WOW Your Rental Prospects: Get More Leases and Long-Term Residents Using the Secret Weapon - FEP!

Hello. Welcome to today's webinar. We're gonna give it a couple of seconds here just to make sure that everybody is joining. We have quite a few RSVPs. Rick is here, and I'll introduce him in a second. But let's give us one second here. Hey, and Stacy. Let's remind everyone that there is a handout too that they can go down there and click and print for a long term resource. Yeah, and I think, Rick, you're gonna be referring to some of that in your, as you're talking. Absolutely. Perfect. Eleven whopping pages. Hey, everybody loves a handout. Well, I think we're slowing down a little bit, so why don't we get started? Welcome to today's webinar. Get more leases and long term residents using the secret weapon. FEP. My name is Stacey Wilke, and I'm the senior sales executive here at Grace Hill. I wanna personally thank you for joining us I want to extend a special welcome to all our Grace Hill Ellis and Edge to Learn customers. Today's webinar will demonstrate how to create a positive relation by communicating value in an FEP manner. Leasing is all about relationship building. But it comes across as most genuine when you also solve a problem, scratch an itch, and bring value. But what is FEP? Well, you're gonna have to wait and hear about it from our special guest. Before we get started, I just wanna go through a couple housekeeping items. Today's webinar is being recorded and will be shared with all of the registered attendees later this week. As an attendee, you'll be in listen only mode. This will help any outside noise and disruption so that everyone can hear today's presentation without interruption. Also, you will notice as just mentioned, we do have a handout you can download from the handout section. It's about eleven pages worth of good information. If you have any questions, please feel free to use the chat box located on your screen. We will try we've got somebody behind the scenes checking on them, but we will have a question and answer at the end. So I am excited to formally introduce today's speaker. And I believe he is going to show us another picture here. Rick Ellis has been intimately in in the apartment business for over forty years. He quickly started as an on-site assistant manager and leasing consultant. Rick rose quickly through the ranks to direct a fast growing apartment portfolio from two properties in the Dallas area to over five thousand units in three states. In nineteen eighty four, he founded the Ellis Consulting Group in Irving, Texas, and Rick also founded the largest department mystery shopping company in the US. Rick does not just speak about property management, but practices it daily through his management company, Ellis HomeSource. Rick is also the broker and owner operator of Jay Ellis apartment locators in Lewisville, Texas. Rick lives in Copel, Texas. And I hope I said that right, Rick. Copy bill. Top bill. Copy l. See, I always I should've asked. With her wife and best friend, Diane. There and their three cavalier Spaniels, Belle, Mac, and heart. Oh, those are so cute. They have four adult children and one precious granddaughter, so far. Rick is a graduate of Abilene Christian University with the Bath learners and master's degree in the theology. He holds a Texas real estate broker's license and is an eagle scout. And as we all know, Rick loves Monday. Please welcome to our virtual stage. There you go, Rick. Hey, guys. Thanks so much. Looking forward to spending an hour with you here to talk about wow. And, you know, we're gonna do some foundation work here. We're actually broadcasting even though we're based in Irving, Texas. I'm broadcasting today live from our Clarence Center, New York Studios, you might even hear one of those cavalier spaniels. You never know. They they like to come in. And I've got a view out the window here that's really nice. We're we're up in Western New York. And near Niagara Falls. So we see a little of these few of these guys around. It's gonna be a nice day here in in Western New York. Sixty one degree forecast. It was actually cold this morning we had to eat on. But either way, it's gonna be a beautiful day in the neighborhood, and I hope it's a beautiful day for you. Guys, I know you got lots on your mind. And and you've volunteered pretty much to be in this webinar. Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for taking, you know, some time out of your busy life. You've got stuff that's much more important than me, and I get that. I mean, you know, you got things at work. You got stuff at home, and I understand. I've got things more important too. My wife Diane, who's really done a great job. You know, keeping keeping our our puppy dogs quiet. And, you know, our kids, Joe Joe, Philip, Jar and AJ, you know, all of them are are are are part of the the the whole family thing here. JRar actually does apartment selling transactions with with Grace Dale in Austin in in San Antonio. Here runs that region. And Philip, I actually worked with JR and helped him with some renovation properties that they have bought. So we're all in the family here. You know, and also if nothing else, guys, I wanna make sure that I'm informative. You know, it's more for your money ride. Did you know it today? May seventeen, this national wall that day? Yeah. No kidding celebrate. I gotta warn you too. You know, I think you've already had a little bit of a of a preview of that, but I I do in fact I do in fact love Mondays. It's not some kind of webinar deal that I do. I I actually love Monday. And and and, you know, people that don't love Monday, it's kinda crazy. Like, people like this And sometimes what happens to them, they really lose their wow. And and and they start dreading Monday on Sunday, and they end up ruining both days. Come on, guys. You don't wanna do this. You know, you you don't wanna let a a bad day. Even if it's Monday, create a a a less than wow engagement and presentation with your with your with your prospects. Right? Look, just think about this. Monday is a great do every day. Once a week, you get a a a do over. It's a perfect day to create last week's mistakes to celebrate, you know, last week's victories. So so do me a favor. It's just four days away, five days away. I want you to think about really celebrating this Monday, and and and and get that due over. Don't wait till the new year. That's too long. Every week we get a do over. Also, let me select something here. We're gonna repeat a few items you already know I know we got some smart folks here, but guess what? We're doing that because they're important, and they're all about the wow. You know, Plato said this so it's gotta be true. The greater part of instructions, being reminded of the things you already know. I may do that, and I'm not gonna apologize. My question is, if you know it, are you implementing it? Are you doing it? And if you're wondering, is wow really that big a deal? I mean, do we really need to be wow in