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Do you ever answer the phone or return calls?
Text and email are effective and quick tools in leasing and resident retention. Electronic communication is faster, more efficient, and leaves a permanent trail of the interaction. Yet, often a phone call is better. Often.
Here is an exert of an email I received from an industry service provider:
“Let me just dive right into this …. This has been sneaking up for a few years now. No communication. If you do by chance talk to a human on-site they have an attitude as if you are bothering them. Me and clients. Is this a sign of the times? Is customer service non-existent?”
Before you say, “Oh Boomer”, let me clarify. Text and email are necessary and here to stay. We can’t operate without them. They supplement other forms of communication. But phone and in-person interaction is still real and is often more effective and exact.
Sure, the younger generations prefer text…and email to some extent, but communication preference is not always the most effective. And since we are talking generations, the Boomers (over 60) are now your fastest-growing renter demographic. Many of these folks appreciate a phone call or even a brief office visit.
There is no profound message here. I’m not offering a new and exciting leasing technique. Just asking this question:
“Why did you text or email just now rather than pick up the phone and call?”
I trust you to make the next right move. Happy Monday!
