Monday, January 24, 2011
Jolene Sopalski: Leasing & Marketing Ideas For Multifamily Housing Industry: 8 Marketing Ideas For The Slow Season
Jolene Sopalski: Leasing & Marketing Ideas For Multifamily Housing Industry: 8 Marketing Ideas For The Slow Season: "So I first want to congratulate everyone for making it into the slow season. I bet you thought great we get to relax catch up on some ..."
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Training Idea's & Suggestions for 2011
Why is training so important? Training your onsite staff is extremely important especially now with 2011 coming up. This is the year for the Multi Family Housing Industry. We have already started witnessing numbers changing for the good and it will only get better from here. Now is the time to monopolize this by making sure we have well trained staff onsite. A well trained staff that knows what they are doing will make a big difference in your portfolio.
There are different ways to train your staff from using Grace Hill, The Telephone Doctor, Toni Blake, Kate Good, and The Training Factor. But those all cost money and sometimes we just don’t have it in the budget. But I will tell you if you can spring for it at least once Skype with Toni Blake for all the Leasing Specialist in your company or region. It is worth the money and your staff will walk out energized and ready to take on the world. What you have to do as an owner, regional, or corporate leader is decide what will work best for you’re on site staff when it comes to training.
One of the things that I loved and miss about my previous company was our monthly Leasing Classes that the regional’s had for us. Sometimes they would be for three hours or all day depending on what they wanted to train us on to help improve our leasing skills. We went from a region where you did not communicate much with your sister properties to knowing each other and helping each other out. We were train on how to improve on shops, selling our community, telephones, out reach marketing etc. By having this class once a month as an open discussion type setting we were able to learn from each other. Numbers and attitude’s started to improve across the regions. We also learn allot from our regional’s who have been in the industry a very long time. One of my favorite classes was when the VP came in and showed us a graph of our leasing efforts from past and current. It really was nice to be able to see what we were doing and how it was affecting the company.
Now I know as I said before you may not have the money to have a training director or a really great training program. There are ways you can still make sure you have a well train onsite staff. There is always someone in your company that excels at what they do and this can be multiple persons. Why not have them conduct a class on Leasing, Out Reach Marketing, Customer Service, Collections, Telephone, Communication? By doing this you are utilizing the talent you currently have in your company at no extra cost to you. You are also going to create a relationship among your employees to where they know they can go to someone for advice. Essentially you can create a 12 month training program by utilizing your current employee’s talents. This is a great marketing tool for gaining new employees and to gain new communities if you are into fee management.
One of the things that I began to realize when new hires came on board they are as lost as a lamb’s in a field of sheep. So I created a Leasing Guide Book that was filled with all kinds of material and notes that I had collected over the time I was with my previous company. So that when a new person came on they were given by me a Leasing Guide Book on the how to of the company and were able to reference it when needed. Also this would help out the current onsite staff to have someone say the person who is really great at leasing to come over and train the new hire in the ways of the company. If you have someone who can do this then seriously have one created for each office. I know many companies have Directors of Training but they are spread out so thin that they just can’t get to every one. So why not set up a team of two or one depending on the size of your region to go in and train the new hires? This will keep your current and new hire staff from becoming frustrated at the thought of training someone new.
By having a great training program in place you are going to build the tools for success. There is no reason why every person should not have the proper training before coming onsite and while onsite unless we are just too lazy to provide this. They key to a great staff is giving them the tools to succeed and that starts with training.
I would love to hear any other ideas on how to become better at training or other inexpensive ways to train.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Community Manager
Finlay Management.Inc.
* oringally posted on MFI on December 27,2010
Leasing Winter Blues...How To Get The Smoldering Passion Back!
Passion, Do You Have It?
How Do We Put Passion Back Into Our Office Staff ? As the slow season begins we tend to lack passion for leasing and the property. It's common for those of us into the industry to get the winter blues. But the question is how do we break away from the winter blues and put the passion back into the entire staff from Property Manager to Maintenance and into the property residents. There are several ways to do this and I want to share a few with you and hear your thoughts. I think we can learn allot from each other on this subject.
Lets get excited about marketing now more than ever. What you do now for marketing is going to set the tone for the spring and summer. You want to get the word out there now before others do, you want to stay in the back of peoples mined. You want your prospects remembering you every time they think about moving this spring or summer. The only way to do this is to market your community everywhere. Spice up your marketing locations by venturing to areas you have never been before. Also get the entire team involved make it a contest on who can come up with the best marketing location, idea, or new business contacts. I was recently just told not to spend money on marketing right now because you would not get any traffic, that right now it would be a waste of money. I beg to differ; now is the time I want to market so that I’m the busiest property this spring and summer in my region.
Time to Get excited about leasing again. Yes you actually can get leases in December. You know the ones who wait till the end of the school term to move. They need places to live and are going to be looking. Set a weekly or monthly goal of how many applications you are going to get. Create a Leasing Bam Board that every time you get a lease you get to grab the number lease you are on and hit the board yelling BAM. It is a blast to be able to hit the wall and see efforts of your work. So if you have a goal of 20 applications then your numbers are going to be 1-20 and they can be in funky shapes. The goal is to get all 20 applications by your deadline. This motivates everyone in the staff. Put the Leasing Bam Board where it is visible for everyone to see. You can also do a Deal or No Deal game. This is a fun one that can again involve everyone. Turn your wall into the brief Cases, have the brief cases number to the amount of lease you want to reach. So every time they get a lease they can pick a brief case and you can make them an offer from FREE Lunch to A Gift Card or whatever, remember you’re the banker. Of course the person who gets the last application will have to make a deal at that time. It’s a blast to play and has been a big success on properties that I was at.
Get excited about resident activities again. I know we all loved the summer for the pool party’s but who’s to say we can’t love the winter. There is so much we can do in the winter. With Christmas coming we can do so many things to help our residents out and give them some fun. For instance take Toni Blake’s Summer Olympics and make it a Winter Olympics. Christmas is around the corner have a kids night at your community so the parents can go shopping together with out having to pay for a sitter. Have a gift wrapping night for the parents only. They can come in drink some wine eat finger foods while you the staff wrap the presents for them. If you are lucky and have snow you can have a snowmen building contest with the residents on a saturday and serve hot chocolate afterwards with cookies. Go christmas caroling in a residental neighborhood or around your own community. Oooh you can have a ladies night with a makeup person, some beauty techs that need service hours to do pedicures and manicures for free. Serve a nice dinner for the residents. Make it fun to live at your property year round not just the summer. Organize a community service project from stocking stuffers to the homeless shelter or going to the soup kitchen & serve food as a community.
These are just some of my ideas on how to put Passion back into the office and the community. I know there are tons more ideas out there and would love to hear them. I hope everyone has a great winter leasing season and they enjoy it.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management,LLC
* Please note that this was orginally written for Toni Blakes Facebook Page Apartment Leasing Ideas - Fabulous Fundamentals where I'am one of her guest co-host. I wanted to share this with everyone on MFI because I know you guys are not all fans of her page, which I'm not sure why you are not :). I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!*
* Last Posted on Multifamily Insiders on December 7,2010*
How Do We Put Passion Back Into Our Office Staff ? As the slow season begins we tend to lack passion for leasing and the property. It's common for those of us into the industry to get the winter blues. But the question is how do we break away from the winter blues and put the passion back into the entire staff from Property Manager to Maintenance and into the property residents. There are several ways to do this and I want to share a few with you and hear your thoughts. I think we can learn allot from each other on this subject.
