Week 3 Results!

The prize for this week for the winning teams is a $15 Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts gift card!
The winners are...The Cubs, The Tigers, The Mariners and The Phillies!

Fun Fact Friday!

Fun Fact:

Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old female pitcher for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, once played the New York Yankees in an exhibition game and struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession!

The Sandlot Clip: Catapult

Outreach - Corporate and Community

This week’s blog is about Outreach – Corporate and Community

Outreach is a great way to expand your client base and make your community known.  This can be done in two ways; Corporate/Business Outreach and Community Outreach.  Both are equally important and you don’t have to break the bank in order to be successful with your Outreach programs. 

Book a Rental

• Use your computer to design attractive bookmarks that feature a building photo and your logo, a list of key amenities, and your waiting list number, then print and laminate them. Take them to local bookstores and ask them to give one away with each sale. This is a very low cost way to get your name out there!  Make sure you get approval from your Regional Property Manager and the Marketing Department before moving forward with this idea.

Outreach with a twist

• When knocking on the doors of corporate offices, restaurants, dentists or doctor’s offices, fitness centers, or daycare centers, carry your resident welcome folder. Explain to their marketing or promotions director that this folder goes to every one of your new residents, and that all product flyers and brochures that are in the folder are also tacked neatly onto the clubhouse bulletin board for all existing residents to see. Then tell them that you want to give their business FREE advertising, by including them in the resident folder in exchange for tacking up your community’s brochure, flyer, or coupon where it can be seen. As an incentive, you can offer a discount to all employees of that establishment that rent with you, or if they send new customers to your community, you will reward the employee with a referral fee. This is a great way to pick up corporate rentals and new residents. Happy outreach!

Adopt a Pet

• Do you allow pets on your property? If so, offer to work with the Humane Society and/or other organization to hold a pet adoption fair on-site. Promote the program with posters of pets saying, “Would you like a best friend?” The Humane Society, local veterinary offices, radio and TV stations will help you promote the event free of charge. You’ll not only bring in a huge amount of traffic, but also raise income due to pet fees/rent. An event like this might cost you around $100; but you could earn it back taking the idea one step further and offering a pet-sitting or walking service to your residents for $10-15 per walk or visit.

Holiday Food and Toy Drives

• During the holiday season, some local organizations and businesses arrange donation drives to collect toys, food and clothing for families in need. You can collect everything from canned goods and books to winter coats and diapers. 

Appreciation for Local Police & Fire

·         Host a breakfast or lunch for your local Police/ Fire department. Deliver an afternoon surprise to the local fire department consisting of coffee and snack to let them know you appreciate what they do for your community.

Sports Team Sponsorship

• Many organizations support local youth sports teams by providing uniforms, snacks and beverages at games and assisting with the cost of equipment. This type of community outreach focuses on keeping children active during non-school hours. Organizations can include their names on the back of the children's uniforms, which promotes their businesses and shows their participation within the community

Home Sweet Home

·         Last, but never least, we should always try to keep our current residents in mind. We can never communicate too much with our residents. It is important to help them see the value they receive by choosing to rent with us. Let them know that we conducted a light check, that all the fire extinguishers were checked to assure they will work properly - if they are ever needed, most of our residents don’t see what we do when they are at work all day –so it’s our job to keep them informed and build value.  It won’t hurt to remind them of the free use of the fax machine, all of the little things that your community does to make their life easier.  

With many of these ideas you should consult your Regional Property Manager before moving forward.  What are some ideas that you have for Outreach whether it’s in the Community or with a Business?

~The Phillies

Week 2 Results!

The National League winners this week were the Braves and the Mets. In the American League, the Tigers and the Athletics got the win. They each receive 2 points and get 2 hours of "Paid Time Off".

Resident Retention

As we all know, resident retention doesn’t start when you send them their lease renewal.  It starts the day they tour your community.  As soon as they’ve left you that holding deposit, you’ve already sold them on you and your community.  They are now your resident to lose if you don’t treat them the way that they expect or even better.  We are all aware that the majority of residents who leave our communities do so for controllable reasons.  It’s important to know what these reasons are and to limit them as much as possible.

