Mystery Shopping –Step Beyond the Guest Card

As we have commented on before, mystery shopping services are an effective training tool. They are not something to be used to write someone up. Mystery shopping services provide an opportunity for the leasing professional to enhance their skill set. However if a leasing professional is going to progress in their career and if they want to improve their overall scores they need to step beyond the guest card.

Where we see the most challenges in shops is usually the telephone and internet category. Why is that? More than likely it is a result of the lack of face to face interaction that inhibits a flowing conversation. A flowing conversation is such a crucial element to the leasing cycle. When we don’t have that face to face interaction then we can sometimes forget how to talk.

You really need to visualize the person you are talking to on the phone or crafting a response email to. Simply acquiring a phone number is simply not enough. The first contact is more than likely your one and only opportunity to close the deal. If you get the phone number and find out that they need a two bedroom apartment but still do not close on the apartment, can you call that a successful sales process? That is why we have found it so crucial on our shop scoring to make sure we include the conversational piece into the equation.

That is another reason why it is so crucial that you know your community well. We need to know not only the community where the prospect will be living but the community at large. Are you aware of the local businesses, parks, and community centers etc. that are in the area? Whether we are on the phone or writing an email, we need to be able to tell a story about our community and literally enchant the prospect to come in and take the tour. Step outside your guest card and talk to people.

What are you doing to make your telephone calls and email more personable? I would love to hear any apartment leasing tips you may have to share. Please post them in the comment section below.

Written by Jonathan Saar

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