our presentations and our in our engagements with prospects and residents, you better be well. Look at this. This is from today that that that multifamily under construction is near record amounts, even with the economy that we may be having. Even even with with the interest going up, And so it it's not just multifamily, but even single family, and a lot of single family being built to rent. All of this means that that more than ever, we need to get our wow on. Because we've gotta make sure that we have a leasing presentation, that we have an engagement online, on the phone, and in person that that people are gonna remember that they're gonna talk about. You know? And so we're gonna start off with stuff that's not as fun and sexy because, you know, look, there's some really important wow essentials. You know, it's it's where you gotta start. You know, and you can't get too excited and miss the foundation. Otherwise, your wow will just come off like hype instead of something really genuine and and and something really memorable, something really impactful. Right? So Let's start from the beginning. I think, you know, as I was introduced, they mentioned that my my master's degree in theology. So you don't have to ask these deep questions all the time. Why do I exist? Don't get that deep on me. I'm not You know, I mean, just what are we here for? I mean, I mean, what are we here for in this webinar? What what are we here for as on-site professionals? That's what I'm asking. Okay? Let's not get too deep today. Okay? So so think with me just for a minute here. And you can you can look at page two in your handout. You got it? Are you there? Are you there? Page two? Yeah. Let's ask the question. Why are we here as on-site professionals? What is it all about? What are we here to do? Here's some answers you hear all the time. You know, they're they're on your on your hand out there. You know, we might be here to to provide the best rental housing. Right? Is that why you're here? Do you provide the best rental housing really? Well, the guy next to you in the next property, but you'll think that look, providing the best rental housing is not the goal. In fact, frankly, maybe no one in this whole webinar provides the best rental housing. Because anytime you have the best, someone's gonna build something even better, whatever best means. Course, what you do wanna focus in is having the best rental housing for the people who call your community home. Now that's that's a goal that's worth looking for. How do you provide the best rental housing for the people that actually live in your community? That's the ones you wanna provide the best for. Okay. We here to take care of our residents? We love our residents. Right? Oh, sure we do. Do you really love them? Have you paid their rent lately? Have you ever look, I paid my daughter's rent, but I've never paid a residence rent. Is is that love? Think about it. Is that really why we're here or we're here at Leaksmore Park we yeah. Rick you're talking about wowing your real prospect. Right? Isn't that why we're here? We do all these things, but I'm that's not exactly why we hear maybe you might say to collect a paycheck so you can feed your family. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. But but but again, I'm trying to get a little deeper than that. I mean, why are we are we here for just the joy of hard work? Hard meaningful work. Is that why we're here? Alright, guys. Very, very noble answers, but that's not what I'm looking for, guys. That's that's not the answer we're looking for. And and again, this is all about wow. You know, don't don't don't get ahead of me here. So so let's get let's get deeper again. Another deep question, You know? And I've got this on page three, so you can actually fill in the blanks. Sorry. Trying to keep you engaged here. Okay. Who is the on-site professionals most important customer. Not just the leasing process, but but the service tax, everybody. Who's the most important customer on-site? I mean, what's the answer? You know, I'm asking you, who's number one? You might you might you might put in your idea on the chat. Who is who is in first place? You know, let's let's think through this. Okay? You know all our our careers, we've been crammed down our throat that the customer's number one. Right? Well, yeah, that's what I'm saying. But who is our number one customer? Is is it really the resident? You know, if it was the resident, and they didn't pay rent. And they were number one would say, no problem. Come on back. We'll we'll catch you next month. I mean, the resident really was number one. If we really loved our residents, and and they were beating each other up, you know, in in the apartment or or or changing out the, you know, the engine in their car, you know, in our front parking lot, would you say it's okay. You're number one or if they had that big old moving truck backed into the courtyard, the freshly sodding courtyard, living those those twelve inch grooves in that nice sod would say it's okay you're number one. Is that ever happened? I mean, really, guys, let let me just make sure we understand. Because this has everything to do with wow. The number one customer we have in this business, and it is a business. Is is our owner, our investor. Let me remind you guys. We do we do something really unique. We provide one of life's basic human needs, that's shelter. And for that, we can really feel good. But it is a business. It's not a charity. Right? It's not church. It's not heaven. It's not discipline. Those things are better. But it's it's all about making a profit. Are you with me? And so and so I want us to think in terms of of when we wow, why do we wow? And I'm telling you, we wow because our owner is number one. Who's number two? The resident? Oh, guess what? You get to be number two. In fact, you're right there near number one. In fact, maybe almost level. Because without you, the on-site team, then we wouldn't really be able to properly wow our rental prospects for the owner. Why do we wow, rental prospects? Well, think about it, guys. Number three, the resident in in in in in the prospects. It's not that they're less important, but it's just that the owner's more important. Now, wait a sec. Not gonna put a big ole banner up on on our in our office that says, our residents are number three. That'll never fly. But what I want to remind you is that it's a business. And and and the way that we make the owner number one is we treat the resident and the rental prospects as though they're number one. And and every day we come to work, you know, because we're number two, and we hold hands as in kumbaya, and we think of ways that we can create value for the owner. In fact, look at page four here. I'm kinda getting ahead of myself. But but but what is it that our number one customer really wants? If if if the owner investors never want, you know, what do they want from us? What what do they want us to do? Again, is this charity? Is this church? Is this no. No. This