Are “standard” shopping reports fair? Should companies customize their expectations in their shopping reports?

• David Kotowski: Companies should customize their shopping reports based on what/how they train their associates.
• Jennifer Kennedy: I think customized shops are better than standard, but I think standard are fair.
• Patrick Nelson: There should be a minimum standard for our industry however I think each company should customize when possible.
• Heather Kattelman: Def customize! If we are going to hold them resp for leasing polc that’ what we shop for.
• University Pines: Ours shops via phone 1st scoring out of 100 pts, then actual visit scoring out of 200.
• David Kotowski: The old saying “inspect what you expect” comes to mind here. It’s unfair to inspect more than you’ve told someone you expect.
• Janet Rosseth: Custom reports should follow agent job description closely. If u expect your brand sold a certain way, it should be on there.
• Jennifer Kennedy: Customize – because we have special programs that give us comp. adv. and we want our teams to talk them up.
• Richard George: You should only customize to test specific behaviors that you want to encourage.
• Elysa Rice: We think it’s important to have an industry standard to compare against. mgt co can customize in addition to standards.
• Janet Rosseth: Most shopper services allow for companies to customize around the standards.
• Elysa Rice: Questions like response time should most certainly be compared.
• Joanna Ellis: Most companies we work with (hundreds) customize shop reports to their training programs laying out guidelines and expectations.

Should auto-responders get the same ‘rating’ as a Leasing Pro generated response?

• Patrick Nelson: No. Nothing like a response from a live person.
• Matt Adler: I’d say no. The autoresponder should be counted as a PART of the process but doesn’t replace personal interaction.
• Elysa Rice: Industry standard is 40% NO response at all on internet leads – so by all means auto is better than nothing.
• Joanna Ellis: Many companies send auto resp but also require agent to follow up with personal email and/or call.
• Janet Rosseth: Auto responder is nothing more than an out of office tool. It can be written to engage prospect until agent connects though.

Many companies today are ‘training to the shop’. Is this realistic?

• Kim Cory: NO-what are we training robots here?
• Zack Kestenbaum: I’m an idealist, I think we need to hire quality people and trust them, measuring is good but don’t “train to the shop.”
• Janet Rosseth: Shops should measure the effectiveness of training programs, not to point out faults in our agents.
• Tamela Coval: As a former leasing agent, the shop rep was 1st presented to me as a constructive tool-I carry that positive approach with me 2day.

What if all shops simply had the one question: Would you have leased today based upon the leasing pro’s behavior? Yes or No.

• Carmen Krushas: That’s why the big Q are the benchmark Q’s. need to jazz it up a bit?! totally stagnant. (I do like your question tho)
• Lisa Trosien: My former mgmt co always shopped us 2x on our ‘shop day’ as they believed shoppers had bad days. Wanted to be fair to us.
• Jennifer Kennedy: I don’t trust the shopper on that. They might have said “yes” to everyone because they aren’t truly moving.
• Zack Kestenbaum: Too subjective, what happens if shopper is having a bad day?
• Joanna Ellis: One question is good but sales does require technique too. If you don’t ask, you may not receive!
• Kim Cory: Some also like seeing formal evaluations even all-stars. Shops should B explained & used as a tool 2 help.
• University Pines: That 1 question’s important but responder really needs to be specific & descriptive in the answer 2 get anything out of it.
• Heather Kattelman: I would question this b/c I’ve seen many shops that this 1 ans just doesn’t “fit” w/ the overall opinion of the rest of the report.

Should you ever terminate a leasing pro for a bad shop? Why or why not?

• Kim Cory: NEVER!
• Jennifer Kennedy: No. Sets a bad precedent. Only exception is if they did something illegal during the shop.
• Zack Kestenbaum: Don’t fire based on a shop, fire based on results.
• University Pines: Anyone can have a bad day…not a good reason to “punish” & def not to fire…good learning tool tho.
• Carmen Krushas: Get the dead weight off and shop. Nothing wrong with firing for the right reasons. Who cares if they had a bad day? not customer.
• David Kotowski: For one bad shop? NO!! For consistently bad shops? Maybe. Regardless of the #’s, everyone eventually has to show they know.