Lets get excited about marketing now more than ever. What you do now for marketing is going to set the tone for the spring and summer. You want to get the word out there now before others do, you want to stay in the back of peoples mined. You want your prospects remembering you every time they think about moving this spring or summer. The only way to do this is to market your community everywhere. Spice up your marketing locations by venturing to areas you have never been before. Also get the entire team involved make it a contest on who can come up with the best marketing location, idea, or new business contacts. I was recently just told not to spend money on marketing right now because you would not get any traffic, that right now it would be a waste of money. I beg to differ; now is the time I want to market so that I’m the busiest property this spring and summer in my region.
Time to Get excited about leasing again. Yes you actually can get leases in December. You know the ones who wait till the end of the school term to move. They need places to live and are going to be looking. Set a weekly or monthly goal of how many applications you are going to get. Create a Leasing Bam Board that every time you get a lease you get to grab the number lease you are on and hit the board yelling BAM. It is a blast to be able to hit the wall and see efforts of your work. So if you have a goal of 20 applications then your numbers are going to be 1-20 and they can be in funky shapes. The goal is to get all 20 applications by your deadline. This motivates everyone in the staff. Put the Leasing Bam Board where it is visible for everyone to see. You can also do a Deal or No Deal game. This is a fun one that can again involve everyone. Turn your wall into the brief Cases, have the brief cases number to the amount of lease you want to reach. So every time they get a lease they can pick a brief case and you can make them an offer from FREE Lunch to A Gift Card or whatever, remember you’re the banker. Of course the person who gets the last application will have to make a deal at that time. It’s a blast to play and has been a big success on properties that I was at.
Get excited about resident activities again. I know we all loved the summer for the pool party’s but who’s to say we can’t love the winter. There is so much we can do in the winter. With Christmas coming we can do so many things to help our residents out and give them some fun. For instance take Toni Blake’s Summer Olympics and make it a Winter Olympics. Christmas is around the corner have a kids night at your community so the parents can go shopping together with out having to pay for a sitter. Have a gift wrapping night for the parents only. They can come in drink some wine eat finger foods while you the staff wrap the presents for them. If you are lucky and have snow you can have a snowmen building contest with the residents on a saturday and serve hot chocolate afterwards with cookies. Go christmas caroling in a residental neighborhood or around your own community. Oooh you can have a ladies night with a makeup person, some beauty techs that need service hours to do pedicures and manicures for free. Serve a nice dinner for the residents. Make it fun to live at your property year round not just the summer. Organize a community service project from stocking stuffers to the homeless shelter or going to the soup kitchen & serve food as a community.
These are just some of my ideas on how to put Passion back into the office and the community. I know there are tons more ideas out there and would love to hear them. I hope everyone has a great winter leasing season and they enjoy it.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management,LLC
This is an example of a Leasing Bam Board. The original idea came from Tammy Burgett.
* Please note that this was orginally written for Toni Blakes Facebook Page Apartment Leasing Ideas - Fabulous Fundamentals where I'am one of her guest co-host. I wanted to share this with everyone on MFI because I know you guys are not all fans of her page, which I'm not sure why you are not :). I hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!*
* Last Posted on Multifamily Insiders on December 7,2010*
8 Marketing Ideas For The Slow Season
Congratulations everyone for making it threw the busy leasing season into the slow season. But don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet because now is the time to start marketing for the next busy season. I’m very sorry to bring you this sad news that you will not be able to take a big breath & relax or be able to catch up on some things we neglected. Now is the time where we should be marketing more than ever our property so that come the pre-busy (Mid Feb-May) and the really busy season (June-October) we are jamming with prospects and not twiddling our fingers wondering what the heck happened. To help us all out with this I have some great marketing ideas that I have personally used as a Leasing Agent on Affordable Communities. Grab your running shoes & put them on because it’s time to run with these ideas!
Candy Canes Anyone?
1) The month of December is a magical month that brings joy to everyone. We can be Santa Helpers with providing Day Cares with Candy Canes for when Santa comes for a visit. The past two years I have gone to the Dollar Store or Wal-Mart picked up a bunch of Candy Canes, I really mean I bought out the whole shelf; yes I got lots of really funny looks. Each candy cane had a ribbon with a cute little business card attach advertising what our current special was. The candy canes were then delivered to the Day Cares to be given out when Santa Clause came. Another great place to market using candy canes is your local mall. Every year Santa visits the malls and photography studios. This is a great place to get your community notice by large masses of potential residents by donating candy canes. Every town will have a Christmas Tree Lighting Program and yup you guessed it Santa will be there and towns will need someone to donate a goody for the kids to have after visiting with Santa. With the technology we have today simply incorporate a QR code on the business card this will get the kids asking the parents what the funny square is and who can resist a QR Code?!?! Look for places that Santa will be at and volunteer to donate candy canes with your community information attached.
Santa Makes A Great Human Directional & Paint Ball Target: Using
2) We are always looking for a way to draw attention from the drive by traffic to our communities and what better way than to have Santa Clause as a Human Directional! I remember about two Christmases’ ago at a property I was working at we convinced our grounds keeper to put on the Santa Clause costume & hold our sign that said “We have Hot Chocolate & Great Rental Rates” out on a busy road by the mall. He did this for two hours every day and would even sing holiday songs and shout out “Merry Christmas” to those driving by. I will never forget the day when he was shot with a paintball gun while standing outside as Santa. That was one of the luckiest days our community had during that month, his being shot by the paint ball brought in prospects because they felt sorry for him and they moved in February!
Photographers Can Be Your New Best Friend:
3) Portrait Studios are really busy this year; see if you can contact your local Life touch studio to see if you can strike up a partnership with them. Tell the Portrait Manager that will you take their coupons and put them on all your residents’ doors. Remember to make sure they have your property name on them so the manager knows where they are coming from. Don’t be afraid to ask the Portrait Manager if you can stuff the flyers in the portrait packages or tape to the envelopes. In regards to the flyers try to use a flyer that speaks warmth as it will be cold & dreary for many when they pick up their packages. Also if you post an expiration date on the flyers make sure it is over a 60 day period as many wait a month to pick up pictures to avoid the crush of people. The last thing you want to do is eliminate a potential customer with an expired special.
ATM’s & Clubs Are a Great Place To Meet People:
4) New' Year's Eve is the busiest time for ATM’s, clubs, bars & liquor stores. These are all great places to reach large masses of potential residents. I know you are thinking seriously Jolene you really think we are going to give up going out to party just to market our community?!?!?! No I'm not, but here is what you can do to tap into the mass majority of people. If you are going to a club take some business cards and tape them to the back of the bathroom stall doors - this really does work. During the day take all your promotional flyers or business cards and tag the heck out of the ATM's close to busy areas like the clubs or shopping centers. People are going to need money New Year's Eve and New Year's Day; what better way to reach people than at the ATM. Please make sure you have permission from your management company to do this. I have been posting on ATM’s for two years and have seen great results especially on holiday weekends!
Bandit Signs Can Be Your New Best Friend:
5) Bandit Signs are a very inexpensive way to market your community. Your bandit signs should be put everywhere that is going to be busy during the Holiday's- you know those places where you sit in traffic for 30 minutes to turn into the mall. The key is to get people to see your name and remember you. Keep the signs simple and your phone number large. Stick them at major intersections of shopping centers and the Highway. Also look at the zip codes where you are getting approvals from on your Credit and Criminals, Core logic has this capability to show you. Target those zip codes & branch out of your general area.
