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People Skills

Motivating Your Employees in a Stressful Economy: Seven Tips to Building Team

Oct 20th, 2010
by jameswb.
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It is ironic that a lot of positive things have come out of the downturn in the economy.  We have focused more on cutting costs, built stronger relationships through social media, increased customer service initiatives and strengthened our skills.  However, one of the negative outcomes has been a tendency to take staff for granted.  There has been a trend towards seeing employees as a commodity that can be cut—in quantity as well as compensation.

Cutting employee costs is an understandable reaction to an economic downturn.  However, will this serve us best in the long run?  This trend creates two areas of concern:

  1. Disgruntled employees feel abused and unappreciated.  They pass this attitude on to our customers.  In a competitive climate, is this the front-line environment we want to create?
  2. Demographic trends indicate that we will be facing a shortage of talented experts in the future.  As the employment market starts to loosen up, our top talent may be easily wooed away to other jobs promising greater appreciation and rewards—both monetary and emotional.

How do we keep our team motivated and happy to be working with us?  We do not have extra cash budgeted—but it’s not always about the pay.  In fact, most of the time that is not the most motivating factor in retaining excellent employees and motivating them to excellence.

A few tips to help you motivate your team:

  1. “Please” and “thank you”.  Take time to remember the manners your mama taught you!  Being thoughtful, courteous and polite goes a long way.
  2. Set aside time to listen to your team members:
    1. Concerns – what is working; what is not?  Your front-line team has insights you could only dream about.  This is a great opportunity to gather expert advice.
    2. Ideas – Whenever you are feeling stuck, sit down with your team.  You will be amazed at the ideas they will give you.
    3. Give clear direction and expectations—as an employee, one of the most frustrating experiences is not receiving clear work direction.  Have you outlined the company’s goals and each team member’s contribution to that effort?  I once had a supervisor who gave conflicting work expectations.  Continually changing directions made my efforts feel futile and hampered progress.  I felt like a puppy unsure of whether to come or go.  I ended up going.
    4. Firm but fair—favoritism will kill a positive environment.  Employees find great comfort in knowing exactly how you will react and that your response will be consistent.
    5. Share the good jobs – don’t just delegate the ‘icky’ stuff.
    6. Bring your team in on decisions.
      1. Brainstorming and ideation—holding a brainstorming meeting allows for a free flow of ideas.  You will be amazed at some of the revolutionary concepts that emerge.  This also makes each team member feel like they are part of the creation process.
      2. Meetings—openly discuss concerns and issues in meetings. Invite feedback and team member contribution.  Take the time to listen and consider input.
      3. Creates ownership—When you have involved team members in the process from ideation to decision, they feel as though they have a stake in the successful outcome of that decision.
      4. Publicly praise—did one of your team members do something very, very right?  Praise in front of peers and the big boss.  This praise will go a long way. When we were inexperienced supervisors we thought we had to find and own all the kudos we could!  However, in reality a superstar team reflects a superstar boss. 

Celebrate your staff!  Taking the time to tune in to them will pay dividends:  increased sales, improved retention and a positive working environment.  And you might even find that going to work is more fun!

Cheers!  Jim Baumgartner | Rent Soda

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Top Ten Tips for Leasing to Seniors

Oct 12th, 2010
by jameswb.
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According to the U. S. Census, there are 35 million seniors in the U. S. today—12.4% of the population.  Over the next decade that percentage is projected to grow to 16.5% (53.7 million people).  How do we attract this population to our community?

