Meeting with a Prospective Resident

How do you meet with a prospective resident?  Do you stay at your desk, with your work between you and them?  Are you near a phone that keeps ringing?  These distractions can lose this prospective resident for good…If possible, take the prospective resident to another room.  Where they have your undivided attention and don’t feel like they have to compete with the paperwork and phone.

Use guest cards.  These will help you get information for later.  Don’t give the card to the applicant to fill out, instead you do it for them.  This gives you a chance to get to know them better because you are learning as you go and not having to read the card after-the-fact.

Ask questions that will help you qualify them.  This will actually save you and them time.  It will allow you to see if your complex will be the right fit for them.

Ask how they heard about you, where they are moving from and why, etc.  Find out who will be residing in the apartment, if they have pets, how many bedrooms they might need, etc.

You want to learn what you can so that you can help them better, but make sure you are having actual conversations with them and not just filling in the blanks.  You want then to feel important and at home, not like they are being questioned by the police.

When touring the property you need to find what things will turn this prospective resident into an actual resident.  You need to find out what is important to the prospect.

You need to ask what features they are looking for – you need to watch what they touch, open, look at – and you need to listen to what they are saying is important…

By doing these things, you will find it is easy to sell this prospect on your property and they will want to be a resident.