is a business. Right? And I believe I can say with with when a hundred percent truth that that what our owners want us to do is make money. Did you hear me? Our owners want us to make money. You got a problem with that? Please tell me you don't. You know, you wouldn't work for free, would you? I I know you love your job, and I love doing webinars and training and consulting but I wouldn't work for free? Why would the owner work for free? It's a great thing we do providing housing, but we gotta remember. We do this to make money for the owner. And by doing that, we make money for ourselves. So so let's take this through again here. What's our purpose? It's it's it's it's to lease more apartments, nope, to provide the best rental housing, you think? To take care of our residents. Yeah. We we do all those things, but we do that, why, to make the owner happy? That's what we're supposed to do. We're here to put more money in the owner's pocket. And and let me show you why this is really important. Because because sometimes when you're not sure what to do, When you're not sure whether you do a or b, I promise you, if you'll remember your mission, your objective, your purpose. Is an on-site professional that is plain and measurable and constant that you exist for one reason and one reason only to enhance the value of the apartment community. If you remember that, you'll always make the right decision. You'll always have the right kind of wow. Don't worry we're getting to the wow part, but I want to set this foundation because it's so important without the foundation, you're not gonna have the kind of genuine wow that really makes an impact. So so Don't worry. This is not a political statement. Okay? Don't don't even go there. Remember this guy had this show called the apprentice? Remember this guy had this show in TV called the apprentice, and he would always go around saying, you're fired. Well, I wanna fire you guys all right now. But don't worry. I'm gonna immediately hire all of us, you know, This this includes the the gray seal team, the on-site teams at your properties, me, every we're gonna all be rehired with this really new great title and position as value enhancer we are we are we are now value enhancers. That's us. That's all of us. And and we're here to do one thing only, and that's to increase the value of the property. Now hang with me, guys. We're talking about wow, but we gotta understand. Why the wow? So if we're gonna increase value, I'm gonna give you five things that that that that you do to enhance the value of the property, and you'll see that every one of them is about wow. You know, we're we're gonna increase property income and decrease property expenses. We're on page five. You got your hand out. You there? Are you there? Good. Now look, to do that, obviously, we gotta collect the rent. All the rent. On the third or before you know, in most states, guys, roots do on the first it's late on the second. We just give people a grace period sometimes. Now we You know, we also gotta maintain occupancy. Now I just chose ninety five percent, but if your market is ninety seven percent, you're gonna be ninety eight because you're not average. You're above average. Right? And if your market maybe is ninety two percent. That's average, well, you're not average, so you're gonna be ninety four percent because you're not But it's important to maintain occupancy. And of course, we're talking about economic occupancy, residents that are paying rent You know? And and even even with all that going on, we're focusing on the numbers. We understand that every month we're increasing income. Every month, just a little bit. Oh, what if we have a down month? We're still looking where we can increase income. And and then on top of all that, we've gotta maintain the property and show continual improvement. You guys, you have to do this if you're gonna really have the wow. And then what's gonna happen, by the way, is your your turnover will go down. And, you know, I've got it here. The slide says maintain a five percent or less monthly turnover. And that may be way too much in your market, because that's that's sixty percent per year. You know, in some parts of the south, that would be great. But but whatever average turnover is, you're gonna be below that because, you know, you're not average. Right? So here's the deal. Whatever you're not sure, What to do? You're not sure whether to do any bigger c. You just ask yourself this question. What will best increase the value of the property? And that's almost always the answer. And by the way, I do realize this is kind of a creepy slide. That's weird. That's weird. Weird. Weird. Yeah. Don't you think? Okay. Look, to reach the objective, of increasing the value. Click the rent, high occupancy, increased property income every month, maintain the property and eliminate resident turnover, at least turn it down. And that's what's gonna make us value and answers. Just playing my team. This is my property management company. And and we think about it all the time, how do we enhance the value of the property, the value of the houses that we manage? Now here here you go. Look at page six, guys. Are you there? Are you there? Shit. What what what is what's the big deal? I mean, we wow Why? Well, because a lease is valuable. Anytime we can wow in the least more apartments, we're enhancing value. And just I just want you to look at what Just a mere one thousand dollar a month lease is all about. First, it creates a thousand dollars in in monthly income. Yeah. Which means twelve thousand dollars in annual income. And if you have like maybe a a class b property, you know, even c, you know, your your your twelve thousand in annual income creates two hundred thousand dollars in property value, that's using a cap rate of six percent. You know, if you're in an a property, you know, that that twelve thousand in annual income might be producing as much as four hundred thousand dollars in property value. Trust me on that one. It's another webinar, but, you know, it's all about getting that income in. Now, what about this? What about not just making a lease, but creating a happy residence. What's the value there when you really wow somebody. Again, paying a mere one thousand a month, you've got you've got on time rent because they're happy. They're referring friends. Right? You've got another good neighbor for all your other residents, which means people stay lower And of course, don't forget you get the five star reviews when they're happy. Right? You can at least renew it more likely if they're happy. You have a potential rent increase. I mean, No one likes a rent increase, but happy residents will pay higher rent increases. And then even when they do have to move out, what do you get? You get goodwill. Goodwill after the move out. See, this is why we wow. When we wow our prospects into renting, We get we get income, and we get happy residents, which meet our goal of enhancing the value of the property. Okay. Let's kinda get doing