  1. Attitude is key.  Remember who you are marketing to—not just your senior prospect but also their kids and influencers.  Don’t approach your customer as ‘old’.  Studies show that we routinely think ‘old’ means ten years older than we currently are!  Talking down to your senior prospects will kill your sales.  Try to avoid words like senior, old or elderly.  Today’s seniors do not see age as something that is determined by the number of candles on a cake. 
  2. Seniors do use the internet (in fact senior use is growing by leaps and bounds); however, they still heavily utilize print.
  3. Depending on your budget you will likely have multiple marketing campaigns (a primary one for your senior customers and ancillary campaigns for influencers).  Design your senior-focused print advertising to be easily read and understood.  As we age the way we perceive color changes and larger print is appreciated (no smaller than 11-point).  Avoid serifs, italics and fancy fonts.  Color ads draw attention (to the exclusion of black–and-white). Avoid reverse copy and maintain good white space.  Keep your message on-point and clearly highlight the benefits.
  4. It’s all about relationship – take the time your demographic needs (and they will need a lot of it). Seniors appreciate the personal touch.  Relax your pace to match your prospect.  As we age relationship becomes more and more important.  Who you are is as important to them as what you are saying. 
  5. Your senior prospects have seen and done a lot in their lifetimes.  They are skeptical (life can do that to you!)  Have testimonials that you can share.  Better yet, have resident hosts at social events, use a resident’s apartment as a model or stop and chat with residents along your tour route.  Create opportunities for your prospects to socialize with your current customers.  Credible testimonials work. 
  6. Be real.  Be direct. Your customer has a lot of experience; they will be able to see through flash.
  7. Always ask for the sale; however, do not use a hard close or scare tactics.  Remember, this is a major move for them.  In some cases they have 30 or 40 years worth of possessions to sort through and dispose of before they can even make the move.  The name of the game is to not ADD to the fear but enforce the newfound independence they will have moving in to your community.  Your job is to solve their problem and present your offer.
  8. Highlight why the move to your community will help them remain active and independent.  A great fear is having to rely on others for basic everyday life functions.  What do you offer that will enhance their lives?  Define what your customers need; do you have it?  The senior housing market is changing quickly.  Baby Boomers are demanding a level of quality and service that far exceeds their predecessors.  In the past, buildings became ‘senior’ buildings because the population aged in place and never left.  Today, your customers are expecting much more.  (Expectations might include van service to doctors, shopping centers and events; library/business centers; hot meals; fitness centers; hair salons and even happy hours!)
  9. Senior prospects fear being taken advantage of.  The use of guarantees can be very helpful in imparting confidence.  This might be the time to employ fully refundable holds.  Don’t cop an attitude if your customer takes advantage of it, they may be testing you.  If you handle the situation with grace, your likelihood of eventually closing the sale is very strong. 
  10. Don’t forget the old-fashioned hand-written thank you note.  The time and effort it takes to send a personalized note will be valued and appreciated.

Why work so hard to attract this demographic?  Your senior customers will be amongst your most loyal residents and will remain as long as their health permits.  In addition, you will find that they do much to enhance their new community.  The investment in time it takes to build these relationships will continue to build dividends.

Cheers!  Jim Baumgartner | Rent Soda

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“I’m So Glad You Called Today” – 4 Phone Tips to Turn a Call into an Apartment Tour

Aug 26th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
2 comments

Phones have been around for over 140 years, so answering the phone is nothing new – or is it?

Having a great telephone conversation is one of the best and most powerful apartment marketing/leasing techniques in our industry.

It sets the stage for the rest of the leasing experience for your apartment prospect. Are you putting your best foot forward?

In the apartment business, a successful prospect call is one where we turn the telephone apartment inquiry into an appointment. What are the best ways to turn a phone call into a apartment tour appointment?

These are  my

top favorite tried and true phone leasing techniques

to turn that apartment telephone inquiry into an apartment tour appointment:

  1. Once you have identified yourself, find a way to let your phone prospect know how happy you are that they called TODAY. – If your caller says they are looking for an apartment, you should respond with, “I’m so glad you called today!...” and follow-up the comment with your specials or other related comment. “I’m so happy you called today,” is a great way to pause the conversation and inject some personal positive attention to your caller.
  2. What’s in a name? EVERYTHING. If the caller gives you their name – use it. If they don’t, ask them for their name – and use it. People love to hear their names – it acknowledges the fact that they are an individual and not just another caller. It will help you bond with the person over the phone. Using someone’s name is very intimate. Get the name and USE it.
  3. If you are comfortable, assume that the caller wants to set an appointment, and give them a couple of choices of times you have available for an appointment. With all the information available on the internet, most of your callers already know enough about your apartment community/complex to be ready to set an appointment for the leasing tour. – Assume they want the tour and work on scheduling it. If you are not comfortable with assuming your caller wants an apartment tour, then ask them if they would like to schedule a tour.
  4. At the end of each call, always thank your apartment prospect by name for calling you!

