Having the Prospect “Request More Information” Upon Inquiry
If your prospects’ only option is to fill out a form and leave an email and phone number when they are interested in a property, they’re very likely to move forward with their search elsewhere. Even if they do fill out their information, there are no assurances that the property is still available or that they will hear back from the leasing agent in a timely manner.EXCLUSIVELY using an online showing software.
While online showing scheduling software provides the benefit of reducing incoming leasing calls, it shouldn’t be the prospects’ ONLY option. Many prospects will be happy and comfortable scheduling their showing online, but others will move on if they don’t have the option to speak to somebody on the phone.
No Pictures, Few Pictures, or Poor Quality Pictures of the Listing
Finding a place to rent is usually something people do in a time crunch. If the prospect can’t even get the gist of what the property looks like from a picture, they are WAY less likely to take the time to inquire about it much less drive to see it.
- Offering only a few pictures sends the message that certain parts of the house aren’t “picture worthy”.
- Poor quality pictures (pictures of the corner of a room, or blurry pictures for example) are just frustrating, and there are too many listing out there with beautiful pictures.
- It is very unlikely that a prospect will give the time of day to a listing that provides no real depiction of the property outside of descriptive text.
Learn how to stand out in the way you market your properties here..
Calls Going to Voicemail
I’ve shopped for a rental myself, and you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get a leasing agent on the phone. Every time I reached a voicemail box, I would leave a message and move on. It would be unwise of me to sit around and wait for a call back on one listing. For all I know, that property might have already been rented or there are already 10 other applications submitted. If a prospect talks to another leasing agent about another listing before you call them back (assuming you’d get around to calling them back), there is a huge chance you won’t reach them in time. They may have even liked your listing better. However, because they couldn’t reach you, you’ve lost them to another management company’s listing.
Rude or Rushed Agents
No one wants to answer the same silly questions over and over 100 times per day. Unfortunately, that’s often the daily hassle for leasing agents. Their phones are ringing off the hook on top of the daily responsibilities they’re required to complete. That being said, that’s not the prospects problem, and it can lead to loss of business (money) and/or poor reviews for your company.
If your prospects’ only option is to fill out a form and leave an email and phone number when they are interested in a property, they’re very likely to move forward with their search elsewhere. Even if they do fill out their information, there are no assurances that the property is still available or that they will hear back from the leasing agent in a timely manner.Many companies are now looking using alternative methods to handle leasing inquiries to assure they are not losing qualified leads, repurposing their leasing staff for growth with the freed up time. Learn more here.