a little more settling here. Look look at page seven. And and and let's look at just the the bare minimum of of of wowing. Okay? Acceptable customer service. Let's let's see what that what that means here. That's just the ground level, you know, of of wow. First of all, you know, we never went, we're prepared, and we're hundred percent ready. You know, when we walk in the door, we know what's available. You know, this is just a starting point, guys, but you gotta you can't get into the high level. Wow. If you don't have the basics, And remember, what that means is it when someone calls, and they say, how much is your one bedroom? You're not him hawn around. You know, you even know what's coming up if you're a hundred, at least. Right? Second thing is is we understand how it or what it means to greet people. We understand the five s's of greeting. Stop, smile, stand, shake, salutation, because that first impression is so important. And we and we know that that smile is not an option. A good day, bad day, we have the big smile. That's just, you know, the bare minimum in terms of customer service. And and we're always accommodating. You know, not none of this, no. We can't never. We don't do that. We don't offer that. We don't take pets. You know, all that stuff is so is so unwelful. Instead, we're gonna be using terms like, let me see what I can do. Well, I'll try to find out, even all possible. You know, we can't do that, but we can do this. You know, that's that's just always accommodating a a bare minimum in terms of of of really acceptable customer service. And of course, exceptional telephone schools. We're we're gonna have epic phone presentations. Epic phone experiences with our prospects. Gosh, the phone is so powerful. You know, it's not just for texting. You know, guys, talking to people on the phone, it's still critical. It still makes the difference. It's really what what I think pushes your occupancy best if you can be good on the phone. And we understand too that that it's all about relationship. You know, relationship leasing the result will be more leases, more new residents. If we if we check relationship first, and then jump into our so called sales presentation. And finally, able to handle conflict. Now I've got a real quick three models for conflict resolution at the bottom of this of this slide. We don't have time for that. We we can't cover conflict resolution in in in less than an hour I will tell you this step, that the on-site professional has to be better than just simply deflecting conflicts. But we've gotta be able to convert them into at least we've got to have the ability and the pre decision. That means it's exciting to advance to not take things personally. And if you really have problem with conflict, you know, it might be you. If you if you're if you're oftentimes berated or beat up at the office by prospects and residents, you need to do some work on that. You need to do some some some googling of of how to deal with conflict. You know, Go to Chad AI and ask the question, how do I deal with conflict at an apartment community office? And you'll get a dissertation there, won't you? Can you can you I mean, aren't you crazed out by by new artificial intelligence? I mean, it's it's crazy, isn't it? Okay. Hey. We're zooming along here. Look at page eight. Don't look ahead of now. I'm I'm looking for one word that best describes the ideal leasing professional. You know, the one that has the ideal wow. But what's that one word? And you guys can put it in chat if you want. May may maybe yes. Maybe Stephanie, will will come up with one that that we really can use and like. I think you probably know where I'm going with this because I've already got one in mind. Now there's a lot of good words, confident. Knowledge of warm and friendly, compassionate focused. I mean, this is a wow person here. Their patient go oriented good listeners, energetic, interesting, and fun. Yeah. Leasing should be fun. That's what AI, that's emotional awareness, you know. Productive, aggressive, calculating, fair and equal, not even beyond just fair housing, fair and equal, human and kind. Killer instinct? I think so. Professional and mature. But but but though those are great words. And and and they're great aggravates for the professional leasing person, but I'm still thinking of of of one other And, you know, it kinda has to do with the title of this webinar. You know, I'm messing with you here on it. Okay. How about this? Look at page eight. It's FEP. Yeah. I know. I know it's an acronym. I couldn't think of one word either. Oh my gosh. That's too hard. We are talking about about an acronym that stands for simply friendly, enthusiastic, and professional. Hey. We're talking wow now. This is the wow. And and don't don't say well, of course. Of course. No. No, guys. You're you're not you're not that easy. I want you to really walk through Fep with me here. And and and you tell me if this is if this is just simple stuff, Oh, by the way, there's my there's my Cabator, Spaniel Marley. Just to give you an example of what FEP is. Look at that boy. He's FEP. Look at that big smile on low. Little Marley. A King Charles cavalier, Spaniel, if that's right. He's okay. Look, friendly. That's that's the f for FEM. And and what I'm talking about is not a feeling you have. But it's how you're perceived by others. It's it's not It's not just what's in your heart. It's on your face. That's what's so important. Being friendly, is critical. It should be in your job description. You have to not be friendly. You have to be perceived as friendly. You're actually We don't care if you're friendly or not in real life, whatever that means. We care about how you behave in the office, and it needs to be friendly. To be friendly, no matter how you feel in your heart, you've got to notify your face. And guys, I know you know this. I know you know this, but my question is, are you coming across friendly? Are you being perceived as friendly? It's that important that that I would require it or even have you go to friendly school if you're not. Again, I don't want you to change your heart. I'm not trying to ask that. That's too much. I'm just saying, make sure your behavior is friendly. And again, it's in the eye and the beholder in what you think is friendly. Infusiastic, enthusiastic love this word. Now this word is not about hype and bouncing off the ceiling and and doing webinars like I'm doing right now. Maybe it's kind of a neat word. The the the root in theos you know, is the Greek root of this word enthusiastic or enthusiasm. It's it's it's Greek in theos in the almost in the emu, And what it means literally is in God. Don't worry, I'm I'm not gonna preach to you. What it meant to the Greek mind is in spirit or in relationship. In other words, enthusiasm has to do with connection with people. It has to do with with being able to to really know someone's heart. And and and and to be able to to understand how people feel and to be empathetic about how frustrating and how