Tax Season:
6) January is 1 month closer to Tax season....yea!!!! This is a great time to tap into your H&R Blocks, Jackson Hewitt etc. Set an appointment with the regional to see what marketing partnership you can strike up. The key is to make sure you have a special that is exclusively for their customers. Every year I do this I average about ten leases off of this idea and we only did this with H & R Block, they put us in ten different locations in Jacksonville and Orange Park. In-exchange we invited them to talk to our residents and put there flyer's in our newsletters.
Super bowl Weekend:
7) Super bowl Weekend= Pizza and Taco Beal! These are probably one of the greatest ways to reach a large number of people in one night alone! It is going to take some planning about 4 to 6 weeks to secure your of in these stores but it is worth it. Taco Beal that are franchise will put your marketing material in their bags for free. All you have to do is become a business partner of theirs. Taco Beal has the mega box deals that go fast for Super Bowl Parties & are great for using a sticky note flyer! Remember super bowl Weekend is the busiest weekend for these two restaurants. On average, Papa Johns on Sunday night will sell over 5,000 pizzas. Get in touch with the GM and see what you can work out as far as cross promotional for both companies. This is a perfect time to use these two ideas as you are about to enter your pre-busy leasing season and people will remember seeing your marketing material.
Hearts Are A Blooming For Your Apartments:
8) Valentine’s Day is coming and hearts will be blooming at the stores. Get a bunch of those small heart boxes tag a fun note saying" become our sweet heart at Smith Apartments with a $299 Move In! Call 904-767-6889 TODAY. “Hit all the local business with these fun really inexpensive items and give to the employees. This is a great way to incorporate Valentines in your marketing and this will remain in the prospect's head.
Remember this key point: we as human love to use our sight for everything. Our sight is what helps us decide on what to eat, drink, buy and guess where to LIVE! So if we want prospects to come to us then we need to make sure they can see us! The best thing you can do for your property & owners is to start marketing over the next few months aggressively. Remember you’re not just marketing apartments you are marketing a life style. Now I have shared some of my best secrets for direct outreach marketing during the slow season now it’s your turn to put those running shoes to the test & hit the pavement running- on your mark get set go!
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Community Manager & Owner of FLY Apartment Leasing Idea’s on Facebook!
*originally posted on Multifamily Insiders on December 1,2010*
Did You Know This About Most Carpet Cleaning Companies?
So I know this is not my normal positive leasing blog but I wanted to give a shout out to the Carpet Cleaning Industry and maybe educate some one else today. So here is my Did You Know blog.
Recently my significant other ( boyfriend, not legal husband but we call each other husband and wife, children’s father, free thinker, best friend) has become a Carpet Tech for a local Turn Key Company that specializes in Carpet Cleaning- they do a wonderful job seriously even before my honey pie went to work for them. Now if you had ask me four years ago when he was let go from his awesome IT Job would I ever see him cleaning carpets I would have laugh at you because the idea was absurd. But desperate times call for different ways of thinking and well now he is very happy about being a Carpet Tech- he even gave me a lecture on why I can't use Resolve to get my stains out of the carpet anymore... it was quite cute actually. Anyways getting off the subject matter and that is Did You Know That Most Carpet Cleaning Companies pay their techs on straight commission?
I for one did not know this nor did I even care at the time how they got paid just that my carpets in the units got clean at a low price. But boy has my thought process change sense my honey pie went to work as a Carpet Tech. He gets oh lets just say 25% of the sales on the units he cleans. So if he were to do a job that was a set rate of $250 (save unit) he is only getting paid $62 and could be in the unit for more than two hours but lets just say a max of two hours. I know your thinking hello "Jolene he just made $31 an hour that is more than the Property Regional makes so what are you complaining about?" I'm actually not complaining I just thought I would educate the group on some interesting things that I have found out.
Now lets say you have a save unit the guy can do it but you don't want to pay the $250 so you ask for it to go to $150 you just cut his pay in half. He is going to do it because they want your business but know that you just cheated your favorite carpet tech out of his pay because you did not budget properly for saved carpets- can I get an Amen...totally just kidding. So we all know that we just don’t have an extra $1500 around to replace carpet whenever we need to, so we have to rely on these carpet guys to save the carpet. My point is you don't want to work for less than what you are worth, so why would we expect these guys to do the same. So when you complain about the high carpet cleaning bill remember this you may be paying out $1500 but he just saved you 6 apartments that you would have otherwise paid $9,000 to replace the carpet. Also remember if you are cheap on the amount they give you for the carpet clean it will get around and the good guys, you know the ones who know what they are doing and take pride in their work will pass you to the weak one, you know the one who dose not know what he is doing or cares about his job. Then you no longer have a pretty saved unit but an ugly saved unit and you may just end up spending more money on it.
Now let’s address the whole Renewal Carpet Clean Price. We love deals, yes we do! Again never thought about this till my honey pie went to work as a Carpet Tech. So now we are at renewal time and we are giving an incentive to have a resident renew their lease with a free carpet clean and boy do I mean FREE. The carpet cleaning companies have reduced their price for renewals because you give them so much business. Its a give and take relationship but what about the carpet tech that is your favorite and you only want him what dose he get for the renewals...drum roll please...at $25.00 a renewal clean and 25% commission it comes out to $6.00 WOW that is less than minimum wage. So if you have oh say 15 renewal carpets that day your guys is now spending the day there (if not then he a horrible cleaner) and just made a total of $90. I know that I hate working for less than I'm worth so why do we expect others to. I also know we are not going to rush right to our carpet cleaning company and say "gee can you raise your renewal carpet clean price so your carpet guy is at least getting $7.25 a renewal clean" in a perfect world that would be awesome if it did happen. But let’s face it we have a budget that we have to abide by at the Property so if we can get something less than what the normal price is we are going to take advantage of it. So I know what your thinking come on Jolene what is the solution. Don't worry I have some suggestions but it’s up to you if you use them or not.
Suggestion 1: Don't Bargain with the guys to much on your saves. You know what a Save carpet is by now and know that if you make short cuts you’re just going to call them back out to redo it and pay more. If you don't know what a Save carpet is walk the unit with the tech and maintenance supervisor to learn. Pay the carpet tech what they are worth and they will do a great job for you.
Suggestion 2: On the renewals educate the residents to tip the tech. Yes tip him like $5-$20 for coming out to clean your carpet. If they know they are going to get tip they will do a fantastic job better than a normal renewal job. Seriously try to make up for the awesome deal by educating your resident. I did this and it is working.
Suggestion 3: Stick with your carpet company. If you have one that you like use only them not three or four at a time. The reason for this is you will get better deals and service by just using one Carpet Cleaning Company. You may think they don't know you’re using more than one Carpet Company but they do. So if you want to continue your good prices and clean then stick to the one carpet cleaning company.
Suggestion 4: Talk to who ever makes your budgets but giving you more play room in the Saved carpet area. Look at previous years and see where your heaviest saved units were, they tend to stay in a trend. By budgeting for this you are not stressing out over a saved unit and the fact that your favorite carpet tech just made less than he is worth.
Suggestion 5: Emergency Water Extractions...they are considering it an Emergency ( hello you called it in for an Emergency) so therefore they are going to cost more. When you call out for an Emergency you are taking that Carpet Tech from a current job that they now have to make excuses for and possibly lose money on. Expect to pay for that emergency no matter what. If you’re resident has renters insurance then submit the bill to the insurance company to get your money back. Also you can submit the bill the resident if it is due to their negligence and take the proper procedures. You can also budget for the emergency cleans at budget time; you know that when it’s the raining season there are bound to be leaks or floods so make room for them. Keep in mined when you go to the ER you know that you are going to pay that high bill because it was an emergency so why would you cheat your company out of pay when they dropped everything for you.