Remember that maintenance is a huge part of your team, and while out on the property they often become the face of the property.  It is important that all maintenance requests are written up and addressed at the earliest opportunity.  Should the resident be home when the work order is completed, maintenance should try to engage them in conversation.  Even though they’ve called for a particular work order, there may be something else in their apartment that needs to be repaired that they keep forgetting about.  Having Maintenance ask them about any other issues they have may remind them of some additional repair, and they will likely thank them for being so thorough.  In addition, this will increase the efficiency of your team, not having to return to this apartment at a later date.

A property’s appearance is also extremely important.  Residents who come home every day to a clean and attractive environment will stay happy residents and won't consider moving to other communities.  This can only be achieved by the staff constantly walking the property and communicating with each other on what needs to be done.

Knowing your residents names, their children’s names and even their pet’s names is always helpful.  People like to feel appreciated and that you really know them.  Additionally, you can keep treats in the office for both humans and pets alike – we all know that the way to a resident's heart is through either their child or pet.  Showing them that they are important to you too, will work wonders.

Below are a few of the ‘oldies but goodies’.  These small thank you gifts allow the residents to feel special and that you appreciate the financial commitment they have made to you:

·         Carpet Shampoo

·         Paint apartment after several years of residency

·         Local restaurant gift cards

·         Dog Walker certificates

·         Cleaning company certificates for one time services

Social events can also make your residents feel like part of a friendly community.  If they don’t know the property staff or their neighbors, there are no ties keeping them in that apartment.

Obviously these are the ideas and tactics which have worked for the properties on our team, we'd love to hear what's working for you.  How are you keeping your residents happy and in a renewing frame of mind?

~ The Mariners

Week 1 Results

What a great start to the Dolben Leasing Contest!

The Cubs, Phillies, Angels and Athletics received their first win this week and take home a $15 Amazon.com gift card!

Field of Dreams: Go the distance!

Mini Model Ideas

Setting up a mini-model can be a great, low cost way to market a particular unit type or specific unit that you’ve had difficulty renting. Sometimes vacant apartment homes can seem bland. Adding items throughout a vacant apartment can go a long way towards improving the overall experience for our prospects. Here are some examples of items that can be installed in vacant units:

• Flowers
• Artwork
• Cutting Board
• Knife Set
• Small Furniture
• Lamps
• Hand Towels
• Vases
• Shower Curtain
• Shower Mat
• Soaps
• Patio/Balcony Furniture

If you have some flexibility in your budget and if you have particularly high exposure on a specific unit type, you can also consider completely furnishing a vacant unit with the help of your property’s go-to furniture rental company. Based on the amount of business you typically generate for them, you can sometimes get a fully furnished model setup at no cost for a predetermined period of time.  If your furniture rental company is hesitant to offer a free model, you could tell them that your property will stock only their marketing materials and send prospects to only that company while the model is in place. That may get them over the hump. If all else fails, furniture rental companies will typically set up a model for you for a three month minimum at a reasonable rate.

What are some other creative ways to utilize a mini-model that have been successful for your properties?

-Angels

Welcome to the 2014 Leasing Contest!

Welcome to another exciting DOLBEN leasing contest — we hope you're looking forward to "playing ball"! As you work with your team to exchange ideas and best practices over the course of the next nine weeks, please be thinking about what your team will post here on our blog. 

While each team will have an "official" week to post a topic for others to discuss (refer to your official leasing contest package for details), we hope that you all will use our leasing blog to share ideas on a regular basis. This forum is not meant to reveal any "trade secrets," but rather to help all Dolben-managed properties easily share some best practices—and remember, in the end, we all work for one company. We've provided a few suggestions to get you started, but please feel free to brainstorm and develop other ideas.    

• Customer Retention Tactics & Ideas
• Utilizing Facebook to Promote your Brand, Educate Current Residents, and Promote your Property to Prospects
• Overcoming Obstacles – How to get a Prospect to Say YES!
• Ratings & Reviews – How to Respond
• Community/Corporate Outreach Best Practices
• Closing Techniques
• Curb Appeal Tips and Best Practices
• Mini Model Ideas

When it is your team's turn to post on the blog, the marketing team will be in touch with your Team Manager to provide log-in details.  If you want to comment on another team's post at any point throughout the contest, feel free to do so by clicking in the "Post a comment" box underneath that post, and simply entering your own name in the "comment as" field.

We are looking forward to a great exchange of ideas over the coming weeks. If you have questions on the leasing contest and/or blog, please speak with your Team Leader, or contact the marketing team. 

Happy leasing, everyone...and let's Play Ball!