understanding how the sales personality ticks. It is a demanding position and one that is becoming more difficult to fill. Use these concepts as a foundation for the way you manage and motivate your top leasing talent. If you don’t, they will go elsewhere.
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