scary even it could be to look for an apartment and to make that big move. And and and we're talking about people that that have that capacity for relationship. You know, they just know how to connect with people, enthusiasm. It is the wow magic. And and again, you don't have to be the person bouncing off the ceiling. Don't worry. That's not what I'm gonna throw on here. I'm talking about being someone who knows how to connect again, it has that capacity for relationship. That's the e in fact. And then, of course, the p, the p word. You know, you are so much about being professional. You know? And it's great to look professional like these guys. That's great, you know, coat and tie. Win appropriate. Maybe a little bit too overdressed there. But but I'm talking about something much more important than how you look. How you look is just the tip of the iceberg in professionalism. What I'm talking about is the skill or the desire. You know, or the inclination, or the aptitude, to do and say the right thing in the right way right now. The right thing at the right time right now. And and and, you know, it's it's it's much harder than a webinar slide can really say. Because being professional takes two things. It takes number one experience. And number two, it takes usually education or training. I hope this this simple webinar will make you more professional in terms of maybe for giving you some ideas about what it means to to to have a wow presentation. And, you know, you don't have to wait for a webinar or even for your company to train you. There's all kinds of great straining materials you know, Grace Hill offers an incredible array of online training. There's webinars and seminars available. But but but don't just wait for somebody. Go search it out yourself. Get educated. Now the other thing about being professional is experience. And, you know, it's great because you can actually become professional by making mistakes. Because every time you screw up, You said to yourself self, don't do that again, and you become more professional. You become better at doing and saying the right thing at the right time in the right way right now. Does it make sense? Cool. So we're gonna be FEP friendly, enthusiastic, and professional. And by all means, that equals wow. That equals wow. And and and and that wow is gonna translate into a person who knows how to enhance the value of the property. I mean, look, Frankly, FEP is FEP is the new well. You got it? You gotta be FEP worthy. You gotta be FEP. Yeah. You gotta be a FEP maniac. Friendly, enthusiastic, and professional. And and and and we're we're gonna we're gonna find out that this actually is something that we can decide to do anytime, anywhere, because it's not about how we feel, it's about how we act. Cool. Cool. Alright. Again, Marley's pep. Just think if I'm gonna be pep, I'm gonna be like Marley. You know, you you don't wanna be like Chester now. Chester's not pep. No way, no way. And certainly not like Bernard, not Fep a bit in Hercules. Hercules, no Fep. No none whatsoever. But just in case you wondered, these are real dogs. These are dogs that have won annual ugly dog contests in the US. And and and people love these dogs but you don't want them in the leasing office. Right? No. You want someone who's friendly, enthusiastic, and professional. And and I'm gonna harp on this one more minute here because sometimes those people don't really understand. You know, they don't they don't get that it's not how they feel. Like, you know, what do you mean? I'm not chef. Look, I've got on my happy face. Sorry, man. That's not fit. It's not what you think, it's not what you feel. It's how people perceive you. Right? You know, fifty five percent of face to face communication comes from what you see. Thirty eight percent comes from the tone of voice, and only seven percent comes from the word you use. So the phep is is all about how people perceive you. It's the magic. I'm asking you. Are you phep worthy? Are you phep worthy? You know, and, of course, Another huge wow essential is is are you likable? Are you genuinely likable? And, you know, you're gonna thank me for this because on page nine, are are eleven things that most charming people do. And you can do them too because it's something you decide. It's really cool. You know, or are you hard to like? I don't know. Maybe maybe that's That's you. I mean, do you people ever say you're difficult? You know, you know what that means, don't you? When someone's difficult, that means they're not likable. Don't be difficult. Come on. Here here's what people do that are genuinely like. Just real quick. Okay? They shift the spotlight to others. It's not always about them. They're not always tooting their horn. They're tooting other people's horns. They listen a lot more than they talk. That can be hard sometimes for us us leasing people, can't it? Right? They don't practice selective hearing. Sometimes my wife says, I do that. I try not to. You know, I mean, in other words, we're really listening to understand not just listening to plan how we're gonna respond to what's being said. You got that? Look at number four. They're thoughtful simply because they want to be. Not because they're gonna get something for it, not because they're they're doing quid pro quo. They're just thoughtful. You know? And and look at number five. They put away their stuff. You know, I've got a Starbucks every morning, you know, at five thirty, actually. I love it. And I can't get over some people that that would go and sit at a table, and then just get up and move and leave all their stuff on the table. You know, they're they're dirty cups. They're I mean, yeah, sure. It's not it's not a restaurant with white table costs. They just don't put their stuff away. For me, that's not a very likable person. Look at number six, they give before they receive, and sometimes they never receive, and and and that's okay. Because they they do know that what they say, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Genuine, like with people, they also don't act self important. You know that kind of person right? Does that person have wow? Do do you wanna lease an apartment from a leasing professional that thinks they're really something? Because, you know, most genuinely likely people realize that other people are actually more important. I mean, they really they really believe that And when they don't believe that, they still act like that. And number nine, they choose their words carefully. They choose their words carefully. They think about what their words will mean to the people that hear it. They don't discuss the failings of others. That's called gossip, by the way. But they readily admit their own feelings. Wow. That's the kinda person, you know, that you wanna be hooked up with in life? That's the kind of person that you wanna work for. That's the kind of person that that you want to be Your employee. Right? It's definitely the kind of person that you wanna lease a permit from. Someone who is by all