Your call should go something like this:

RING RING!

You: Thank you for calling ABC Apartments, how may I help you? (smile!)

Caller: I’m interested in finding a 1 bedroom apartment.

You: My name is Daisy – Can I get your name?

Caller: My name is Jane.

You: Jane, I’m so happy you called today! We have some great looking 1 bedroom apartments that just became available. Do you have any particular preferences you want to share?

Caller: I want to be on the top floor.

You: Great! I have 2 apartments on the top floor overlooking the park, and …

…(more conversations, get prospect info, bond, etc.)

You: I have appointments available this Thursday at 10:15AM, 4:30PM or Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to tour our apartment community and see the apartments we have available. What time would work best for you?

Caller: Saturday morning at 10:00AM.

You: Jane, thanks so much for calling today, and I can’t wait to show you our community on Saturday at 10:00AM!

There are lots of telephone leasing techniques out there. The objective is to schedule that apartment tour. These are my favorite phone tips, what are yours?

By the way, I’m so glad you read my blog post today! THANK YOU!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Offering Apartment Marketing, Apartment Business & Operations Consulting & Apartment Industry Training

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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GONE FISHING: using the right bait for your apartment prospect

Jul 30th, 2010
by jameswb.
1 comment

I recently had lunch with my friend and professional peer, Laurel Zacher.  We were discussing the key to understanding psychographics when working with site marketing or training of leasing staff.  I have been frustrated by multi housing professionals assuming that every customer shares their likes and dislikes.  I was floundering trying to explain how we have to put our feet in our customers’ shoes. 

She responded by saying, ‘you have to use the bait your fish likes!’ 

I so wish I had said that.

Since I didn’t create the line, I told Laurel that I was going to steal it (she very graciously said it was okay).

Some thoughts on fishing:

1)  What fish are you going after?  Take the time to research who your current customers are.  Early in my career I was asked to fill a building that was less than two years old and had never surpassed 83% occupancy.  The owner was frustrated!  I drove to the site and thought, “You know, this building is 83% full–not 17% vacant!”  (Yes, I know it was 17% vacant–but that wasn’t the important part.)  The key was that 83% of the homes were occupied by people who chose to be there.  I wanted to know why.  We discovered that the vast majority of the residents were from outside of a metro area.  They had to live in the city for economic opportunities; however, they did not want to live in a city.  We immediately began using different bait–’enjoy serenity’ was our theme.  We talked up the natural setting:  wooded hills overlooking a pond.  We pointed out that the buildings were small and you would get to know your neighbors.  It worked. 

2)  Use the right bait!  If you are dealing with seniors, remember that relationship is key.  They want to know and trust you.  Trying to rush them through the selling process will not work.  They really do want to slow down and smell the roses with you.  On the flip side, if you are working with students they don’t care about the roses–tell them where they can find beer and dates (in that order!) On my latest new construction project, we correctly predicted that our customers would be young professionals.  Sadly, my young professional days are behind me so when reviewing marketing materials and ads, I passed them in front of staff members who are in that demographic.  Invariably they chose what I didn’t like; however, that’s what we went with–because we used the bait our fish liked!  (And, by the way, it worked!)  Using the wrong bait is frustrating, a waste of time and can be financially disasterous.

3)  If you don’t understand which bait your customer is hungry for, ask.  It’s okay to pull together a team of up-and-comers together to be your advisory panel.  Tap into their wants and desires.  In the process, you will learn some amazing things and you will develop loyalty and excitement from your posse! 

And lastly–the fish are biting.  Have fun!

Jim Baumgartner | RentSoda

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New to the Apartment Industry/Job/Career? 4 Stages to an Epiphany!

Jul 13th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
1 comment

Are you new to the apartment industry? New to your employer? New career? New promotion? On a new project? There are 4 stages that every NEWBIE goes through before becoming comfortable in the new position.

When I first started at Dominium Management Services several years ago, I was lucky enough to take a class called “Managing for New Managers,” taught by a wonderful human resources mentor named Claudia. I took away a few lessons from that class, that not only helped me in my new job - I still remember those tips to this day and pass along this info to all newbies I meet!

