The apartment leasing process has meaningfully evolved over the past two decades, thanks to widespread technological advancements. But as Digital Age advances and reshapes the multifamily landscape, the industry must also continuously reexamine the leasing process and withstand the temptation to become complacent.
Attracting prospects, following up at opportune times, sustaining contact, and ultimately getting them into the doors of your community can be a cumbersome process. But with the right amalgam of strategy and utilization of digital resources, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here’s a look at four concepts apartment directors can engage in streamlining the leasing process digitally.
High-Impact Leasing Sales Program
With development at a 10-year high, property managers and marketing directors are looking for ways to successfully institute a dependable sales process – and increase occupancy rates – in uncommonly saturated markets.
Acquiring the skills and discipline that lead to breakthrough performance for leasing teams is paramount. It starts with a customized and repeatable selling process. Thoughts and ideas within a tool kit for success that are easily transferred increases closing productivity, and supersedes occupancy quotas.
Leasing University brings a full suite of services designed to support this effort. The approach to reach breakout execution in leasing is the same formula for becoming adept at anything. It’s about mastering performance through knowledge, skill, and discipline. Property management companies are clamoring for high-impact closing in the pre-lease, lease-up phase and at established communities, especially during the slow period before the busy season.
Leverage automation whenever possible.
Old-fashioned follow-ups can carve into a leasing agent’s day like no other. The more regularly you can automate many of these processes, the more time a leasing agent can spend welcoming new prospects onsite and seeking fresh leads.
Automation can be leveraged in various timesaving ways, such as autoresponders for emails, chatbots for prospects wanting community information while on your website, and even virtual-touring capabilities for candidates who might arrive outside standard leasing hours. With these methods handled by computerization, leasing agents are empowered to build relationships with prospects and residents.
Use modern property management systems.
Like technology itself, property administration systems appear to evolve daily. If yours is clunky and outdated, it could be consuming your time and costing you leases. Many of today’s SAS systems can consolidate updates over-the-air or via automatic downloads, which prevents them from becoming out-of-date with each new iteration.
When you decide to add a new feature or technology to your leasing process, software that can integrate instantly and customize efficiently, that will limit the slow down that comes with additional training. Ordinarily, you’ll need a property management system that can expand with your organization. Yardi is a software vendor that makes applications for all sizes of property management and real estate companies. The firm makes software suites for property management, marketing, commercial applications, senior living, and investments. Voyager concentrates on commercial property management.
Test new technologies and other alternatives to reach residents and prospects.
Being too content can be counterproductive, particularly as search behavior changes, resident likings continue to morph, and tech steamrolls forward. It’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to communication preferences and regularly test new technologies.
For instance, resident portals for maintenance requests and online pay capabilities originally appeared to be far-reaching concepts, but imagine today’s apartment world without them. If you aren’t looking for the next consumer-facing technology trends, you are already behind.
The leasing process is deeply involved and multi-tiered, and that will never change. But when you use tech and training to your advantage in concert with being able to lean on your expertise to adapt to the continually evolving multifamily landscape, you can digitally streamline the leasing process. Stay tuned for more around how to get the ink; that means so much!