Other notable comments and questions to get you thinking:

• Patrick Nelson: How frequently should the team be shopped?
• University Pines: frequency: i think no less than once a month…
• Elysa Rice: We have a client that uses their reports as competitive motivatrs for agents – they win vacay time, bonuses, etc based on reports.
• Janet Rosseth: If 55-65% of our first contacts are from Internet, we should be “shopping” there more frequently.
• Joanna Ellis: Shops are used primarily as training tools but also serve as a form of accountability. “Do they not do or do they not know?”
• Lisa Trosien: Is a ‘national benchmark’, such as what Ellis uses, helpful? It shows you how you stack up…I like it.
• Justin Dunckel: Ellis bechmark is great. Even cooler that they customize results for our small Co. so we can compare vs. the big guys.
• Eric Brown: If I were a leasing consultant and my company shopped me I would seek employment elsewhere, Measure me on Results, not a witch hunt.
• Joanna Ellis: Large co shared how shop drives results-100% shop = double lease bonus per lease. Do I hear “commission sales people”? Results!!!
• Lisa Trosien: If shops are used constructively as a training tool, they are *not* witch hunts.
• Joanna Ellis: Companies shopping regularly can spot trends and use information individually and globally to redirect training. Goal: Consistency.
• Tamela Coval: As Trainer on both owner/manager & vendor side, I used Shop Rep as Training Guide. Not 2 teach 2 the test, but 2 set expectations.
• Megan Yasenchack: It (shops) would help me to improve my skills, being new in leasing I want to learn as much as I can 2 get better at what I do.
• Justin Dunckel: We’re kind of all pretending these shops are 100% subjective about the LC. I sure gain more info than that on mine.

Additional Resources:

• Sample shopping report (provided by Matt Adler)
• 2009 last qtr’s Net Mystery Shopper benchmark (Provided by Elysa Rice, representing 536 shopping reports)

What’s your opinion on secret shops? Good? Bad? Helpful? Are you customizing the shops based on your training program, or are you using a “standard” report? And how does your bracket look so far?

(This week’s #AptChat included 307 tweets from 46 different contributors.)

Have any of you used a service to fight your property tax bills? We are considering it, but paying out 1/3 of the savings seems high.

• Kimberly Madrigal: Yes, I used a fixed-fee service. Waiting to hear from County. Can do youself. Not complicated in L.A.
• Kimberly Madrigal: Had worked w/ them before during last recession and were successful w/SFR property tax reduction. Still waiting to see . . .
• Will Clark: Use it everywhere. Many good services out there for appeals. Can be complex (IN) but adds value to property.
• Kimberly Madrigal: Paperwork here is very easy. Don’t know abt where you are. Consider going to county office or check online and looking at forms.
• Will Clark: Get appraisals, cash flows, BOVs (Broker Opinion of Value), fire damage report, anything to show reduced value.
• Will Clark: LIHTC is particularly vulnerable to high appraisals. Assessors do not understand income limits.
• Lisa Trosien: I would guess that values have definitely fallen in most markets. Do you know the value of your property today?
• Will Clark: Check all your parcels. Are they correctly classified (improved, vacant, commercial, etc)?

One of my highest costs is payroll. How can I effectively cut staff without cutting service to residents? (You had a LOT to say about this!)