Before we get started, I first want to mention for anyone who is new to the apartment industry: CONGRATS! You have just joined the most exciting, most demanding, most fun, most fullfilling, most intelligent, most rewarding industry – EVER! If your manager hasn’t prepared you, I’m preparing you now:

4 Stages to an Epiphany in the Apartment Industry

  1. STAGE 1: UNCONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETENT: You read it right. INCOMPETENT. In this stage, you’re feeling good. You just landed a job – especially in this economy, this is quite a feat! You beat out the hundreds of other applicants and you were chosen as the best fit for the job. CONGRATS! You’re being introduced to everyone, your resume is being passed around, people are oohing and ahhing. Everyone LOVES  you and can’t wait for you to get started. YOU can’t wait to get started! You feel important, after all, you’re working for ABC Apartments/ABC Management Company and they own millions worth in real estate. The honeymoon’s just begun. This feeling can last anywhere from a week to a month before you head into…
  2. STAGE 2: CONSCIOUSLY INCOMPETANT: This is when you start to feel a little insecure. There’s SOOOO much to learn! You’ve just started to realize you are in charge of this multi-million dollar asset, and no one’s ever trusted you with even $100 before, let alone an asset worth millions! Then there’s Fair Housing – oh my! They expect you to market, lease, understand financials, manage people, respond to residents, live on site, deal with maintenance issues, vacuum on occasion, AND all with a smile, please and a thank you. Budgets? Maintenance? HAP? HUD?  OOOOOHHHHH MY. You’re ready to pull your hair out and rethink this whole new industry, whole new career, whole new job thing. BUT STOP! This stage is perfectly NORMAL. I tell ALL new job applicants, and all new hires, give it 90 days, and if you don’t feel better by the end of 90 days, let’s have a serious talk. The good news is, EVERYONE goes through this, it’s perfectly normal, and it WILL get better. I’ve done takeovers where I’ve had people cry in my office because of how overwhelming it is – and they’re not use to the chaos of change. Give it 90 days, and those same people are skipping, having a good old time, and thanking me for letting them know – IT’s OK. This stage usually lasts anywhere from 90-120 days, with some relief right around 90 days.
  3. STAGE 3: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: At this stage, you’re starting to GET IT now. It’s not easy, but you know where to find the answers, and you’re starting to kind of like the job/industry/career! You understand what your job entails, and you’re starting to understand not only where you fit into the equation, but the whole bigger equation of the APARTMENT industry. Things that seemed like a foreign language to you, terms like, gross potential rent, RUBS, HAP, HUD, NOI, cost per lease, marketing cost per unit, traffic, replacement reserves, Yardi, MRI, multi-family residential – terms once alien, are starting to roll off your tongue. Things that used to bother you (residents coming into your office and interrupting your line of thought, vendors vying for your time, overly dramatic leasing agents, non-communicative maintenance technicians, etc.)  – are now an everyday part of your life. You’re drinking the koolaid, and it’s starting to taste good. You see light at the end of the tunnel, and you contemplate taking a day off – soon.
  4. STAGE 4: CONSCIOUSLY COMPETENT: EPIPHANY! Then one day, all the sudden, you’re walking along, multi-tasking with your blackberry in one hand, maintenance work orders in the other hand, picking up trash/stuffing it your pockets, and just as you round the corner, your leasing agent and maintenance guy are waiting with an angry resident in tow. You have 10 minutes to compose yourself and your office before your apartment owners/asset manager/big-wigs come for their annual visit. You smile, look at your crew, and say, “What a beautiful day outside. Let’s talk about what’s bothering you so you can enjoy the rest of the morning!” An epiphany hits and you realize, I LOVE this crazy industry/job/career, and if not for the variety, people, experiences, life could be SOOOO boring! I’m GETTING IT! WHOOHOO!

Loss of new hires usually occurs at STAGE 2. Before you give up or before you allow YOUR new hire to give up! Realize, IT’s OK. Give it time, and you’ll GET IT.

