is useful for management. It also bolsters the confidence of
the prospective resident to see how the leasing and management team practices free and open communication.
One of the most traceable kinds of prospect inquiries
to track are Internet leads. Between 60 and 70 percent of
residential property management firms’ traffic is generated from the Internet. A staggering 43. 3 percent of online
leads are currently ignored, according to a national secret
shopping survey of 300 communities not using an effective lead tracking system.
Further, the apartment industry has trimmed its onsite
workforce to all-time lows. Training has been cut drastically nationwide. Companies willing to invest a small sum
in lead-tracking tools can help their leasing staffs become
customer-centric closers from using a good CRM system.
A quality CRM application allows managers to see
where their prospect leads are coming from—whether it’s
Craig’s List, Facebook, printed media, telephone calls utilizing call measurement numbers, walk-ins, online advertisements or other outlets—helping them to determine
where to effectively spend their advertising dollars. It also
tracks all correspondence, enabling managers to see how
soon and how often personnel are responding to queries
for performance measurement and training purposes.
On an administrative level, CRM applications can
indicate the highest traffic times for queries from potential residents, which can influence when to increase and
pare back staffing, and adjust advertising and promotion
expenditures. A quality CRM can be integrated with
a firm’s property management software to save time,
improve accuracy and increase reporting integrity.
Ultimately, the best CRM software will have one point
of delivery for all lead sources; be specifically created for
the management industry; have comprehensive performance reporting; and offer branded follow-up tools.
getting the team on Board
The best CRM tools will render themselves ineffective if
your leasing team is not on board with tracking tools. In
fact, you may find your leasing teams sabotage the efforts
of these tracking and accountability tools.
success is eXpensive, But Failure
is more costly
Consider the following expenses on your profit and loss
(P & L) statements: failure to serve the customer/resident
who ultimately pays for everything; failure to serve the
embracing accountability equals rewards
both individually and corporately, and ultimately
secures and expands the bottom line.
