The days are gone when visitors to the Rental Office are tracked solely by Guest Cards.
The ability to follow up is limited by the Agent’s enthusiasm and conformity to company policy. Using only Guest Cards limits the number of “touch points” [landlord’s contact with prospect] to 1 or 2 when 5 or more touch points may be required to to convert them to a lease. The manual system system requires a Leasing Manager or Property Manager to review cards weekly and ensure that qualifying questions are being asked and follow up is actually occurring.
Automated systems will identify your leads by medium and will record all incoming calls. If conversion rates are low, the calls can be electronically scored for you and the results provided daily.
I participated in a panel discussion last week about converting more leads at the Canadian Federation of Apartment Association’s conference. To open the session we conducted a survey of those in attendance by text and watched the results in real time. A shocking number of landlords in the room do not register visitors or compile traffic reports. Yet a whopping 67% of those in attendance would like more leads! I would imagine it is difficult to analyze one’s advertising when only working with anecdotal information from site staff.
Co-panelist Darren Henry, President of Lead Managing, identified the direct correlation between an increase in conversion rates and the impact on revenues and NOI. The stats were staggering. Darren also presented the advantages of having on-line appointment option: 50% of these occur outside of regular office hours; and staff who are first to book an appointment with a prospect, are able to convert them to a lease 70% of the time [based on US statistics, according to industry expert Kate Good].
Tracking leads electronically, monitoring incoming calls, allowing after hours appointments on line and using software to confirm appointments by email or text is the next generation of renting. It is both efficient and economical.