I'm not sure if this helped anyone or not, but for me it did. I truly did not realize what I was doing to the guys who come out to get my carpets pretty so I can move in someone when I tried to get them to lower the bill. It's important that we keep the techs happy because hello they in the end save us allot of money. Also with out pretty clean carpet people tend not to move in or just make our lives at the office hell.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management, LLC
*Originally Posted on Multifamily Insiders on November 11,2010*
Recently my significant other ( boyfriend, not legal husband but we call each other husband and wife, children’s father, free thinker, best friend) has become a Carpet Tech for a local Turn Key Company that specializes in Carpet Cleaning- they do a wonderful job seriously even before my honey pie went to work for them. Now if you had ask me four years ago when he was let go from his awesome IT Job would I ever see him cleaning carpets I would have laugh at you because the idea was absurd. But desperate times call for different ways of thinking and well now he is very happy about being a Carpet Tech- he even gave me a lecture on why I can't use Resolve to get my stains out of the carpet anymore... it was quite cute actually. Anyways getting off the subject matter and that is Did You Know That Most Carpet Cleaning Companies pay their techs on straight commission?
I for one did not know this nor did I even care at the time how they got paid just that my carpets in the units got clean at a low price. But boy has my thought process change sense my honey pie went to work as a Carpet Tech. He gets oh lets just say 25% of the sales on the units he cleans. So if he were to do a job that was a set rate of $250 (save unit) he is only getting paid $62 and could be in the unit for more than two hours but lets just say a max of two hours. I know your thinking hello "Jolene he just made $31 an hour that is more than the Property Regional makes so what are you complaining about?" I'm actually not complaining I just thought I would educate the group on some interesting things that I have found out.
Now lets say you have a save unit the guy can do it but you don't want to pay the $250 so you ask for it to go to $150 you just cut his pay in half. He is going to do it because they want your business but know that you just cheated your favorite carpet tech out of his pay because you did not budget properly for saved carpets- can I get an Amen...totally just kidding. So we all know that we just don’t have an extra $1500 around to replace carpet whenever we need to, so we have to rely on these carpet guys to save the carpet. My point is you don't want to work for less than what you are worth, so why would we expect these guys to do the same. So when you complain about the high carpet cleaning bill remember this you may be paying out $1500 but he just saved you 6 apartments that you would have otherwise paid $9,000 to replace the carpet. Also remember if you are cheap on the amount they give you for the carpet clean it will get around and the good guys, you know the ones who know what they are doing and take pride in their work will pass you to the weak one, you know the one who dose not know what he is doing or cares about his job. Then you no longer have a pretty saved unit but an ugly saved unit and you may just end up spending more money on it.
Now let’s address the whole Renewal Carpet Clean Price. We love deals, yes we do! Again never thought about this till my honey pie went to work as a Carpet Tech. So now we are at renewal time and we are giving an incentive to have a resident renew their lease with a free carpet clean and boy do I mean FREE. The carpet cleaning companies have reduced their price for renewals because you give them so much business. Its a give and take relationship but what about the carpet tech that is your favorite and you only want him what dose he get for the renewals...drum roll please...at $25.00 a renewal clean and 25% commission it comes out to $6.00 WOW that is less than minimum wage. So if you have oh say 15 renewal carpets that day your guys is now spending the day there (if not then he a horrible cleaner) and just made a total of $90. I know that I hate working for less than I'm worth so why do we expect others to. I also know we are not going to rush right to our carpet cleaning company and say "gee can you raise your renewal carpet clean price so your carpet guy is at least getting $7.25 a renewal clean" in a perfect world that would be awesome if it did happen. But let’s face it we have a budget that we have to abide by at the Property so if we can get something less than what the normal price is we are going to take advantage of it. So I know what your thinking come on Jolene what is the solution. Don't worry I have some suggestions but it’s up to you if you use them or not.
Suggestion 1: Don't Bargain with the guys to much on your saves. You know what a Save carpet is by now and know that if you make short cuts you’re just going to call them back out to redo it and pay more. If you don't know what a Save carpet is walk the unit with the tech and maintenance supervisor to learn. Pay the carpet tech what they are worth and they will do a great job for you.
Suggestion 2: On the renewals educate the residents to tip the tech. Yes tip him like $5-$20 for coming out to clean your carpet. If they know they are going to get tip they will do a fantastic job better than a normal renewal job. Seriously try to make up for the awesome deal by educating your resident. I did this and it is working.
Suggestion 3: Stick with your carpet company. If you have one that you like use only them not three or four at a time. The reason for this is you will get better deals and service by just using one Carpet Cleaning Company. You may think they don't know you’re using more than one Carpet Company but they do. So if you want to continue your good prices and clean then stick to the one carpet cleaning company.
Suggestion 4: Talk to who ever makes your budgets but giving you more play room in the Saved carpet area. Look at previous years and see where your heaviest saved units were, they tend to stay in a trend. By budgeting for this you are not stressing out over a saved unit and the fact that your favorite carpet tech just made less than he is worth.
Suggestion 5: Emergency Water Extractions...they are considering it an Emergency ( hello you called it in for an Emergency) so therefore they are going to cost more. When you call out for an Emergency you are taking that Carpet Tech from a current job that they now have to make excuses for and possibly lose money on. Expect to pay for that emergency no matter what. If you’re resident has renters insurance then submit the bill to the insurance company to get your money back. Also you can submit the bill the resident if it is due to their negligence and take the proper procedures. You can also budget for the emergency cleans at budget time; you know that when it’s the raining season there are bound to be leaks or floods so make room for them. Keep in mined when you go to the ER you know that you are going to pay that high bill because it was an emergency so why would you cheat your company out of pay when they dropped everything for you.
I'm not sure if this helped anyone or not, but for me it did. I truly did not realize what I was doing to the guys who come out to get my carpets pretty so I can move in someone when I tried to get them to lower the bill. It's important that we keep the techs happy because hello they in the end save us allot of money. Also with out pretty clean carpet people tend not to move in or just make our lives at the office hell.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management, LLC
*Originally Posted on Multifamily Insiders on November 11,2010*
Tips On How To Show Your Community To Get That Lease!
You have already created the excitement for the prospect to see the apartment home. The key is to keep the prospect excited about leasing from you while you take them on the tour of your community. Below you will fined some key items that I have found useful in any situation and property. But first I want everyone to remember that every person who walks into your office has a dollar sign over their head whether it is a current, previous resident or new guest they equal money. Treat them the way you want to be treated and always keep making the sale to them.
How to start your tour:
Take the prospect to the apartment home first this is what they came in to see. Be sure to talk to the prospect about what they are looking for in a community. Ask the questions why, what, and when while talking to them. Write down their answer on the Guest Card or in a notebook that you have taken with you. Don’t rely on your memory rely on your notes. Use your notes to help you sell the community.
Inside the apartment home:
When you open the door, these words should be popping out of your mouth: “ Welcome to your new home at ________________ “. Start introducing the apartment to the prospect by showing the key points that they are looking for in the apartment home (you should refer to your notes). Ask the guest about the furniture they have and with the guest placing the furniture in the apartment home. This will help them visualize the apartment as their own. Try to get the prospect to commit right then and there to place the application; you should always have the applications in the apartment home to fill out.
Outside the Apartment Home:
Continue the excitement with showing your amenities that you have to offer. Talk to the guest about the different programs you offer for them, after all, this will be their home - they should know. Plus this will give you an edge to close with if they say, "wow I really like that you offer a home ownership program."
