I was encountered with two different sales tactics this past week. They were both obnoxious, to say the least. These are two definitive ways to not sale me anything:
1. Do not come at me constantly talking about “your competitor up the street…..”. I’ll be honest with you, by the fourth time you say that to me, in order to somehow persuade me to do something with you and your company, I’m absolutely turned off. Your art of selling by “scaring” does nothing but anger me. First of all, I’m fairly educated as a property manager and as such, also aware of what my competitor is or is not doing. I don’t need you calling to tell me (weekly no less) that they have just increased their ad this way or that way. I know better. You operate under deadlines, so there are only so many changes they can make anyhow.
2. Do not come at me without proper knowledge, tools, and sales etiquette. Prepare yourself with what you have to offer me. If you pull out a binder full of all your pricing, you’ve just managed to lose any ground with me. When I ask about distribution locations, you have to be able to tell me, at least 5-10 that would capture my attention and make me think that advertising with you in what is a small local magazine, is worth my time as well my property’s budget, do not say “I’m not sure.” and then refer back to said binder. The funniest part of this particular scenario? I received a handwritten thank you card a few days later that said, “Oh and we restocked at RTJ and, yes, they were happy to get the refills!” Ok, well, one, I didn’t ask if they were unhappy to be low on your magazine, and two, I never knew they had your magazine, because you never bothered to tell me.
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I am straightforward, need details clear cut and to the point. Do not try to “sell” me, do not try to use scare tactics and know your product, otherwise, I have tuned.you.out.
Huh, interesting. Same could be said for our leasing abilities.
While everyone does lease and close differently (and we have had this conversation a lot in our office), there is still something to be said for human nature and simply being REAL with another human. No games. No gimmicks.
One of my team members had a prospect going back & forth between our new luxury apartment community and their current luxury apartment community. They even had went so far as to have pros&cons in a typed list. One that I asked for a copy of to utilize for future objections, as they do live at our one and only competitor in the area. At the end of several months of attempting to make a decision, the wife looked at me after another tour and said, “I just don’t see moving here being a benefit to our way of life. It wouldn’t better our way of life.” Keep in mind, they live less than a mile currently from our community. So it was not moving itself. It was literally specific things that we just could not overcome.
And I hear you on the other side of the computer screen, rolling your eyes, stating that any objection can be overcome. I agree with you, my staff knows to prepare themselves for objections. Week two into our community opening I advised my leasing team to walk through each apartment and figure out why they would not want to live there, and then overcome those issues. What makes one floor plan better than another? What can we do as a team to overcome an objection? Trust me, I’m with you……..BUT
You absolutely cannot overcome THAT objection when someone tells you that it will not benefit their way of life. Because here’s the thing, when you start overcoming an objection like that, you’re simply arguing with your prospect why they should live at your community vs. your competitor community. And let’s just NOT do that people.
You’re not going to win them all. And there is a graceful and classy way to bow out. Tell them you understand, tell them you’re sad because you have truly gotten to know them and had hoped to build that resident bond with them. BE HONEST. BE GENUINE. THAT is the kind of stuff that shines through. THAT is the kind of stuff that leases apartments.
You want to know why and how? Because not everyone is like THAT. And maybe, by some stroke of good luck, the office staff at their current community will upset them and they’ll think, “You know what? Screw our way of life, I want to be treated with respect and dignity, let’s call those amazing individuals at Villas at HomePlace!”
Trust me….it’s happened to me on several occasions over the years. Outsell, but outsell while being personable and being REAL. Don’t use scare tactics. Create urgency, but genuine urgency. And by GOODGOOGLIEGAA, know you’re product. (That’s a post for another day).
Happy Leasing People….Happy GENUINE REAL HUMAN Leasing
pithypropertymanager 