Since I’ve started to tell every new employee I hire about these stages and open the door for honest discussion, give them permission and encourage them to vent to me during STAGE 2, my employee turnover has dropped significantly. In addition – those people will come vent, talk and sometimes cry in my office – but 90 days later, they are laughing with me, hugging me, and asking for new projects and challenges. I LOVE this crazy apartment industry!

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO/President

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Apartment Leasing Tips Learned From George W. Bush at #NAA10 – Education Conference

Jul 1st, 2010
by daisynguyen.
3 comments

At the NAA 2010 Education Conference last week in New Orleans, the keynote speaker was George W. Bush.

I didn’t know what to expect and was a little leery how this would fit into the rest of the week. When I walked out from the session, not only did I have a little crush on George W., I had a new-found appreciation for him. As I reflected on his session, I realized, there were many things we can apply from George W.’s speaking techniques that could help us lease apartments! How did he turn me from “a little leery” to a “fan with newfound appreciation?” Here are some of my observations:

1. George talked about his family. He openly appreciated his wife, talked about his struggles with his children regarding his work, and how much he loved his parents. In the first few minutes of his speech, he became immediately human to me - I quickly identified with him. Looking around the audience, I saw that almost everyone could identify with appreciating a spouse, struggles with family-work balance, and love of parents. As apartment leasing agents, sales professionals, or in any business interactions, identifying with your prospect/client/ business associate sets the stage for transition to the next stage of the sale – your pitch.

2. Next, George W. spoke about his beliefs and his values. In this portion, he was passionate and moving. Whatever my position was, I found myself understanding his point of view. In the leasing of apartments, this would be your value proposition. Whatever objections your prospects might have, you’ll need to find a way to overcome them or at the very least, have them believe in your value proposition. Being passionate and believable makes this process an easier transition to the next step – the closing.

3. Lastly, George W spoke about his toughest decisions, and why he made the decisions he made. He was convincing – and if he were selling something, I would have happily signed on the dotted line right then and there.

George W. made we laugh with his humor, nod in agreement with his personality and cheer out loud for his passions. When he was done I GOT IT.

What were your observations of George W. Bush at the NAA (National Apartment Association) Education Conference?

Don’t GET IT? RENT SODA! GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business, Operations & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Personnel/Personal Development: Do You Have a Plan?

Jan 27th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
1 comment

When it come to personnel development – do you have a plan?

How about PERSONAL development – do you have a plan?

Success comes from within. For an organization to be successful, in order for your apartment project to be successful, the success must come from within. At the very heart of each project, at the heart of every organization, there are people. In today’s market, the only way to THRIVE, not just SURVIVE, is to have a vested interest in the one thing that sets YOUR organization apart from the next. YOU and YOUR people. Processes, technologies, even buildings can be duplicated. The one thing that can NOT be duplicated is YOU and YOUR people. If this is the one thing that sets your organization apart from the next, do you have a VESTED interest in yourself?A VESTED interest in your people? So the question is:

When it come to personnel development – do you have a plan?

How about PERSONAL development – do you have a plan?

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

- Lewis Carroll

(Picture provided by Himalayan Trails on Flickr through creative commons license.)

What’s your PERSONNEL/PERSONAL development plan?

Don’t get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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Supervisors & Employees: Take Advantage of Your “Open Door” Policy

Jan 20th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
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Are you a supervisor with an “open door” policy? Are you an employee that works for someone that has an “open door” policy? Are you maximizing the “open door” policy to be a better supervisor or better employee?

“Open door” policies are not just for dispute resolution. A true open door policy is a communication process where employees and supervisor feel welcomed to discuss business or employment topics together openly.

Why am I discussing this in a blog for the apartment industry? In our industry, more so than any other industry, there is A LOT of opportunity to advance. It is not unheard of for a caretaker or leasing agent to advance through the ranks and become a Community Manager, Regional or even CEO! But very rarely is there time to learn (and seldom do our own supervisors advise us) on how to be a good supervisor or a good employee. A key to being a good supervisor or a good employee is expanding and taking advantage of the ”open door” policy.

Doors are BOTH entrances and exits. There is opportunity on BOTH sides to take advantage of having an “open door.” Let’s take a step back, and ask ourselves, as people (whether you are a supervisor OR an employee being supervised), what does YOUR door look like?