means likable, you know, likable. Wow. Likeable equals wow. It's a critical, wow, essential. Being likable. Again, it's not what you feel, it's what other people feel about you. I will tell you this, if people think you're likable, Life for you is better, it really is. Okay, Rick. But, you know, all these wow fundamentals, these wow essentials, But but but what about some some really wow tips? You know, how are we gonna really wow our rental prospect? I get don't worry. We got them right here. They're on page ten. The top ten wow tips for your rental prospect? Now, you know what I'm starting with. Right? Of course. I've gotta start with number one, you know, Fap. It's the pixie dust that creates it really creates the wow. And, you know, it it it has everything to do with the leasing and being liked You know, when you're likable, you know, when you're fit, prospects like the least from you. And then that sounds sort of like you know, duh, but it's profound because prospects hate to lease from people they don't like. And look at this, prospects will pay more rent to a leasing professional they like. And and they're gonna at least better, less resistance, less objections when they like you. It's important to be fed, That's critical. Second second, you know, wow tip is respond. Respond. And and I mean respond right now. Oh, my goodness. Sometimes it seems like on-site professionals act like they're just off the clock or something. Here's the deal. Right now, right now, it means right now. If if someone if someone wants to to to see your community, and they're coming in this weekend right now, it's gonna be ten o'clock Saturday morning. Right? You know, if someone's thirty minutes away, right now to show them is thirty minutes. Get them there right now. Oh, turn me up for a minute here. Look, think about this. Do you want to be the expert? The on-site expert of wow. Or just the salesperson, you know, just the leasing agent? Well, if you wanna be the expert, you gotta answer the stinking phone. Answer the dying phone when the prospect calls and you answer, you're the expert. They're in the mode to lease apartments. Right? They're they're they're thinking that. That's why they're calling you, you know, or even even when they're in in in inquiring online. Respond now because they're in that mode. If you call back in two hours or or or two days, you know, you're you're just an interruption. You're a salesperson. And that's why the phone is so powerful. I I I I don't wanna sound like a boomer because I are one, but listen. We do contract leasing all over the country, and our secret weapon, our secret Fep, wow weapon, is answer the phone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I know we got great we got a lot of great call centers that really helps a lot when we can't. But, you know, guys, if you answer the phone, you're the expert if you call back later, you're just salesperson. Alright. Mesmerizing online experiences, well, you know this better. Do. Good night. What makes a good website and why it's important to have one is critical, you know, and and we don't have time to actually cover that in this short of a webinar. But all I can say is check with some of the people out there that know what they're doing, like like the grace hilty. And and find out, you know, is our website really what it has to be to be competitive in today's, you know, very saturated leasing world. Be prepared online, on the phone, in person, You know, what I'm talking about is is is none of this, when someone calls for a one bedroom, you have to put them on hold to check You know? No. We we always know what's going on. You know? And and and when someone asks online for this or that, you're able to respond quickly. I mean, your auto responders may work, but you jump in even on top of that and make it make it really personal. And, of course, you know, when someone walks in the door, it's stop, stand, smile, shake, salutation. You're there. You're you're you're you're prepared, your rate. Number five is really important. This this is this is advanced wow stuff here. It really is. That seems simple, but remembering the prospect's name and their story. You know, and we've got good CRM you know, applications on our software to help us do this. But I'm talking about, you know, sure you make the appointment, you connect with the prospect, you know, you're personable, you're likable. But but did you remember their story? Did you ask the right kind of questions to get their story? So that when they finally walk in or even call you, you know, on the phone, you're gonna say, oh, yeah. I'm Laura. Yeah. Yeah. You were looking for the one bedroom for the fall semester. Right? Yeah. And congratulations on the scholarship. That's really neat, I know. For debate. I didn't know they did that. That's cool. Hey, did you bring Max? Maxes are cat, you know? All that's gonna make that prospect go, wow. They really remembered me. You know? And frankly, we can put the kind of notes in our CRM, you know, software that could help anyone in the office greet Lara with that same sort of of wow, remembering her name and story. Make sense? Good. Okay. Be clear about community value. Okay. Listen up Listen up, guys. This is something where I'm I'm shifting gears a minute here. We're talking about wow, being likable, being genuine. You know, all those kind of things that you can kinda control and and and really and really connect with people. But but don't cute yourself Don't keep you up. Value is even more important than relationship. No one's ever gonna lease only because you're friendly, enthusiastic, and professional, unless professional means you understand how to present your property's value. And and this can be a whole different webinar you know, Gracio, maybe we can do that. But you've got to know what your property's value propositions are. A value proposition is is what differentiates us from everybody else. What makes us unique? What services do we offer that's different? Or that we can at least remind people, look, even if your if your value proposition is your price, you've got the best price. How do you present that? You know, convenience and time saving is a huge commodity today in today's society. How do you save people time? What are your unique value propositions? Is it maybe that you're across the street from a train station? You know, or or or are you able to tell someone about a neighborhood and be the information guru which creates value for your property. You know, if you don't know what that is, if you don't know what your property's value proposition is, just I want you to to put that on your to do list for today. You know, number seven is personalize the experience. There's so many ways to do that that that I would run out of time But, you know, there's a classic what you do. You know their dog's name. You get a cheap dog water dish, and you put the dog's name on it when they come in. It's it's really cool. People will love that. Or or or or, you know, they like certain kind of