The Demand Solutions Blog

Welcome to The Demand Solutions Blog

by Doug Davidoff | Mar 23, 2014 12:00:00 AM

Look at the key drivers of your business today.  Make a list. Really, make a list – we’ll wait.

What did you come up with?

  • Operations
  • Resident experience
  • Technology
  • Finance
  • Marketing
  • Sales

While I’m sure your list varies, I’m also sure you’ll agree that just about everything your company does falls into one of these categories.

Now, for each function, ask yourself, “How much change has this functional area undergone over the last 20 years?”

For five of the six disciplines, I’d bet that they’ve undergone tremendous transformation, and in some cases don’t even resemble the approach you took before the popularization of the Internet.

For example:

  • The late 1990s introduced automated credit scoring that allowed you to improve the efficiency of your operations, lower costs and reduce risk.
  • Online property management systems (PMS) took hold in the early to mid-2000s, further increasing our efficiency and effectiveness.
  • In the past 10 years, pricing and revenue management has allowed you enhance your revenue growth and increase predictability.
  • Today eCommerce and marketing analytics have taken hold within the multi-family housing world.

I could go down each of the first five disciplines and outline fundamental changes that have taken place.  But, what about the sixth discipline…sales?

If Rip Van Winkle had fallen asleep in 1994 and woken up today in the typical leasing office he’d be confused by all of the technology, but he’d be completely at home with the sales process.  The truth is that if he’d gone to sleep in 1964, the sales process wouldn’t look much different.

Poor_MFH_Sales_ApproachAsk some questions.  Qualify. Tour path. Close. You may use different names, but the process is the same.  It’s bad process. For several reasons, and the top two are:

  1. It’s not built to how renters buy today
  2. It’s process (“me”) centered instead of prospect (“you”) centered which leads to less trust, making everyone’s job more difficult.

Twenty years ago the world was still steeped in a “buyer-beware” mentality.  The seller had all the information – and therefor all of the leverage.  As Daniel Pink shares in his book To Sell Is Human, the information asymmetry that existed then no longer exists today. If anything, we live in a “seller-beware” world.

And it’s time for multi-family housing organizations to bring their sales processes into the 21st century.  To build a true system, designed to work in a world where the buyer has all of the information they need, in a world where operational excellence and deal-making acumen are no longer enough to ensure sustained success.

An investment in sales acumen can have a tremendous impact on your efficiency, productivity, resident experience and most importantly, your bottom line.

And this is why we’ve launched a new website and a new blog.  Join us as we share the latest research, experience, insights and best practices into how multi-family organizations can make all facets of their organization world class.  As a company whose principal was instrumental in revolutionizing how multi-family organizations manage pricing, our goal is have the same impact on the sales side. And while pricing will certainly find its way into this blog, the focus will be on sales, marketing and building a team of highly successful leasing associates.

We encourage whatever level of conversation you wish. Leave us a comment. Send us an email. Or, of course, reach out if you’re ready to learn how we can bring these results to your business.

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