(Left picture provided by h-k-d and right picture provided by roboppy on flickr through creative commons license.)

As supervisors, here are 5 things that we can do to encourage better communication:

  1. Set aside time for each individual employee, and meet with them consistently. This could be a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meeting. Whatever works best for you & your employee. Don’t let too much time pass between meetings. I recommend one-on-one meetings at least monthly, if not more often. Always let you employees know when the next meeting is, so that they are not surprised or scared when you request a meeting.
  2. Discuss all kinds of topics during your one-on-one meetings. If you are just starting out with a scheduled one-on-one meetings, keep the topics light and positive so that you can establish an environment to encourage communication. Topics can range from goal oriented topics, like the previous week’s leasing activity compared to the goals, to discussing upcoming educational opportunities, to working on a spreadsheet together or encouraging them to attend upcoming networking events.
  3. Listen at least as much as you are talking. Conversations are 2-way streets! Make sure to ask your employees for their input, their ideas, give them opportunities to express them, let them make decisionsm and support those decisions.
  4. Let you employees know that if they have something to discuss in between meetings, they are always welcome to stop by (or if you don’t office in the same building) to call at anytime.
  5. Every once in a while, monthly or quarterly, take your employees offsite or out of the building. Do a breakfast or lunch meeting. These “once in a while” meetings can include other members of the team – but keep it small, so that there is still opportunity to talk and listen. We all love taking a break from our normal environment!

Remember: These are ways to encourage and establish that your door IS truly always open to your employees. Spend quality time with them, learn about them, mentor them, and watch how much your employees will give and succeed in return!

If you are an employee and would like to have the kind of relationship described above with your supervisor, don’t fret. You can take advantage of the “open door” policy too! Especially if you are a new employee, it is extremely  important if your supervisor hasn’t spent much time with you, for you to find ways to spend time with your boss. It is extremely important to your success to know what the expectations are, how you are doing, and what you can do to succeed or improve. Here are 5 things we can do to be better employees and encourage good communications with our bosses:

  1. Communicate with your supervisor that you would like to meet with them to discuss your progress. This could be progress on a recent assignment or a weekly assignment like your weekly leasing goals, this could be progress towards the goals outlined during your last performance review. If there aren’t any recent assignments or reviews to discuss, let your boss know that you are in the process of setting goals for yourself, and would like their input. Whatever the case, make your case to meet with your boss.
  2. During your meeting, keep topics light and positive. Find ways to give your boss the opportunity to know you. Discuss your goals, bring up educational opportunities that might be coming up, etc.
  3. Listen as much as you are speaking. Don’t just hit them up with a long list of demands YOU want for YOURSELF. Ask for your supervisor’s input. – Whether you are setting goals for yourself, or wanting to attend an upcoming class, ask your supervisor what they think, bounce your ideas off your supervisor, find ways to engage your boss in your progress, and in your success. If you ARE making a request for something, find ways to tie your requests back to a company goal, talk about what the benefits are for you supervisor and the company.
  4. Especially if you are new, or working on a new project, get permission from your supervisor to come back after the meeting if something comes up that you would like to discuss with them. 99% of the time, your supervisors will say YES! – However, always get their permission to set the stage for you to come back and discuss anything.
  5. Know that communication, like doors are 2 ways. YOU have the ability to improve the communication and relationship YOU have with YOUR boss.

Whether we are supervisors or employees, ask yourself, is your open door really open door?

Don’t get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

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Career Advancement in the Apartment Industry: Speak the Language of Business!

Jan 14th, 2010
by daisynguyen.
5 comments

In today’s economy, for every job opening available, there are hundreds of applicants. In working with owners/investors/executive level management, their number one complaint is: there is a shortage of TOP level talent. Many, look outside their organizations to find TOP level talent. And yet, everyday, I hear from people in the industry that feel they are passed over for advancement opportunities and they WANT advancement opportunities. Why the discrepancy?

There is a mis-conception that if you are the best at your what you do, it is only natural that you advance. While this is very true in the apartment industry, it is only HALF of the equation. If you want to double your chances of career advancement – the other half of that equation is this: You MUST learn to speak the language of business.