• Bob Gura: Trading services such as painting units rent credit is an area we are exploring.
• Heather Blume: Outsourced contract workers can be a major money saver dep. on the cost of benefits, but they’re not as stable always.
• Jeff Sandell: Hire only strong multi-taskers. No one can just be one thing and one thing only in this market.
• Heather Blume: If you (hypothetical), cut one leasing agent job right now, & then used staffing over the summer, you might come out ahead.
• Eric at Buildium: One example, posting online virtual tours may cut time spent on property tours, thus reducing staffing needs.
• Will Clark: Watch OT, explore flexible scheduling. Open late to prospects, give staff time to complete admin work. Use floaters.
• Charity Hisle: It’s important to evaluate staff carefully, to see if they ‘fit’ your company culture and values. If not, cut.
• Tamela Coval: Technology like iPhones for Service Techs is an efficient way to manage time therefore $$.
• Heather Blume: Another solution is to bring in a company like Community Northwest or CARES who can handle the retention side.
• Bob Gura: Outside of resident retention, there isn’t many things more important to take time for than property tours.
• Elena Ferranti: Change to a Wed to Sun work week to eliminate need for weekend staff. Maintenance continued Mon to Fri.
• Will Clark: Identify where people spend time and look for efficiencies. LIHTC apps, invoicing, non-resident svcs that are time sucks.
• Lisa Trosien: One company here in IL is cutting ALL benefits but keeping on all staff. Is that a solution?
• Kimberly Madrigal: UDR is using commission-only leasing agents.
• Jennifer Kennedy: I think you are better of retaining your best employees and keeping them happy – no cutting benefits.
• Heather Blume: Pay people well and APPRICIATE them, and they are more likely to be higher performers for you.
• Eric Brown: Many cuts in expenses may seem short sighted, but we have never seen economic times like these.
• UMoveFree: If you use commission-based leasing agents, make sure they are trustworthy and ethical or it could damage your property’s reputation.
• Darcey Forbes: Most companies are looking at how to reduce/consolidate staffing due to the implementation of programs like Level One or Crossfire.
• Leigh Curry: Use a health insurance auditor. Good auditors can find up to a 10% discount in total medical insurance costs.
• Bob Gura: We are coming up on one year with Crossfire and I am not impressed with the results. Our staff is much more engaging.
• Lisa Trosien: I have seen companies who do not reduce staff because they add a call center, but simply don’t replace staff who leave.
• Bob Gura: Don’t downplay stability at properties. It really impacts retention. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.
• Heather Blume: The owner/CEO of CSI took total pay cut my last year there in the hopes of not laying off people. Breeds loyalty.
• Lisa Trosien: REIT salaries of top execs are published; interesting to see if there’s any difference in year to year.
• Will Clark: As an owner, a good PM is always worth the NOI hit. I love seeing familiar faces and not retraining to my style and goals.
• Katie Roncadori: I think you can, as long as you have quality staff in place that actually cares about the community and the residents.
• Jonathan Saar: Broad question- but I don’t ever feel people going will aid resident service.

As a follow-up, Lisa Trosien posed this question:
Do we all believe the old rule of 100-1 units to staff doesn’t hold anymore? Thoughts?
Here’s how you responded:

• Will Clark: I can be persuaded that 1.5:100 is the new standard. Depends on age, turnover, needs of property.
• Laura at GABP: That rule didnt work when it was the industry std. How many U need depends on the quality of your people.
• Lisa Trosien: I think the # of people depends upon the level of service you provide and your tech sophistication.
• Elena Ferranti: Number of staff can also depend on history of prop. A problem prop needs much more staff.
• Bob Gura: Redesigning jobs to broaden responsibilities and staggering shifts can create a leaner more focused environment.
• Eric Brown: The number of people required verses the level of service can be overrated, More people doesn’t = better service.
• Eric at Buildium: I agree that 1 can’t manage 1,000. But a quality person will find a way to do a great job with limited tools.

We wrapped up the conversation with our picks for the Big Game — it looks like the #AptChat audience will be a house divided on Super Bowl Sunday.

There were a lot of interesting comments along the way about the training, technology, personality and motivation required to help onsite staff succeed — make sure you read the discussion, and leave your own comments below. Here’s the link to the full transcript — we had 338 tweets over the course of the hour, coming from 57 different contributors.

What are you doing to keep your expenses in check? Tell us what you think!

What’s your resolution, how can you put it into place, and how’s it going to work for you?

• Kim Cory: My resolution is to take my knowledge in SM (social media), set goals & use practical tools to build a bigger picture for my brand.
• Buildium: Our goal is to improve our communication. We are in the process of making this a S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely) goal.
• Niman: My New Year’s Resolution – Get all tenants to pay rent online.
• Erica Campbell: My first resolution is to clean my Outlook which is currently a hot mess:)
• Jennifer Kennedy: My resolution is maximize all of the wonderful resources we have. Focus on utilizing all of our tools to their potential.
• Jonathan Saar: Goal is to get my peeps on board with Social Media & to use it regularly.
• Jonathan Saar: Social Media had definitely helped with our brand awareness and in 2010 that path will continue.
• Houston Apartment Association: Engagement is our key #resolution for 2010; planning to hire a SM/online brand person for HAA.
• Justin Dunckel: Goal is to expand the business a bit more & create some jobs….seriously!
• Tim Grace: Pretty much only one resolution re: Apts.com – delight more users in 2010. All other great things will come from that.
• Kristi Fickert: My goal = my site folks HAVE 2 understand SM, how it works, how to market w/ it (even if someone else does it for them).