Use the five sense rule:
Touch - Pool “Feel how wonderful the pool is - you are going to love swimming in it this summer.”
Smell - Nature “Smell how wonderful it is outside, you will love going for walks around our community. You can also use smell by putting an apple pie in the model oven and setting the temp at low. This will set the smell of the apartment all day, there just something about the smell of apple pie meaning home.
Hear - “Listen to how peaceful it is here at ____________.” “Don’t you just love the sound of the birds?”
Sight - Play/Park “See our beautiful park or nature area you are going to get to enjoy everyday as a resident here at _____________”
Taste - Put some fruit or cookies on a table at the end of your tour, invite them to taste the food. They will remember the really good food.
By incorporating the 5 Senses they are going to remember you and your property. You have also heightened the experience by simply incorporating the 5 senses that are sending signals to their brain.
Back to the Office:
Once you have gone back to the office if you have any pictures framed or album of resident activities is sure to show them off. After all this is your community and you should be proud to show it off. This is a great way to lead into the final close. “So Mrs. Barbie, you see that we have all these great resident activities and community, wouldn’t it be great if you became part of our community today?” If the prospect says well I just want to look some more before I commit. Ask where else they are going to be looking at today.
Make sure you are familiar with the other communities in your area. You should have a competition book that has their floor plan, prices, amenities and pictures. Pull this book out and show the prospect start comparing your property to theirs by doing this you are reminding them all the good things you have to offer and they never left your community. The key is to keep the prospect in your office to place the application and lease from you not your competition. After showing them the competition book and pointing out all the great things they like about your community ask them to place the application with you.
Remember you are a sales person and your job is to sale the apartments. Every person you let out your door without placing an application right then and there, you have just lost money out of your pocket and your owners pocket. #1 Rule Don’t let them walk out the door without placing an application! If you maintain the thought that everyone who comes in to view will lease the same day it will happen. Stay excited and positive the entire time you are with the prospect, you will start to see a difference.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management,LLC
*Originally Posted On Multifamily Insiders on October 13,2010*
How to start your tour:
Take the prospect to the apartment home first this is what they came in to see. Be sure to talk to the prospect about what they are looking for in a community. Ask the questions why, what, and when while talking to them. Write down their answer on the Guest Card or in a notebook that you have taken with you. Don’t rely on your memory rely on your notes. Use your notes to help you sell the community.
Inside the apartment home:
When you open the door, these words should be popping out of your mouth: “ Welcome to your new home at ________________ “. Start introducing the apartment to the prospect by showing the key points that they are looking for in the apartment home (you should refer to your notes). Ask the guest about the furniture they have and with the guest placing the furniture in the apartment home. This will help them visualize the apartment as their own. Try to get the prospect to commit right then and there to place the application; you should always have the applications in the apartment home to fill out.
Outside the Apartment Home:
Continue the excitement with showing your amenities that you have to offer. Talk to the guest about the different programs you offer for them, after all, this will be their home - they should know. Plus this will give you an edge to close with if they say, "wow I really like that you offer a home ownership program."
Use the five sense rule:
Touch - Pool “Feel how wonderful the pool is - you are going to love swimming in it this summer.”
Smell - Nature “Smell how wonderful it is outside, you will love going for walks around our community. You can also use smell by putting an apple pie in the model oven and setting the temp at low. This will set the smell of the apartment all day, there just something about the smell of apple pie meaning home.
Hear - “Listen to how peaceful it is here at ____________.” “Don’t you just love the sound of the birds?”
Sight - Play/Park “See our beautiful park or nature area you are going to get to enjoy everyday as a resident here at _____________”
Taste - Put some fruit or cookies on a table at the end of your tour, invite them to taste the food. They will remember the really good food.
By incorporating the 5 Senses they are going to remember you and your property. You have also heightened the experience by simply incorporating the 5 senses that are sending signals to their brain.
Back to the Office:
Once you have gone back to the office if you have any pictures framed or album of resident activities is sure to show them off. After all this is your community and you should be proud to show it off. This is a great way to lead into the final close. “So Mrs. Barbie, you see that we have all these great resident activities and community, wouldn’t it be great if you became part of our community today?” If the prospect says well I just want to look some more before I commit. Ask where else they are going to be looking at today.
Make sure you are familiar with the other communities in your area. You should have a competition book that has their floor plan, prices, amenities and pictures. Pull this book out and show the prospect start comparing your property to theirs by doing this you are reminding them all the good things you have to offer and they never left your community. The key is to keep the prospect in your office to place the application and lease from you not your competition. After showing them the competition book and pointing out all the great things they like about your community ask them to place the application with you.
Remember you are a sales person and your job is to sale the apartments. Every person you let out your door without placing an application right then and there, you have just lost money out of your pocket and your owners pocket. #1 Rule Don’t let them walk out the door without placing an application! If you maintain the thought that everyone who comes in to view will lease the same day it will happen. Stay excited and positive the entire time you are with the prospect, you will start to see a difference.
Jolene Sopalski
Assistant Manager
Finlay Management,LLC
*Originally Posted On Multifamily Insiders on October 13,2010*
STOP ask yourself do you do your follow up calls or thank you cards?!?!?!?
STOP ask yourself do you do your follow up calls or thank you cards?!?!?!?If you answered no to that question then I want you to hold up your right hand and pledge the following “ I will start following up with my prospects no prospect will go un-followed up”. Good now if you are one of the ones that said yes I do my follow up calls and thank you cards I want to give you a big hug so just picture me giving you a hug.
Why are follow ups with prospects so important to you and your owners? They are important to us because our prospects are the key to our success in this industry with out them leasing our apartments there would be no need for us. So why would you let them walk out of your office and never make contact again with money? All to often we use the excuse there's just no time to follow up. I really don’t like hearing there is no time to follow up on a potential lease because that is our job. I want to share with you some tips on following up on prospects that will hopefully increase your leases, make your owners happy and make it easier for you to follow up. Always keep in mined that you are not the only property that your prospect is looking at so you want to stay in the game by following up with them. You may not get the lease for many reasons but they will remember and either come back after the lease they sign at the other place or refer someone to you.
Thank You Cards– Thank You Cards should be sent out with in 24 hours of showing the property. These can be lots of fun to send out and adds a personal touch to your relationship with your prospect. I love getting greeting cards in the mail especially on my bad days so think of it this way you just put a smile on someones face. The key to the greeting card is to make sure you stand out and they remember you. Include a personal message about your tour what they liked about your community and a picture. Give them a special incentive to come back. You can hand make these cards, go to the dollar tree, vista print or maybe your company has some already. Post cards also work great for thank you cards.
Phone Calls/Text– Phone Calls/Text should be done with in the first 24 hours, then with in 72 hours and then five days from the initial visit or till they say no I don't want to rent from you (sadly this dose happen). With everyone having texting capabilities it is sometimes preferred way of communicating. I know that when I get home I don't like to answer the phone I prefer texts so I like to do both a phone call within two hours of leaving my property if I’m able to and text by the first business day. When you are making these follow up calls make sure you include the hot points they loved about your community and even try to give them an incentive to comeback. If you have a hard time remembering when to phone or text you can set it up in Microsoft Outlook for a reminder call and your company software program.
Email– Is also a great way to follow up with a prospect. There are all kinds of free e-cards that you can send to your prospect. This is also good to invite the prospect to any future resident activities that you will have on your property. What better way to follow up then invite them to a resident party?!?! Email is also the most cost effective for your owners but the email follow up may get lost in the spam filter so I advise not to rely heavily on this but to pair this with any of the follow up procedures.