food that that you come in and you've printed a map, just a Google map, and you've circled the good restaurants. I mean, it's really it's really easy. It's not expensive. But it but it makes for a a really nice memorable wow when you personalize stuff just listen to their story. Listen to what they're doing. Listen to what they're needing. You know, all those things. Like like, if you've got college students, You don't have just a bag for them to get a gift when they come in. You've got a gift or several gifts that you can use that are personalized to their specific new college student story. You know what happens too? You have a lot more fun leasing that way. Oh, technology. Oh my goodness. Guys? I don't know how to keep up anymore. I really don't. You know what I mean? I mean, just just having the smart locks, you know, all all the smart home package, you know, with with the thermostats, with with the video doorbells, with the dimmers. You know, we've got smart intercoms, Of course, guided tours, you know, that that's that's almost old stuff, isn't it? I just saw something today that just freaked me out. You know, artificial intelligence is is is going crazy. This little company here will allow you to pick an avatar from about a hundred and sixty different people, and you can type in the message or the training or the greeting a hundred and twenty different languages, and then even more different accents, and you can create a video that looks just like a human being. I don't know why, but it just makes me excited and scared at the same time. And that's gonna be Pase in another six months. Right? Look, can't you remember these things that were really well at one time? Chat chat bots, smartphones, video tours, online videos. Of course, those two things, video tours I mean, everybody expects that now. It's not a big deal. Ariel drone videos The first one you saw, so cool. The second one's cool. Now it's like the normal part of a website. Online, real time availability when it first came out, that was neat. Thought it was cool. Now I expected, on my applications, on my repayment. Of course, everybody does it. I remember when fax machines came out, yeah, I'm older than you. And now that's nothing. Right? Even written optimization software. See, things just come and they go And they're only wow if we use them at the right time. Right? But none of these are any any more cutting edge, right? None of them cutting edge. Instead, With guy realized that that it it really is the little things that customers remember. This cartoon that I found, you know? I mean, I probably should've put it on a on a webinar here, but but look at the guy he says, I don't know why you like them so much. It's It's not like they wow you over the top with customer service. And the lady says, well, it's nothing big. They they remember my name, and they talked to my kids, You know, it's the little things that wow me. Wow. That is a wow, isn't it? You know, again, I'm gonna give you some really grandiose ideas, but is it really I mean okay. Let's make sure it's memorable, including the environment. Then not everybody can have can have a memorable leasing center, you know, one that's it's it's award winning. But even if you have something as simple as as a target behind your your desk, you know, Kate, you see how you can get it. You know? Yeah. I was really targeting you. Or or you're the right target for us. Even when you do your callbacks, you can say, yeah. We're the guys that had the target in the back. You know, if you have a great lobby, you better use it. You're you're you're you're you're leasing office. Your lobby is your front door. That may and it they can be this memorable. You better make darn sure that you that you use that I would hate for someone just to sit in front of your desk and not really see the leasing center as a destination. You know, I mean, to sit down there even and talk, and enjoy the fireplace. I mean, that's something that people can remember. You could say, hey, yeah, we had the fireplace right there in the middle of our lobby. You know, I like this. I am home. I I'm afraid to tell you what company this was. I forgot which one it was, but but all their properties have I am home. In the leasing center. Isn't that a great memory jogger when you do your callbacks? Legacy, of course, does this. I I like to have a legacy as as as a memory jogger. Hello. Cool. I mean, would you not remember this? Hello. Hello. Hello. I like that. You know? Look, even if you have a simple office, you can have something that can help people remember. You know, if this was my office, you know, when I did my callbacks, I'd say, yeah, remember we're the guys with the steer. I wouldn't even point to the steer and say, I wouldn't steer your own. You know? Okay. I don't know. Manakins. We've used mannequins and lease ups. They do get folks attention. They really do. You know, is that too much, though? I I don't know. Maybe maybe. It certainly would be memorable, wouldn't it Maybe maybe it's just way too much. Anyway, okay, I bet. Again, it's it's the little things. And the little things that that really really do wow you. Okay. And then finally, a remarkable departure. Now, this is this is President Obama, saying goodbye to a dignitary. But if you noticed the president of the United States walked their guest out to the car. What do you have when you have friends visit you at your house that you really love? And and your family. You walking up to the car with me. I'm not saying you should walk out to the car with your prospect necessarily. Although, we used to have a leasing professional that did that all the time, and she was a top producer. You know, and and and and she would walk about like you do a friend, like you do a family member. But whatever you do, it's gotta be remarkable and memorable. Not just see you. Thanks. You know? And finally, let me give you one more. You get a ten plus one here. And, man, this is one that we all struggle with, but it's such a wow, if we just just do it. And that's follow-up, follow through. How often do you follow-up? How often should you follow-up? Until they tell you to stop? I mean, guys, you may follow-up five, six, ten times, and and and get the least if you just follow-up. Okay. Finally, and we'll wrap it up here on page eleven, of course. Here is your your wow, follow-up action checklist. You know? And and and I don't want you to just go, oh, that's nice, you know. I want you to to to really think and act. What is one or two? Wow behaviors you will add to your leasing presentation right now. Not tomorrow right now. Come on. I mean, it's just three o'clock eastern time. Look at second one. What's the most member of a part about your community. And how can you how can you work that in to your leasing presentation? How how can you make that a part of of your leasing presentation more fully incorporated? So people remember you over the other folks. Look at number three there. What technology do you already have that you can take advantage