(Picture provided by daviddmuir through creative commons license on Flickr.)

Whether you are a leasing agent wanting to advance into National Sales Director, or a marketing intern with your eye on VP of Marketing, or a junior accountant wanting to advance to Controller, to Maintenance Technician looking for advancement to Maintenance Director, you must learn to speak the language of business.

What is the language of business? It’s not a foreign language – it’s learning to communicate your contributions to your organization in terms they can understand AND appreciate. It comes down to 4 words: SHOW ME THE MONEY! Or more accurately, Show THEM the money.

I have attended many “owner’s/investor’s” meetings. (Sometimes as an owner’s representative, sometimes as a management company’s representative.) I have been at the middle-management level as well as the executive management level. The one things that is ALWAYS discussed at these owner meetings is – How are “we” doing? And they’re not asking about “our” health or “our” welfare, they want to know, how much money is the apartment project making, OR how much money is the apartment project loosing?

How does this help you in terms of your career advancement?

Since you KNOW that this is the number one concern/question for your apartment owners/investors, and in turn your supervisors (middle management AND upper management), you should start speaking in these terms as often as possible.

  • It’s one thing to say you have increased occupancy from 88% to 90%. It’s much more impressive to say, we increased occupancy 2 percentage points, thus adding $24,000.00 in annual income. 2% is a small number, while $24,000.00 in rent is a BIG number. Show them how you made the money.
  • It’s one thing to admit that you have overspent in marketing (who isn’t?), but its another thing to say, we overspent in marketing by $1200.00, but in doing so, we increased our occupancy by 2%, adding $24,000.00 of annual income. Show them that in order to make money, you spent some money, but overall, there is a net positive gain.
  • What if you are an A/P clerk who processes bills? How do you quantify your contributions in the language of business? It’s one thing to say you enter 500 invoices monthly. It’s much more impressive to say, I process over $100,000.00 of payables monthly totaling over $1.2MILLION dollars of payables monthly. Now THAT’s impressive!
  • What about a caretaker? How does a caretaker quantify their contributions? It’s one thing to say you regularly shovel and salt the sidewalk, its another thing to say, because I shovel & salt the sidewalk as well as document each incidence of shoveling/salting Because of this our insurance claims have decreased over previous years, and this year we saw a property insurance savings in the amount of $1800.00.

Owners, investors, (and your supervisors) want to know you understand exactly how your efforts effect the bottom line – whether it is through income generation or expense control, quantify that. Not only is THAT impressive, it shows you UNDERSTAND the BUSINESS part of the apartment industry. Showing that you understand how you impact the bottom line, also shows that you are not a “victim” of this economy – you’re telling owners/investor that you have control and more importantly, you are exerting control over the one things owners & investors care about: the BOTTOM line. SHOW them the MONEY!

I’m currently working with several clients to help them find top-level talent for their organizations. Their #1 priority in finding someone is to find someone who understands the BUSINESS side of the apartment business. It seems pretty simple – but as an industry, we are so focused on the customer service side (serving our residents) that we sometimes forget to serve our other customers (our owners/investors) Having been on both sides, I know that there people in the industry who DON’T GET IT, and there are those that DO GET IT, but can’t articulate it. If all things are equal, which category do you want to fall in?

  1. I DON’T GET IT.
  2. I kind of GET IT, but don’t know how to articulate it. (In the eyes of your owners & investors, this is the same as #1) – If you are in this category, there is HOPE for you! You can learn the language of business!
  3. I GET IT, and I DO know how to articulate it. (This is what everyone wants.)

What other qualities do you feel your owners, investors and supervisors look for in hiring new employees and advancing existing employees? My purpose for asking is to help people understand what your decision makers look for, so that YOU know what to aim for.

Don’t get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

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How To Be Successful In The Apartment Industry: Participate, Participate, Participate!

Dec 30th, 2009
by daisynguyen.
8 comments

I’ve had a LOT of conversations recently, and one topic has been a recurring theme: Success. Two recurring questions: 1.) How do we make our apartment communities more successful? 2.) How do we make OURSELVES more successful?

