Does it seem like each weekly ops call during a lease-up goes something like this?
Marketing report: “Leads are up 36% for the month to 342, and our cost per click was well below benchmarks. The e-blast was sent out to 2,495 recipients promoting our special, and we have another one coming up. Overall, a good month!”
Leasing report: “We had 58 tours for the month, which was pretty consistent lately. We grossed 18 and netted 13 – behind our target of 20. Biggest source was the website and our ILS package. As noted by marketing, things really seem to be picking up, and we have a couple of tours set up for Saturday”
We’ve all been on this call, although the actual numbers vary. Dashboards are shared and a read out of data begins, pausing swiftly just to take a breath with the hope nobody asks a question.
Well, I’m not ashamed to admit I’m that guy to ask a question, or five. Somebody NEEDS to ask questions. And for two reasons:
1: Unfortunately, all too often our clients indicate they have low confidence in the numbers being reported. This isn’t surprising considering how fast we’ve adopted technology to solve our problems. But data fragmentation is an unintended consequence, and it’s impacting our ability to see clearly.
What’s the difference between a “marketing event” and “conversion,” and where/how are they measured? What’s a lead versus a prospect? (Hint…they’re not interchangeable, and just because you emailed a lead doesn’t make them a prospect.) Why do the CRM (Customer Relationship Management software) and the PMS (Property Management System) report two totally different lead numbers? Why are 80% of my leads attributed to “property website” when the website is a capture tool, not the bait drawing them in?
2: Too much underperformance gets swept under the rug – often with my personal favorite excuses taking their place: seasonality, fraud, and too expensive. I don’t doubt those reasons are in play. But these are ALWAYS headwinds.
So, let’s move onto what really matters: lead quality + channel volume, tour scheduling + conversions, and sales success. This alone could become the 30-minute conversation each week. And it could possibly be the most valuable 30 minutes in your portfolio’s week.
When developers and asset managers started calling us with concerns about their absorption, they began by asking us to look under the hood. In response, we developed our Marketing + Sales Performance Assessment offering. Red Propeller now performs dozens of these assessments each year for lease-ups of all types around the country. This business has grown to the point that we have built a marketing performance team to help clients both diagnose opportunities and lead repairs and improvements in cooperation with in-house or third-party operating partners. In many cases, we bolt onto the current marketing team to add horsepower and thought leadership for as long as we’re needed to boost performance.
So, let’s get back to the example. Curious how we would begin? Here are a few questions off the top…
- What is the benchmark, and how is it relevant to where we are in the campaign? (KPI evaluation issue.)
- Why is it we have 36% more leads, but nothing to show for it in terms of tours? (Lead quality issue.)
- Just 22% of our tours turned into an actual lease. What’s up with the tour experience? (In today’s climate with endless access to information, more than ever before prospects are coming in qualified and darn near ready to make a decision.)
- What marketing investments are on the horizon, and how are they responding to the current needs in the marketing funnel?
If your lease-up is plateauing or you’re looking to assure a successful launch of an upcoming property, we’d love to be part of your team. Collaboration and focus for even just a few months can really move the needle.
Get in touch anytime. We love this kind of work!