Email– Is also a great way to follow up with a prospect. There are all kinds of free e-cards that you can send to your prospect. This is also good to invite the prospect to any future resident activities that you will have on your property. What better way to follow up then invite them to a resident party?!?! Email is also the most cost effective for your owners but the email follow up may get lost in the spam filter so I advise not to rely heavily on this but to pair this with any of the follow up procedures.
Now I like to include a few other tips that I do with my follow ups that have work for me. I like to get the prospect birthday from their drivers license and I put on my desk calendar and my outlook calendar their birthday. Depending if I have their mailing address or email I will send them a birthday card from me to them. Every one loves birthday cards and this will still keep you in the forefront even if they did not lease with you the first time. I also like to do a follow call, greeting card or email at the six month point of visiting (again calendar or outlook email) just to see how they are doing and to let them know we still have a home for them when they are ready. Also most of us are on sixty day notices so I will at the 90days before its been a year of coming to our property try to contact the prospect again. So as you can see I have done a year of follow up and the results are phenomenal.
Making sure that you and your staff are following up on your prospect is so important that it should be mandatory and be held accountable for not doing it. Our prospects equal money and by following up we are going after the money. I hate letting money leave my wallet for silly things so why would we do that to our community or owners. FOLLOW UP with your prospects its that important.
Feel free to follow up with me on your thoughts and ideas for follow ups.
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
*Originally posted on Multi Family Insiders on September 22,2010*
What Not To Wear!
What Not To Wear!
What exactly is Business Casual Attire or Professional Attire?
These two subjects are commonly confusing especially today more than ever. But what exactly do they mean? Business Casual Attire is a common practice in business to appear casual but presentable (slacks, dresses, skirts, and blouses). Professional Attires is to enable our employees to project the professional image that is in keeping with the needs of our clients and customers to trust us (Business Suits). We see fashion ads that say be hip and in style for work but is that really right for what we do in the Multi Family Business, in my opinion yes. It is okay to be fashionable but with taste and class in all areas of our appearance. We all know that what you might wear to the club the night before is not business casual or professional attire…right? So why would you wear it to work…trust me I have seen this over the years happen.
I want to share some basic guidelines that I have found to be useful and if you have someone on your team that may not be following the company policy on dress attire this may be a nice helpful way to get them on board! I have five very simple rules:
1.) If the valley is showing between the mountains when I bend down or you’re looking straight at me then I need to have a Cami underneath.
2) If I have a plumber’s crack in my pants when I sit down then I need to one; go up a size or two; get a belt.
3) Always have a crease in your trousers (If you don’t know how to then go find someone to show you).
4) Hair is to be tasteful.. I know we all love Rihanna’s Style or Kristen Storm (Twig light girl?) but we need to remember that we are professionals and our hair styles need to be neat and clean. Hair Color should be tasteful think of where you work before you get your hair done some weird wacky color. Don't be afraid to ask for help in this area sometimes someone else’s eye for color maybe just what you need. Oh please no wet hair to work you look like a drown puppy dog …seriously.
5) Makeup is never to be over done. If the color looks like you belong at a club (example: black, blue, purple, or lime green eyeliner or shadow) don’t wear to work its distracting to the selling of the community. Ask a makeup expert at the local malls tell them what you need it for they will help you with a nice style. Your makeup should complement your features not cover them up. Ever heard of the saying less is best...
Those are just some helpful tips of mine that I keep in mined. I also feel that every man or woman should have at least two business suits in the closet. I know that when times are tight we don’t have the money that is why Good Will, JcPenny’s, Ross Dress For Less, Marshall’s are great places to fined good quality clothes at a great price.
Remember when our customers walk into the Leasing Office we are the first ones they see. Appearance is everything, how we dress and present our selves is how they view the property. Trust me on this one I have seen it happen. If you don’t believe me try an experiment for a week and see what happens. We tend to buy from those who look professional and put together all the time. Its just human nature!
I have included some links for articles on helpful guidelines and some pictures. Hopefully this helps! I really feel like we need to stand out now more than ever with the summer season coming to a close.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_casual
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
www.wrhrealty.comJolene.Sopalski@gmail.com
*originally posted on Multifamily Insiders Jul 2010*
21 Resident Renewal Ideas
Creative Ways To Retain Residents At Renewal Time
So often we focus on leasing and being creative with our marketing that we forget about Resident Retention. We think oh we don’t have to market our current residents they already live here at our community. That is the wrong thought process, marketing does not stop the moment they sign a lease, it’s a continuous thing. So let’s focus on some creative ways to market renewals and to get the current resident to stay a current resident. Especially now in these times when we are all competing for each other residents. I was reading a past issue of Rent and Retention magazine March/April 2006 and discover a fun list of 21 methods to deliver lease renewals. I tweaked some and added a little here and there! I really hope you enjoy this and have fun! There will be lots of more fun and creative ways to market current residents to stay coming your way soon!
•Remember the first initial letter is to have all the information they need to renew their lease. You can still deliver it in a fun and creative way!
1) Wanted Poster- This is great if you have a picture of your resident. Get some cream color paper to make it look aged. Scan the picture and write “WANTED-YOU to renew your lease!”
2) “Seems Like Only Yesterday”- Do the same thing with the wanted poster but write “It Seems Like Only Yesterday that you moved in. We’ve had a great year. Please stay for another!” This would also be cute in a card. 3)“We can’t bear for you to leave!”- This would be cute with stuff teddy bears (you can fined them at the dollar store) or go to www.plushinarush.com. Make a cute card tie it around the bear neck and hand deliver to the resident that has put in notice. You can even have a special just for them.
3) Custom Fortune Cookie Co.- Make cookies with your personal fortunes inside. Example: There are large closets in your future! Renew Today! I have a great recipe for this contact me at jolene.sopalski@gmail.com for it.
4) Make Posters and Hang them on the resident’s door- Make the posters have a homemade feel so it shows that you really cared about them to take the time to make a poster for them. Example: We really love you & all that you do for our community! Make it a fun poster; you could even tie some balloons to it. Check out your local scrapbook stores for clearance items. You ca also have everyone on the maintenance team sign the poster and write something nice about the resident.
5) Giant Checks- I know you’re thinking what. Create a Blank Check and write the resident name on it. You can put your renewal special, the cost of a carpet clean, or their rental rate. In the memo section put renew today.
6) Laminate Place Mat- Put a team photo that says “Renew your lease…Have dinner on us.” It cost less than three dollars and everything can be found at a craft store. Include a gift certificate to a restraint or a night you make dinner for the renewals. Set candled in the clubhouse, put dinner cloths on the tables have a name card with resident name, light music and you serve dinner to everyone.
7) Recordable Cards- Are a great way to get someone to renew…example have an Elvis card you could record “Don’t be a hound dog! Renew your lease today!”
8) Inflatable Monkeys, Whales, Smiley Faces, Lions, Guitars- These can be found all over check the dollar stores or party stores. Attach a sticker or card that says “Don’t monkey around! We want you to stay!” or ‘It would be music to our ears if you tell us you’ll stay for another year!”
9) Balloons( non-Mylar)-This is a great way to deliver you letters, attach some balloons to the letter if the residents not home then tie to the door knob or knocker.
10) Movie Posters- Get a picture of a movie star, example Brad Pitt attaché the following saying or whatever to match the movie star picture. “It would be the Pitts if you moved. Please renew your lease!” This makes the renewal letter fun and catches attention.
11) “Whoopee!”-It’s time to renew your lease. Attach this note to a whoopee cushion from a party or dollar store.This will make a good laugh for the resident.