Obviously, it appears that a lot of folks are looking to integrate social media tools further into their businesses in 2010 … I guess we shouldn’t expect anything less from this bunch! (Personally, I also appreciate that there was a strong focus on serving our customers better.) In fact, besides the Houston Apartment Association, a number of other companies are bringing on additional staff specifically to help with social media, including Worthing Southeast Management, For Rent Media Solutions and Village Green Apartments. (Here’s the job description for the position at For Rent if you want to get an idea of the skill set they’re looking for.)

How are everyone’s budget’s coming? Leaner than last year? What’s the word on those?

• Kim Cory: Budgets for 2010 are similar to 2009, but with a few minor cuts. We had strong cuts in 2009.
• Kim Cory: (My budget) was cut about 9% in 2009 and in 2010 I worked hard to not cut anymore, so same amount in 2010 for marketing.
• Erica Campbell: I completely reallocated my budget today for a whole new strategy than i had a few months ago.
• Jonathan Saar: It’s not the time to stop investing in what works – keep plowing forward.
• Elysa Rice: I think look at all marketing avenues & see which are producing & which aren’t. Don’t cut based on numbers, cut based on results.

Any major lessons learned from 2009 that changed your outlook for 2010?

• Lisa Trosien: Just don’t labor under the belief that Social Media is free. It’s clearly NOT.
• Buildium: One thing we would like to do in 2010 is give our interns a voice. One option we’re using is CoTweet.
• Erica Campbell: Big lesson- LOCAL CONTENT IS KING.
• Tami Siewruk: 2009 was about learning social media. 2010 will be about figuring out how to use it well.
• Erica Campbell: Lesson 2: Media fragmentation has produced a fundamental conundrum.

What are you doing to improve retention?

• Elysa Rice: Engagement, engagement & engagement!
• Erica Campbell: Bundling packages & adding value add services.
• Kim Cory: We would like to have our residents more involved, feel part of the process & decisions made at the community.
• Kim Obert: Treat people nicely (i.e. “service” in customer service).
• Claire Collins:Look for opportunities for engagement. Interest groups, etc.

Take the time to read the full transcript — there were a lot of great side conversations and insights shared throughout the discussion.

I leave you with this: As Lisa noted during the chat, “your goals are more easily achieved when a) you put them in writing, and b) you have an audible or visible means of tracking them.” You took the first step by putting your goals in writing. Now, what are you going to do to make sure you follow through on them in the coming year?

On behalf of Lisa, I’d like to thank everyone who has made the Apartment Chat what it is today. Thanks for a great year — we look forward to seeing you again in 2010!

Here are the questions that were discussed:

• Why does controlling resident turnover matter?
• What matters most to residents when considering renewal?
• How does technology impact resident retention?
• When does resident renewal decision begin?

Check out these interesting stats provided by SatisFacts during the discussion:

• Average cost of turnover = $4500 per move-out (Includes avg. rent, vacancy loss, wages, ads, promo, concessions, repair/replace, etc.)
• The average resident turnover for 2008 at properties nationwide was 59% (According to the NAA).
• If a 5,000-unit portfolio can reduce turnover by 9.5%, that portfolio’s NOI can increase over $2 million.
• The same 9.5% improvement in the same 5,000-unit portfolio can increase asset value over $26 million.
• 60+% of turnover is controllable, primarily by improving office staff performance and responsiveness.
• Communication from staff and work order resolution are generally more important to residents than apartment appearance and condition.
• 60% of residents want to communicate via email. That has DOUBLED in the last two years! Yet, on average, property managers only have about 15% of their residents’ email addresses.

You can calculate the NOI impact of reducing turnover with the SatisFacts Turnover calculator.

Here’s the link to the transcript (over 600 tweets!) … feel free to share this info with your team.

What are you doing to improve resident retention at your property and throughout your portfolio? Leave your ideas and share your experiences in the comments.

See you next week, everyone!