Guest Card Management
The purpose of our Guest Card Management Policy is twofold. By completing them thoroughly it is a proven tool used by our Elite performers to stay full. By entering them into Onesite it enables those who are not on-site to see your efforts and brainstorm to come up with creative ways to win these, and future sales.
1. All phone and walk in traffic is to have a guest card completed. For walk in traffic, complete the specifics of the guest card after the prospect has left. Record ALL information, including objections, apartments viewed, reasons not leased, specials offered, apartments viewed etc. Each field of the guest card is there for a specific reason.
2. Upon the completion of the phone call or tour, the guest card is to be entered into Entrata. You must enter ALL information on the guest card in Entrata. Utilize the “notes” section to list identifying facts about the prospect that can be used as a conversation starter when performing follow up. Some examples could be “grew up in area”, “just got back from Canada”, “started new job at Cigna Health”. This will increase your likelihood of closing the sale on follow up. People buy from people they like. And they like people who listen to them, so mention that new job or trip they told you about.
3. Before closing the guest card in Entrata, you must schedule your next follow up by selecting Schedule Manual Contact. The first follow up must be completed within 24 hours of the prospects initial contact
4. Follow up must be done DAILY. Navigate to the Entrata Dashboard>Leads>Contact needed to perform all follow up. Aggressive follow-up is critical to capture more leases and it does work! Your follow up activity is to be based on when the prospect is looking to move. For example, if someone wants to move ASAP, we should follow up before the close of the business day and the following days as well. Someone looking within the month needs to be contacted before the close of the business day and at least twice a week, stepping it up the closer we get to their move date. The follow up calls need not be pushy, but a pleasant greeting with a specific purpose of “updating” the prospect on their desired floorplan, a new special, or an apartment you think will be perfect for them.
5. Follow up must also be clearly documented and entered into Entrata. If you left a message with someone, indicate the date and time and result. Example: “TT (talked to) brother, LM about apt 106 having a balcony”. If you left a voicemail document “VM about apt 106 having balcony.” If someone contacts you by email, and a phone number is provided, reach out to them by phone first. If they do not answer, leave message and follow up immediately with an email. All leads must be responded to within 2 business hours of them being received.
6. Consistent follow up does not have to be “harassing” or “annoying”. When performing the follow up, be conversational and use something you learned about them to open the conversation. We do not want to call and say “I was just seeing if you are still looking for an apartment, I have a great special.” We want to say “How are you? I hope you aren’t still out in this cold trying to find your new home!” The more you learn about your customer, the better the follow up experience for them will be. If they have a pet, reference the pet, “How are you? Does Tidus hate going outside in this freezing weather?” Something to break the ice and make it more personal and less business will help your customer drop their walls.
7. We do not ASSUME anything but THE SALE. We do not assume they did not like it, it was too much, we will annoy them. Our responsibility to our customer is to keep them updated and make them feel wanted until they tell us they will not be needing our service. At that point, respond you understand and congratulate them that they found a home and say “Do you mind if I ask where you went and what it was about them you liked?” Try it. You will be surprised. Log that information in the activity log of Entrata and use that information to win a future sale by being ready to overcome it. Ask them how long of a lease they are signing ad schedule a manual contact to follow up with them 60 days before that lease is up. If they aren’t happy you have another chance to win the sale.