12) “Any way you slice it…we want you to stay!”- Attach to a pizza box or a gift certificate from a pizza place or an invite to a pizza renewal party.
13) 100 Calorie Pack- “Don’t Dessert Us!” attach this to a 100 calorie snack pack.
14) Renewal “flex days 7-3/10-7 techs too!”- Come in from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. to renew your lease. We’re open for you!
15) News Paper-“Great News! It’s time to renew!” put this in the headline of a newspaper…like the daily paper or make your own from a print shop program. I thought it would be great to get the Sunday paper with the coupons and do this with!
16) Mylar Balloons- Get some cute Mylar balloons from the dollar store and attach the renewal letter. Give this to the resident either in person or tie to the door.
17) Drive Thru Rent Payment (Two Birds with one stone) - I love this one a lot. Make sure you have all your renewal notices ready to go in the morning. Stand at the entrance to your community and collect rents. Be sure to hand out some breakfast items with a Thank you for paying rent. Have your renewal letter attach to the breakfast items and give to the resident as they leave. Let them know you hope they stay. Be sure to advertise this a week before rent is due.
18) Sunglasses or Field Glasses- “we’re looking for you to renew” attach to the letter.
19) Turn a Candy Bar into a renewal notice- example: 100 grand bar, “ You are worth more than a 100 grand” renew today! You can even make a customer renewal letter wrapper by going to http://desktoppub.about.com/od/candywrappers/l/bl_cwbaby.htm there are templates here for you to use. Side note this works and is a lot of fun!
20) Renewal Party- A theme party; example a murder mystery dinner is a lot of fun and you can have the papers ready for them to sign. They get dinner, entertainment and you get a renewal.
21) Hang Around- Saw this on multifamily pro and loved the idea! Get some colorful hangers ( Dry cleaners-Great way to start a business partnership, dollar store, or walmart) attach a note that says "We Love For You To Hang Around another year!"
Now the point is to make personal contact with the resident (just like when we go out marketing). So deliver the items personally and if the resident is not home leave a note saying they have a package at the office. Once they come in give them the renewal notice and see if you can get them to renew.. Once the resident renews don’t forget to send them a Thank You Card. It would even be nice at the six month period to send another Thank You Card ( maybe with a lotto ticket or a free appetizer from a local restaurant) for being a great resident!
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
www.wrhrealty.com
Jolene.Sopalski@gmail
* If you would like the nice pretty version with clip art email me at jolene.sopalski@gmail.com* Stay Tune For Much More fun stuff!
* Originaly posted on Multi Family Insiders on Jul 28,2010*
Jolene Sopalski: Leasing & Marketing Ideas For Multifamily Housing Industry: How Important Are Resident Activities to you and y...
Jolene Sopalski: Leasing & Marketing Ideas For Multifamily Housing Industry: How Important Are Resident Activities to you and y...: "Resident Activities are very important selling tool for us! I remember four years ago when I was on the apartment hunt looking for an apartm..."
How Important Are Resident Activities to you and your community?
Resident Activities are very important selling tool for us! I remember four years ago when I was on the apartment hunt looking for an apartment community that was going to be home for my self and three children I wanted something that I could find living in a neighborhood but with in an apartment community. I must have look at ten different community's and left each one disappointed. Several times I ask what do you do for the residents and got oh well we have these great amenities. I wanted to feel connected to my community and get to know my neighbors. I know its a crazy thought but I really wanted that.
See I was a single mom going out on my own for the first time sense having kids and previously had only lived in student housing(which trust me there are lots of activities going on it was allot of fun) so I knew that I would need the connection to others and hopefully find a friend or as Anne of Green Gables states, a Kindred Spirit. I finally found what I was looking for in the community that I currently live and work for. I was blown away by the fact there were kids outside playing and the amount of resident activities they had. I knew right then and there that was where I wanted to be. It also helped that it was close to my employer at the time. As you can see having regular resident activities can make a difference to a prospect. For myself it was very important in the decision making part of where my family and I would live.
Every time I show our community or any community that I'm on for our company I start off showing our resident clubhouse or activity board. I give the prospect a calendar of the activities that we have going on and invite them to come out to the next one so they can see how much fun we have. I guarantee if you do this then your closing ratio will increase. Having regular resident activities will also help with resident retention. People more than ever want to feel connected to where they live. They want to know that this is a great place to be. So why not start setting yourself apart now from everyone else by offering more resident activities that appeal to your residents. Take a survey ask what they would be interested in. Make them part of the process like they have a say in what you are planning. Start a resident activities committee...oh I really like that idea...just pop into my head. This will also take some of the stress off of you in the office. Here are just a few idea's for some resident activities to try out:
Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer Festival ( Have local vendors or businesses help sponsor email me if you want a layout for this)
Game Night: Bingo.Bonco,Cribbage,Uno, Phase 10
Hamburger Cook Off: Make this an annual event play it up
Chili Cook Off: Make this an annual event play it up
Breakfast On The Go: Simple Breakfast Items maybe check with your local breakfast place see if you can get a special on items. Also Starbucks will do taste test at your community for Free.
Ladies Night: Make this a feel great about your self event talk to some makeup distributors set up different tables of different local business let them have samples to give. Have a nice dinner
Mystery Dinner Theater: I know they use to sale these years ago but check out a themed mystery dinner.
Movie Night at The Pool
Tutoring For Kids: Contact the High School or Colleges Offer Free Tutoring
Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts: Set up a chapter at your property
These are just somethings that you can do. I know there are tons of things we can do. I don't know how else to stress that having resident activities are very important to our communities. It is hard work but the payoff is worth it. You will have more resident retention and higher closing ratio. I love to hear what you have to say or other ideas you have!
This is a picture of an event that we had where one of our residents gave a lesson on snakes! The kids loved it!
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
* Originally Posted On Multifamily Insiders Jul 2010*
See I was a single mom going out on my own for the first time sense having kids and previously had only lived in student housing(which trust me there are lots of activities going on it was allot of fun) so I knew that I would need the connection to others and hopefully find a friend or as Anne of Green Gables states, a Kindred Spirit. I finally found what I was looking for in the community that I currently live and work for. I was blown away by the fact there were kids outside playing and the amount of resident activities they had. I knew right then and there that was where I wanted to be. It also helped that it was close to my employer at the time. As you can see having regular resident activities can make a difference to a prospect. For myself it was very important in the decision making part of where my family and I would live.
Every time I show our community or any community that I'm on for our company I start off showing our resident clubhouse or activity board. I give the prospect a calendar of the activities that we have going on and invite them to come out to the next one so they can see how much fun we have. I guarantee if you do this then your closing ratio will increase. Having regular resident activities will also help with resident retention. People more than ever want to feel connected to where they live. They want to know that this is a great place to be. So why not start setting yourself apart now from everyone else by offering more resident activities that appeal to your residents. Take a survey ask what they would be interested in. Make them part of the process like they have a say in what you are planning. Start a resident activities committee...oh I really like that idea...just pop into my head. This will also take some of the stress off of you in the office. Here are just a few idea's for some resident activities to try out:
Fall/Winter/Spring/Summer Festival ( Have local vendors or businesses help sponsor email me if you want a layout for this)
Game Night: Bingo.Bonco,Cribbage,Uno, Phase 10
Hamburger Cook Off: Make this an annual event play it up
Chili Cook Off: Make this an annual event play it up
Breakfast On The Go: Simple Breakfast Items maybe check with your local breakfast place see if you can get a special on items. Also Starbucks will do taste test at your community for Free.
