Keeping Leads Inside Your Portfolio (and Out of Your Competitors') in the Multifamily Industry

Generating and retaining high-quality leads is a top priority for many property management companies. With all the time and budget devoted to attracting residents, leasing teams should do anything to keep those leads inside their company's portfolio. But if the initial property a prospect considers doesn't have exactly what they're looking for, they likely will head next door to your competitor — when instead, they could be referred to a nearby sister property. Referring prospects from one property to another isn't just a resource saver. It also greatly impacts your bottom line: Our data shows that referred prospects are twice as likely to convert to renters as non-referred prospects. So, how can you leverage sister property referrals for sustained business growth? It all comes down to embracing a customer-centric leasing strategy — and finding the tools to help you deploy that strategy. 1. Maintain a consistent customer experience When referring prospects from one property to another, a key part of providing a great customer experience is a consistent customer experience. How do you get started? "Get back to the basics," says Pauline Houchins, Executive Vice President at First Communities. "One of the things that we've done is add a beverage cart. It forced our associates to ask the prospect if they want a refreshment, bring the beverage cart and give them a small experience before you even tour them or talk about your amenities." To bolster in-person customer service, you should also allow leasing agents to capture and share lead information and preferences quickly. This enables all leasing agents to see a record of prospect interactions (like a beverage cart chat). It also ensures that prospects experience the same great level of service throughout their leasing journey. A Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) solution with a guest card does this work for you. By tracking a prospect's amenity and unit preferences, a guest card makes that informa...