The Battle of Multifamily Leasing: Sales vs. Service
Summer leasing time! Time to hire leasing professionals, and that means a choice when looking for skill sets… Sales-First or Service-First?
There’s no right answer…so, who ya got?
Sales
Feature/benefit selling
Show them a lifestyle
Pushing your assets to close
Service
Prioritize long-term relationships
Exceptional customer service
Addressing their needs to close
Based on what we are seeing from industry leaders such as UDR, we might be seeing a shift in the industry as a whole. In the past, a leasing professional’s role was to be both sales based and service based. However, many operators are switching to centralized sales with the goal of the onsite team's focus being relationship building and retention.
After working at Greystar and talking to [100s] of leasing professionals, here’s a simple grid that may help with pros and cons.
Sales
Pros
Generate quick revenue to fill vacancies
More effective in highly competitive markets
Useful especially in a lease-up where vacancies need to be filled quickly
Cons
High resident turnover when the main focus is getting a leased signed
Creation of a transactional relationship with residents rather than a community- oriented one.
Buildings with high turnover are not sustainable long term – high cost and limited revenue growth
Service
Pros
Higher resident retention rates and positive reputation scores
Assists in building a sense of community among residents
May lead to higher revenue in the long-term as happy residents are more likely to renew their lease and recommend the property to friends, family and colleagues
Cons
Challenges in leasing in highly competitive markets
Typically requires more resources and investment in staff training and resident amenities to provide high-quality customer service
May not generate as much immediate revenue as the sales-based approach
While a sales-based approach can be effective at certain properties in highly competitive markets, a service based approach can lead to more sustainable and long term success by prioritizing resident satisfaction and retention.
How is the multifamily industry training their teams to be focused on both approaches? What incentives are you giving your team members to eb and flow with the resident lifecycle?
