Pump Up the Volume: How to Maximize Lead Conversion

Apartments that miss leasing inquiries or wait too long for follow-up with prospective renters may be throwing away money. Multifamily call center data shows that more than half of email and text inquiries come in after business hours and conversion rates drop the longer it takes for the property to respond. Industry experts say that failing to respond within the first hour lessens the chances that prospects will lease because a competitor may subsequently capture their attention. In other words, strike while the iron is hot to generate leads. When prospects call, email, text or request a live chat, someone needs to respond quickly. An industry problem, however, is that onsite personnel can’t always man the phones or computers to answer inquiries around the clock. Contact centers are filling that void by meeting prospective renters on the channels of their choices but it’s taking market intelligence to make the most of lead capture and lead management. Capture many leads quickly to sign more leases In 12 years at RealPage, Vice President and Industry Principal Jeremy Batson has heard many stories about onsite leasing personnel answering all leasing inquiries personally. For after-hours calls, voicemail would capture the rest. Many property managers are sure that the prospect would call back later if they don’t reach someone right away. The truth is, a significant number of calls aren’t getting answered and prospects aren’t calling back. Batson notes data revealed by market researcher Rentlinx. A study showed that of 8,000 leasing inquiries, 80 percent of prospects didn’t leave a voicemail. “Before going into voicemail, about 50 percent of those calls were actually being missed,” he said. “You’re already missing half of those leads. The most compelling part of the story is that 55 percent of those are not calling back. Leads that you spent a lot of advertising dollars, a lot of strategy and resources...