Ladies Night: Make this a feel great about your self event talk to some makeup distributors set up different tables of different local business let them have samples to give. Have a nice dinner
Mystery Dinner Theater: I know they use to sale these years ago but check out a themed mystery dinner.
Movie Night at The Pool
Tutoring For Kids: Contact the High School or Colleges Offer Free Tutoring
Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts: Set up a chapter at your property
These are just somethings that you can do. I know there are tons of things we can do. I don't know how else to stress that having resident activities are very important to our communities. It is hard work but the payoff is worth it. You will have more resident retention and higher closing ratio. I love to hear what you have to say or other ideas you have!
This is a picture of an event that we had where one of our residents gave a lesson on snakes! The kids loved it!
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realty Services
* Originally Posted On Multifamily Insiders Jul 2010*
Sumer Marketing Ideas
A friend and I were talking about some fun summertime marketing ideas and she came up with several that I really like and wanted to share. Suntan Lotion, Beach Toys, Fans, and Water Bottles are great inexpensive ways to market your community. I know your thinking, huh? Think about it if you live close to the beach, lake, water park or even to a public community pool everyone goes there. What better way to reach a mass group of people than with these items.
Suntan Lotion- Check with your local dollar store and buy as many as you can afford to. If you happen to have a resident who works for a distributing company ask if they could donate suntan lotion. We have one property where a resident gave them a case for a pool party. Once you have your suntan lotion put a label ( address label) with your community info and special on the bottle. Everyone needs sun block and who does not want FREE. Hand these out at the Beach, Lake, Water Park, Public Community Pool or event in your community.
Beach Toys- Local Dollar Store, Walmart, Family Dollar etc put a label on these items with your company info and special. These are great to hand out at the beach, children's park that has a sandbox, lake or even community events.
Fans- You can fine the fans with a water bottle attach at the Dollar Stores, Walmart, Family Dollar for a very low price. Put a label with the community info and special give out at any of the above mention areas.
Water Bottles- This one I love the idea and can't wait to try it. I was at the beach with my family and there was a guy walking up and down selling cold ice water for $2.00 and thought hey I could do that but give it out for FREE to everyone. Just put a label or if you have money order some bottles with your name on the labels already. These are just a few fun summertime marketing ideas that are relatively inexpensive to use. Hope you have fun and let me know how these work for you.
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realtyjolene.sopalski@gmail
* Orignally Written On Multi Family Insiders June 2010*
Suntan Lotion- Check with your local dollar store and buy as many as you can afford to. If you happen to have a resident who works for a distributing company ask if they could donate suntan lotion. We have one property where a resident gave them a case for a pool party. Once you have your suntan lotion put a label ( address label) with your community info and special on the bottle. Everyone needs sun block and who does not want FREE. Hand these out at the Beach, Lake, Water Park, Public Community Pool or event in your community.
Beach Toys- Local Dollar Store, Walmart, Family Dollar etc put a label on these items with your company info and special. These are great to hand out at the beach, children's park that has a sandbox, lake or even community events.
Fans- You can fine the fans with a water bottle attach at the Dollar Stores, Walmart, Family Dollar for a very low price. Put a label with the community info and special give out at any of the above mention areas.
Water Bottles- This one I love the idea and can't wait to try it. I was at the beach with my family and there was a guy walking up and down selling cold ice water for $2.00 and thought hey I could do that but give it out for FREE to everyone. Just put a label or if you have money order some bottles with your name on the labels already. These are just a few fun summertime marketing ideas that are relatively inexpensive to use. Hope you have fun and let me know how these work for you.
Jolene Sopalski
Leasing Specialist
WRH Realtyjolene.sopalski@gmail
* Orignally Written On Multi Family Insiders June 2010*
Friday, January 14, 2011
Who Am I ?
Hi! My name is Jolene Sopalski I'm a native of Orange Park Fl with the exception of a two year extended visit to Cedar City UT and Provo UT. If you have not been to Moab UT or Zion National Park I highly recommend you to go it is worth the trip and if you can you should go to Cedar City and take a drive up Cedar Mountain maybe pull over and have a "poor man dinner" with a small fire and watch the stars.
I'm the oldest of five children, yes I did just say five, I know crazy huh?!?! When I was 18 I lost my father to lung cancer which just happen to be during my senior year in high school which I did not attend to and took my GED, so that I was able to take my dad to his doctor appointments and work full time to help my family. I have always had a very strong work ethic about me which I contribute to both my parents. My daddy always said " Jo Beth if you want anything out of life you have to work 110% to get it". I have always kept that in mined and apply it to my self in everything I do. My dad also said I was stubborn as anything and would argue that the sky was green even if I knew it was blue just so I can have the last word. I think that is what makes me great at sales and my bubbly personality.
I started working when I was 15 at a local car wash and have held many positions from waitress, trouble youth consular, sales associate, photographer, leasing specialist to now an Assistant Community Manager. I loved all the places that I work and everything that I learn from them I still use today in what I'm doing as an Assistant Community Manager at a affordable senior independent living community.
I have found this past year that I really love showing someone how to become a better leasing agent or how to market there community in a different way. I know now that I would love to become a Trainer for a Multifamily Management Company. So I have given my self a time line to achieve this 3 years! In 3 years I will become a Trainer with a Multifamily Management Company. Watch out Multifamily world you have not seen anything yet. This year I will be taking my NALP and CAM, I was just told the other day that after I have the certifications my regional sees no reason why I should not be a property manager by the end of the year. So I'm looking forward to that prospect!
A friend of mine Johnathan Sar suggested I start a blog of my writing that I normally post on Multifamily Insiders so I thought why not! I love to write and what better way to reach more people with what I have to say then by having a blog! So look forward to more blogs on how to relate to customers, employees and the vendors to come from me. Thank You so much for reading my blog. Now it is time for me to go and have ice cream with my children!
I'm the oldest of five children, yes I did just say five, I know crazy huh?!?! When I was 18 I lost my father to lung cancer which just happen to be during my senior year in high school which I did not attend to and took my GED, so that I was able to take my dad to his doctor appointments and work full time to help my family. I have always had a very strong work ethic about me which I contribute to both my parents. My daddy always said " Jo Beth if you want anything out of life you have to work 110% to get it". I have always kept that in mined and apply it to my self in everything I do. My dad also said I was stubborn as anything and would argue that the sky was green even if I knew it was blue just so I can have the last word. I think that is what makes me great at sales and my bubbly personality.
I started working when I was 15 at a local car wash and have held many positions from waitress, trouble youth consular, sales associate, photographer, leasing specialist to now an Assistant Community Manager. I loved all the places that I work and everything that I learn from them I still use today in what I'm doing as an Assistant Community Manager at a affordable senior independent living community.
I have found this past year that I really love showing someone how to become a better leasing agent or how to market there community in a different way. I know now that I would love to become a Trainer for a Multifamily Management Company. So I have given my self a time line to achieve this 3 years! In 3 years I will become a Trainer with a Multifamily Management Company. Watch out Multifamily world you have not seen anything yet. This year I will be taking my NALP and CAM, I was just told the other day that after I have the certifications my regional sees no reason why I should not be a property manager by the end of the year. So I'm looking forward to that prospect!
A friend of mine Johnathan Sar suggested I start a blog of my writing that I normally post on Multifamily Insiders so I thought why not! I love to write and what better way to reach more people with what I have to say then by having a blog! So look forward to more blogs on how to relate to customers, employees and the vendors to come from me. Thank You so much for reading my blog. Now it is time for me to go and have ice cream with my children!
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