As a consultant and a writer of a popular industry blog, I meet with A LOT of people. I meet with EVERY kind of person in the industry from site personnel to vendors at every level, from to Regional Managers to directors to VP’s to CEO’s/COO’s/CFO’s, to developers, partners, investors & owners of apartment communities.

My answer is ALWAYS the same: PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE, PARTICIPATE!

1.) PARTICIPATE: Participate in something bigger and greater than your own apartment community. I KNOW you have a million things to do and there isn’t another minute you can commit to someone new, but YOUR PARTICIPATION in something greater will return ten-fold to your success at your apartment community, as well as return ten-fold in your own personal successes. I’ll go out on a limb here and say – I PROMISE that any participation you give will be returned to you ten fold. If not, give me a call, and I’ll take you to lunch and eat my words.

2.) PARTICIPATE: Don’t just JOIN your local apartment association, JOIN, PARTICIPATE, ENGAGE! There is no better way to work/network with other industry professionals in your market than at your local apartment association. Chances are, they ARE looking for volunteers to participate in committees, tasks forces, surveys, focus groups, etc. Do you think that your opinion doesn’t count? In an industry that serves this many people, YOUR opinion DOES count. For every 1 person who DOES participate, there are dozens if not hundreds of people who do NOT participate. YOUR opinion COUNTS simply because you have made a commitment and gotten involved. Is your local association too small? Help them grow and expand by getting more people involved. Hey – it’s YOUR local apartment association – make it truly YOURS.

3.) PARTICIPATE: Participate in a local non-profit in your market. This could be a local non-profit housing provider OR this could be a local non-profit community group. As with your local association, they ARE looking for volunteers for their boards, focus groups, tasks forces, surveys, fund-raisers, etc! Especially in this market and economy, they need your expertise. Find something that MOVES you and PARTICIPATE with THEM. You will be in for one of the most rewarding commitments you can make. I know it is MY most rewarding commitment – who knew that working for free has its rewards?

How does this help you with the success at your apartment community? In participating, you’ll hear from other industry professionals, like yourself (and some NOT so like you!). You’ll hear different ideas, different perspectives, different personalities. You’ll learn, you’ll grow, you’ll make new friends that can last a lifetime. You’ll meet tons of new vendors that are PARTICIPATING. – I love vendors who participate – it tells me they are committed to the industry’s success  and not just their own. You will be exposed to ideas, people, information and opportunities that you did NOT have access to prior to your participation. You’ll be the first to know about networking events hosted by your local association, notified of training opportunities produced by the local association, be in the “know” new trends and products and through your expanding network, get to know the world OUTSIDE of your box. You can take these new ideas, exposures and bring them back to your apartment and apply them to make your apartment community more successful and making you more successful. Talk about a WIN-WIN! That’s a SCORE!

In case you are wondering, I participate in my local apartment association, MN Multi-Housing Association (MHA) – one of the best and nationally recognized associations in the U.S. (http://mmha.com/ ) or check them out on facebook!

Participation with your local non-profit brings challenges and HUGE rewards. I participate in a local non-profit affordable housing provider called AEON. (Or you can check them out on facebook. I also mention them in a past blog article.) The challenges are the time commitment involved and understanding that non-profits work a little differently. The rewards are much the same as in the local apartment association – I have chosen to surround myself with other successful people who are COMMITTED to the same CAUSE that I am committed to. The people in that group are as wide as our industry – and every one of them smart, driven and a FORCE to be reckoned with. The contributions I have made by participating have been returned to me ten-fold in the form of new ideas, new connections, new perspectives and new friends.

In a world and time where it is so easy to get caught up in OUR OWN little dramas, a more global PARTICIPATION can help us bring additional focus to our apartment communities and to our own careers. It’s YOUR community, it’s YOUR career! PARTICIPATE and make it truly YOURS!

With New Year’s coming – make it a New Year’s resolution to PARTICIPATE!

 Don’t get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

CEO

RENTSODA-small

Business & Marketing Consulting to the Apartment Industry

Web: RentSoda.com   Email: Daisy {at} RentSoda(.)com

Become a fan of RENTSODA on facebook.  Connect with RENTSODA on LinkedIn!

Follow RENTSODA on Twitter!

Image provided by Chooyutshing on Flickr through creative commons license.

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