» Announcement

Sarah Little shares some thoughts on the holiday.

Welcome to the PhoneSmart Property Management Blog. A diary of the property management industry.

P.S. Most importantly, don’t forget your Marriage Anniversary!!!

Secret Shopping Blog Your inside peek
Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
Self Storage Search Engine Self Storage in Utah

Tweet This Post 

The Show Goes on…in Miami Nov. 29

As you know, South Florida had a bit of inclement weather a few weeks back. Hurricane Wilma blew through in a hurry causing a lot more inconvenience than destruction. My brother’s mother-in-law lives in the area Wilma visited. She said in her immediate neighborhood there were quite a few trees that went down, but not much building damage. She was quite annoyed that her favorite trees near her condo were uprooted. But the tree she really hates, that blocks the view out of her living room, survived with hardly a leaf lost. That is the fickle nature of storms, isn’t it?

One inconvenience Wilma cause was to disrupt the Self Storage trade show schedule. The Inside Self Storage Expo had to be postponed. However in true Florida style, it wouldn’t take but four weeks to get ready to go back to normal. So if you had planned to go to the Fall ISS show, come on. If you hadn’t originally planned to go, check your schedule and make it happen. The Expo and Conference will be Tuesday November 29 through Friday the 2nd of December.

There will be some excellent seminars, including a session I will lead, called “Winning Sales Strategies”. The seminar will be at 8:00 am for you early risers on Wednesday the 30th of November.

You can also visit with lots of vendors who help you make your business work, including me! I will be giving a special Vendor Presentation on PhoneSmart services on Friday the 1st of December at 10:00am. Even if you are one of our many happy clients, you should attend this session and find out about some of our other valuable services…all designed to help you make more profit.

The roundtable discussions are always a favorite of the ISS Expos. Stop by my table to talk about using Call Centers effectively and make sure to sit in for some of the other great topics.

One session topic you shouldn’t miss will be “Disaster Recovery”, lead by the Nunez brothers of Southern Florida. They have had some practice in this subject over the years and can give you some great tips.

Miami is very nice this time of year, even after hurricane clean-up.. The host hotel, the Hyatt Regency, has a great rate of only $139.00 a night. That is not bad at all.

I don’t know how air fares are where you fly from, but my flight from St. Louis will only be under $250.00. That’s not much more than a few tanks of gas these days.

I’m not sure you can afford to miss this show. The cost will be pretty low and the learning and networking will be very valuable.

Go to www.insideselfstorage.com/expo/miami and register.

Tweet This Post 

Welcome to the property management blog, PhoneSmart’s diary of the property management business.

If you haven’t seen the news about Morgan Stanley buying AMLI Residential, you are missing a big story. When Wall Street money goes out chasing a deal, it usually ends up being a serious deal. How will this affect your business? Will this mean your investors will be more likely to make funds available for projects and acquisitions? Will it mean you will start shopping for new capital? Will it bring up the value of your portfolio? All interesting questions to ponder.

In the mean time properties continue to struggle to differentiate themselves from one another. I have seen some very nice web sites that give wonderful virtual tours. I’ve seen some very attractive ads in rental guides. I see some great move-in incentives and some wonderful amenities. Are these what are really driving new tenants to your properties? Are these what really extend your average stay?

I’d say the answer is yes and no. If you people with the sales and service skills making on staff, working with prospects and tenants every step of the way, then the answer is yes. If you do not have the right people with the right skills, then the answer is no.

Tron

Tweet This Post 

Thanks for stopping by the property management blog. I was asked to give a quick preview of selling apartment appoinments. Here you go.

A few points on writing apartment leases.

People call an apartment office, because they already have an interest. They do not call through the phone book or search for the cheapest price. There is a reason they are calling you. Either:
1. They like your location
2. They already know you are in their price range
3. They know someone who lived or lives with you
4. They drove by and like the looks of the place

Your job is to find out what they already like about your community so you can set an appointment to have them come in for a tour. Unless you are pre-qualifying credit before a tour, your purpose is to set up a tour.

