Apartment Trends Magazine March 2020 | Page 36

ALMOST HALF OF RENTAL PROSPECTS PREFER YOU REACH OUT TO THEM IN THE spending more time on your website and you become top of their list very quickly.” Off ering a wide range of communication and viewing options for your prospects keeps those high-priority leads engaged. “We make so many buying decisions using research tools online and consumers appreciate the convenience of not having to come into the offi ce to fi ll out forms,” says Katrina Greene, Senior Regional Manager at Sheehan Property Management. “Virtual tours or video footage of the unit allow us to be more eff ective with our prospects who are out of state or even out of the country. They can make a confi dent buying decision without physically being on-site because they have seen the amenities, neighborhood and the unit via video.” Matt Weirich, Co-Founder and CEO of Realync, a video- leasing platform company, believes prospects who view videos of the property will be closer to making a leasing decision by the time they come to visit the community. “After they watch the videos and go through the PERQ experience, they’ll be more qualifi ed and more buy-ready,” Weirich says. “The leasing agent is still an important part of the process, because they instill trust in the property where the prospect will live.” Barratt Asset Management embraces whatever platform the customer prefers. “The new communication channels have vastly impacted lead nurturing,” Azar says. ”We can do FaceTime calls and tours, and it’s really a game-changer. People from out of state can see your face and it provides comfortability and starts building that trust.” Variety of Follow Up and the Lead Nurturing Process Did you know that almost half of rental prospects prefer you reach out to them in the morning? PERQ analyzed national, regional and benchmark data from nearly 320 properties across the U.S., along with 93,000 consumer responses with 328,000 data points, and captured the latest renter insights in their Multifamily Field Guide. “We are defi nitely seeing the same dynamics as what was found in PERQ’s prospect survey,” says Lisa Harris, Regional Manager for W3 Luxury Living, a property management company based in Colleyville, Texas. “Of course, you have to fi nd out what they are looking for, which locations and 34 | TRENDS MARCH 2020 www.aamdhq.org