Marketing & Leasing: Control What You Can Control

With the peak of leasing season ending for 2024, many know that the uphill battle of filling units will likely continue into 2025. While it might feel daunting and nerve-wracking, we wanted to offer some areas where you can dedicate your resources for a less tumultuous 2025 leasing season.  

The mindset is simple: control what you can control. While you can’t control leads or their behaviors, you can control the strategies and processes that help attract, capture, nurture, and convert leads into leases. Here’s what you can control:  

Lead Generation

There are many things marketing can do to entice leads to book a tour, from social media to ILS listings, and more. But what happens when they get to your property’s website? While you may have a website showcasing units, some websites aren’t maximizing their opportunities with prospective renters.

Your property’s website is the digital storefront of your community, which means it’s of heavy importance. When looking for an apartment, renters want a website that is both easy to navigate and get information on units.  

An excellent user experience is what you can control. Things like interactive floor plans and neighborhood maps will showcase everything: the property itself, the available units, and even the areas neighboring your property. You can see where each available unit is located on the property, what floor each unit is on, and how that unit’s location might impact the living experience.

Additionally, you can maximize the capture of leads by using an AI-powered Chatbot. This tool embedded in your website will answer questions 24 hours a day just like a human would, scheduling tours and capturing guest card information along the way.  

With an AI-powered Chatbot and an easy-to-navigate website, you control the highest possible outcome of high-intent leads.

Lead Nurture and Follow-Up

Once a lead’s information is captured or a tour is scheduled, this point in the leasing journey is where many properties leave money on the table... and it’s not necessarily attributed to your staff’s lack of trying.  

Leasing agents juggle lots of tasks and the more you juggle, the higher the chance a lead gets dropped. While there is only so much leasing agents can control on their own, the support from technology can help support any gaps that arise in the leasing process. Take a look at the data and ask yourself these questions:  

1. Where is the drop-off? At what point are leads ghosting or going in a different direction? Is this something you can solve for with a contact center or CRM automation?

2. Where are the gaps in processes? There are ways you can speed up follow-up time in your own CRM, especially by creating automated tasks or follow-ups. Maybe you set up automated reminders of upcoming tours or automated follow-ups after the tour is completed?

3. Are you communicating with leads to their preference? Some people want to text and some prefer a phone call or email. Make sure you are set up for all 3 to see more success.

4. Do you have a leasing playbook for both stale and new leads? Different kinds of leads need different kinds of engagement. New leads need speed and fast follow-up. Older leads need to be brought back to life at the right time. It's important to have a different nurturing track for both. You can squeeze the juice out of stale leads by following up a year after they initially showed interest since they are most likely wrapping up a 12-month lease somewhere else.

Renewals

As many have heard, renewals start at move-in. What can you do with the budget and resources you currently have to make move-in that much smoother for them? Maybe it’s providing clear move-in instructions with resources to movers and rental trucks. Maybe it’s ordering a delivery pizza for renters to enjoy after a day of unpacking or moving. Maybe it’s sending them an email a week after move-in to see how they’re settling into their new home.

A little goes a long way and your renters are sure to start their lease on a happy note should you add a little something to make them feel cared for and welcomed.  

As the peak of the 2024 leasing season wraps up, it's clear that the challenge of filling units will likely extend into 2025. While this may seem overwhelming, focusing on the aspects you can control will certainly influence the flow of leads and their behaviors in the renting process. Shape your strategies and processes in a way that provides for renters and you are sure to maximize your occupancy.

‍