People will ask a “How much” question in many cases because they do not know how else to start the conversation. Ignore the question. Assume a “How Much” question really means, “Tell me about your place because I think I want to rent with you.”

Ask several questions to find out why they already like your place and to build up some interest so you can end the conversation by asking, when would you like to come in and tour our community; is morning or afternoon better for you?”

Here are the questions…
1. “How soon are you going to need something”
2. “Do you know how many bedrooms you are looking for?”
3. “Do you know where we are located and is it a convenient location for you?”
4. “How did you find out about us?”
5. “Have you already been by our community?” (This question allows you to brag on the features of your property and paint a picture of how nice an experience it is to live there.

Paint a picture of the great living experience at your property. Talk about why your current tenants like living there.

Then ask for the appointment. Use a choice question.

First say “When would you like to tour our community?

Then without pausing add …

“Is morning or afternoon better for you?”
“Is during the week good or is the weekend better?”

The more appointments you set, the more people you rent to. So set more appointments.

bye for now, Tron

Tweet This Post 

Welcome to the property management blog, the PhoneSmart diary of apartment, commercial and retail rental management.

What is your company doing about the influx of Spanish speakers? How are you changing your ways of dong business to adjust to and integrate with the vast number of Hispanic and Latin American people who are calling your communities home.

At PhoneSmart we are working towards a bilingual workforce, where Spanish speakers can use their mother-tongue to their professional advantage.

Here is one thing we are working on :

ATTENTION BILINGUAL STUDENTS!

PHONESMART ANNOUNCES ITS SPANISH-ENGLISH BILINGUAL
STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST FOR 2005

PhoneSmart is dedicated to the development of an effective Spanish-English bilingual work force in mid-Missouri. To promote this goal PhoneSmart will provide two $500.00 educational scholarships at mid-Missouri’s higher education institutions

The scholarships are good for tuition and course fees at these fine mid-Missouri schools:
• The University of Missouri-Columbia
• Stephens College
• Columbia College
• Moberly Area Community College
• Westminster College
• William Woods University
• Central Missouri Methodist College
• Lincoln University

One scholarship is for High School age students who are residents of Boone County ages 15 -18 at time of submission. High school applicants will write a 3,000 word essay entitled “How Being a Spanish-English Bilingual Speaker Creates Advantages in Education and Career.”

The second scholarship will be awarded to a student already taking courses at one of the local institutions mentioned above. The applicants must be at least a part-time student taking classes in the spring or fall of 2005. Applicants must be 18 years or older at the time of submission. The higher education applicants will write a 3,500 word essay entitled, “The Challenges and Rewards of Creating a Spanish-English Bilingual Society”.

Both sets of applicants are required to submit two versions of the essay; one in Spanish and one in English. Essays will be judged and the winner chosen by a panel consisting of bilingual education and business leaders from the mid-Missouri community. The author of the winning essay in each category will be awarded the scholarship.

Deadline for submission will be October 31, 2005. The panel will select the winners by December 8, 2005. The awards will be presented at a reception in honor of the winners shortly thereafter.

PhoneSmart – Mid-Missouri’s Spanish-English Bilingual Sales Force

Tell me what you are doing.

bye for now, Tron

Tweet This Post 

Being the property manager is a little like being the mayor. I took a tour of an office and retail mix complex with the site manager the other day and was amused to see him waving, greeting, smiling at and teasing tenants as he passed their offices or passed them in the hallways. I thought to myself, that everyone in the building would vote for him, if he stood for election. Then I realized that he does run a campaign. He campaigns to keep his tenants. He campaigns to collect rent on time. He campaigns to get cooperation on building policy matters. He campaigns to keep his job and to get an increase in salary every review.

So you might want to think about how you and/or your managers carry out the duty of property mayor. It is not only a fun way to look at it, but a very practical way to look at it as well.

Bye for now, Tron

Tweet This Post