of right now? You may have a whole toolbox of great technology that you're not using. In fact, I bet you do. I bet you do. Look at this. What differentiation makes your community or your location or or your management company, most unique. And how can you use that to make wow? You know, I mean, is there an experience people have at your property that you can refer to? And then finally, you know, identify your community's three leading values What are your what's your value proposition? You know, and let's let's let's say it's gotta be more than just price. Although if you are the price leader, use that to your advantage. Hey, there you go, guys. I hope you got a lot of while for my webinar. I hope hope we wow you out. You know? In in Nova, it was a word winning. But, you know, thanks so much for for the time. Thanks for the courtesy of of of of hanging with me. And I think I'll I'll turn this back over, you know, to to Grace Hill. And you guys will have, by the way, a chance to turn a survey at the end, we'd love to hear from you. What'd you like? Would you not like? All that good stuff. Well, thank you guys. Rick, that was some you would let us through some important content in such a fun and engaging way. Before we dive into question and answer, I wanna let everybody know that if your team is struggling with any of the topics today, our team is here at Grace Hill, and we can help. We truly understand the struggles of compliance along with the excitement of career advancement. I, with our industry leading policy survey, training and assessment, you can proactively set the standard for your team, giving them the professional development they crave. Our experts are available for personalized demo and consultation after today's webinar to discuss your team's development goals. Text the words, f e p in the chat box, and a member of our team will connect with you shortly. But now we're gonna get to some question and answers. I'd like to welcome anybody to type in questions using the chat box on your screen, and we'll answer as many as time will allow. Rick, I'll let you answer the questions coming in. Thanks, Stacy. Yeah. It looks like we've got our first one. What what makes a good website You're right. That's a good future topic of training. I I think one thing that makes a good website is, frankly, that it still loads quickly, you know, and and then it moves, you know, gracefully. But but I think what people wanna know, you know, really quickly is how much. And I think sometimes if we if we try to hide that too much, people click on. Did think about a good website is that it shows diversity, you know, and and and I love you know the fact that we have these great photos that we have pay for and use on our websites. But but look for some diversity so that that your your website says, we are inclusive. And and and we love everybody, and whoever you are, we want you to to to click and and and submit right now. Do you have an offline book or something to can can you get tips on improvement? Thank you for asking. Write down the name, Seth Goden, g o d I n, Seth Goden. He is my marketing guru And I guarantee you guys that the to get his daily blog will constantly give you tips for marketing. Also, don't forget the training that's offered by Grace Hill right here. You you may not be familiar with the the array of topics they have. And and there's there's a lot of free stuff on the site too. So that's another great place to start. But but as far as far as, you know, marketing, Seth Garden, his his blog is incredible. What you said, enhance the value of the property, what are the things that a leasing agent can do to do that. You're you're the key in terms of enhancing value, frankly. You know, I mean, assuming we have our our our expenses in place, every lease that you do at the highest rate possible with the least amount of of incentive enhances the value. It pushes up the rental rates. And then the way you lease, when when you when you lease people for the long term, in other words, they have this wow experience up front. And when they move in, it's a it's a continued wow experience. Right? And it just makes them wanna stay. And that's I think that's I think the leasing professional is like the leader in terms of enhancing value. Like, they really are. Godden, g o d I n. Seth Goden, g o d I n. Oh, working your brand new lease up. You know something? I I don't wanna frustrate you, but a a brand new lease up starts way before the lease up starts. And if you haven't already already, you know, cloud the field for your lease up than you're behind already. But I'll tell you this, on new lease ups, you've you've got to really make sure that all your wows are in place because you have the advantage of being new, and people people love new, you know, and don't don't don't forget that as being one of your value propositions. How do we maximize our efficiency if we don't have newer technology to utilize? Any alternative options? Well, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of inexpensive technology. You can you can actually have a ring camera as one of your your moving gifts, you know, and and and add technology. The other thing is if there's so many companies right now, that provide I mean, there's properties that are that are offering property wide Wi Fi now. And there's and there's there's new technology that allows that. And that's that's a real I think that's gonna be a I think it's gonna be a standard part of an amenity package soon, you know, that yeah. We have WiFi. You just plug in just like you did at a hotel. Well, I think that means that we have I think all of her questions have been answered for now. Cool. And some good questions there. And I wrote Seth's name down because I'm gonna definitely oh, looks like we have one more question. How can we reach Rick? I think want you. What It's just just like the Ellis thing here, it's it's ellis consulting dot com. List consultant dot com. And and, you know, we we do a lot of things that that just have to do with, basically, troubleshooting properties. So and, you know, I I would port you back to the the Ellis here with Grace Hill in terms of some of those shopping, and marketing, and and and operating procedural, and training needs that you might have. Yeah. We're always happy to help with that. That was consulting dot com. If you enjoyed today's content, there's more on the way. Next month, the amazing Alicia Anderson is gonna be joining us to share her award winning presentation on intersectionality and her perspective on the complexities of disability and how it relates to an individual's overall identity. She'll share examples of famous individuals who also happen to be disabled. And will dive into the intersections of their lives, as well as your own. We hope to see everybody on June twenty second, so mark your calendars Thank you all for attending today's webinar, and a special thank you to our expert guest speaker, Rick Ellis. Make it a great day. Thanks, Rick. Thanks, Stacy. Thanks, Tiffany.