MISS MANAGEMENT
CAROL LEVEY | LEVEY ENTERPRISES
Keeping Your Occupancy Up this Summer
My community has enjoyed
outstanding resident satisfaction
and renewals despite steady rent
increases. However, with new
construction now leasing up in our
marketplace we are getting “push
back” on our renewals; complaints
about rent increases and demands for
improvements and/or concessions.
Meanwhile, requests for repairs seem
to be ramping up.
This changing situation is putting
my team back on their heels.
Maintenance is stretched between
turns and service requests, and our
leasing team is under pressure to
hit their numbers and are therefore
offering greater latitude to potential
residents like alternative floorplans,
locations, condition and move-in
dates. Our existing residents are
getting wind of what is being done
to accommodate new leases and
demand similar treatment. Of course,
all this custom treatment is impacting
the service team as well. We need
every renewal and right now we are
working harder to get it done. Any
advice to help us work smarter?
L
ast month we focused on why it is
essential that our entire team understand
renewals and manage as a priority. While
you cannot control the marketplace or your
residents you can work together accomplish
incremental improvements to retention; say
3-5% increase in the retention rate. I focused on
why this was a leveraged benefit suggesting that
once the team understands “why” they can
process and execute the “how” to get it done as a
project. In management, we don’t settle for a
series of successful projects. Rather, wherever
possible onsite teams with leadership and
support establish renewal performance standards
and routines to control results.
Renewal teams don’t control external
market conditions but they certainly “know
their market” because they shop their competi-
tion (any alternative rental that is capturing
their customers). Outreach efforts need to be
managed with a schedule and feedback. This
should include maintenance since different
eyes see differently. Communication updates
the entire team; new renewal ideas are
considered and energy around renewal
expectations gain momentum.
A leasing matrix takes shape when the team
has data in front of them that measures leasing
traffic and results for your property during each
month of the year. The object of the matrix is
to better match your expectations with the
current realities to control results. Let’s say that
during the first quarter you have 100 leases that
are expiring while you can anticipate 150 of
leasing traffic. However, a closer look reveals
that your leasing ratio is right at 33% and
retention at 50% in past first quarters. How-
ever, when there is additional new availability in
the marketplace traffic and/or renewals might
become deluded so even small market incen-
tives and you can lose control of leasing results.
What if you capture more leasing traffic by
matching incentives? Maybe you design a
“Look & Lease” contest? By doing so, you’re
uncovering what are the real competitive
incentives and how likely are such incentives to
continue into other quarters?
www.aamdhq.org
Maybe you create an incentive for renewals
with the two-fold goal of reducing the need for
leasing traffic and new leases during the 1st
quarter and modify the lease term to move the
lease expiration into the second or third quarter
when you have traffic to fill vacancies even at a
lower closing rate.
Renewals Need Personal Attention
Treat each renewal like your onsite team
knows that an existing customer is certainly as
important as a new customer.
1. There’s time for an official notice letter but
remember, at 120 days from expiration send
a formal invitation to renew. Emphasize that
you know they have choices.
2. Prepare for and schedule a renewal
appointment early enough to become aware
of customer concerns and reservations about
renewal and incentives might be necessary
and/or effective.
3. Review their resident file for understanding
about their service requests and other
communication during the lease term.
Become aware of the team’s responses,
actions and results.
4. Be prepared with market intelligence on
availability of similar feature benefits,
comparable floorplans, trends and cost to
move analysis.
5. Track renewal process, results and possible
changes. This information should be shared
with the entire team to sustain renewal as a
leasing priority.
Build a Renewal Culture
The ideas contained herein are based on real
renewal turnarounds that I have helped initiate
and/or utilized to coach onsite teams across the
country. Create and sustain a team renewal
culture as a building block to your leadership
reputation. Everyone thinks about renewals
even when you’re not present because your
reputation precedes and follows you.
JULY 2017 • TRENDS | 11