I recently heard a story from a friend who is also in the property management business about an apartment community that was promoting an early renewal contest. The community sent out flyers telling residents that if they signed renewal papers early, they would be entered into a raffle. So a resident excitedly entered the leasing office early with his paperwork and, as my friend stated, “that’s 12 more months of rent right there” and their office associate begrudgingly took the paperwork, almost as if not interested in dealing with this obviously-satisfied-enough-to-renew-for-another-12-months resident, that there was not even a smile on his face and didn’t even mention the contest until the resident asked about his raffle ticket.

I understand that sometimes we as property management communities forget that our every day job is the same place that our residents want to look forward to coming home to after a hard day of school or work. I can even think back to times when I was really tired and busy and would lose sight of the fact that where I work is where people live, their home, the place they chose to live (and renew) among the hundreds of others, but even then I can’t remember being annoyed and ungrateful when they brought their renewal paperwork back or got excited about a contest or event (especially because sometimes it took a lot of work on my part to get that renewal paperwork back!). The fact that they got excited about contests and events was often the motivation I would need to get back on the spirit train.

I visit on-site teams now to help them think of new ways to involve residents in the community, and more and more I hear them tell me that their residents don’t want to be involved or aren’t interested in the community experience. And I honestly started to believe it. Then I hear a story like this, and it makes me think: If when they are excited and motivated enough to participate, they are then let down by feeling like they are being bothersome, it’s no wonder they “don’t want to participate”. Just as we would not want to go home to someone who’s miserable to have us there, neither do our residents and it just might mean they go elsewhere where they are appreciated.

While I will not naively believe that every resident will get excited about or become involved in every community activity that is presented to them, that story helped me to regain that spirit and confidence in the importance of resident appreciation and community activities and I hope to motivate our teams to get back that spirit instead of giving up.

I would love some advice and even some great stories that I can share to help others regain their spirit and motivate them to continue to think outside the box and create a living experience that is truly memorable for their residents.

Get to The Point

When communicating information, we often think that backdrop or off topic analogies are going to really bring our point home. Not so much. Especially in an attention deficit economy. Few listen/hear anymore and often draw conclusions well before you have reached your second sentence. So start with the punch line and follow with the build up. Hit the crescendo and follow with the introduction.

Tell Them What You are About to Tell Them

There is a truism in public speaking that makes sense here; it goes something like this, tell them what you are about to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you just told them. It’s a frame of reference so that the audience knows what they are about to learn. It helps them track the broad topic as the stories unfold. The key being that they know what the punch line is well before it is communicated in length.

Take away: Keeping it simple starts with giving away the punch line…

Your, practicing brevity and clarity, multifamily maniac,

M

“Make the Customer the Hero” – Ann Handley

Finding ways to make the Customer the Hero never was and still is not difficult. It is not some over the top mysterious ‘wish we could figure that out’ chaos math problem. No – it is much easier.

It is the please, the thank you and the “I don’t know but I will get back to you” follow through. It is the pausing long enough to assist with heavy bags, taking time to clean cigarette butts off of their sidewalk and taking time to make sure the bathrooms in your clubhouse are clean throughout the day and not just at the beginning. It is keeping your word when you tell someone you will do something. It is remembering to say a kind word or send a nice gift on a birthday, anniversary or holiday. It is remember to ask about their children’s activities, struggles and successes. It is majoring in the minors for people without losing site of the bigger picture. It is taking – Time.

The trouble most of the time is understanding origin. That is, where does that ‘making the customer the hero’ mentality come from?

The Hero Lies in You

I think the late great Whitney Houston said it best in the song There’s a Hero – in the song there is a lyric that sings like this  …and, the Hero Lies in You. There is a hero that lives in all of us and he/she is right at home helping everyone around them feel like a Hero too… And, guess what – 100 times out of 100 times when you make someone feel like a hero – you feel like one yourself….

Your, remembering the hero inside becomes the hero outside – multifamily maniac,

M

Very quick note this morning.

We could get really deep into the art of body language as it relates to listening. Speaking to things like bending your brow as a show of concern, thinning your lip to show you understand the anger , leaning in, unfolding arms and the king of them all – eye contact. While not exhaustive, all good topics and in the same respect not possible without the nugget we will put out there today.

The Most Meaningful Body Language – Listen Technique I Know

Front and center to the person you are talking with – Pick up your phone and turn it OFF. Not silence, not vibrate – OFF. Or, don’t bring it along at all. Put your what if’s to rest as we could debate that to death. If you want meaningful conversation – demonstrate willingness through action – the action of turning off and tuning in.

Your – working on listening through meaningful body language – multifamily maniac,

M

If you read our blog regularly then you have no doubt read the story about my high school basketball coach and his perfect practice statement.

Go Out There and Work Hard For Forty Minutes

The story I have not shared up to now is the pre-game pep-talk. Every coach that I ever played for, from pee-wee leagues to AAU leagues and right up to Texas Tech University had a way with words during the pre-game prep. And, they range from semi-inspirational/motivational to down right in-your-face set the world on fire or else.

Nearly twenty years removed from the high of playing NCAA basketball, I can still recall some pretty cool speeches, the following being one of my favs -

Paraphrased: Every one of you look me in the eye – go out there and keep your eyes focused on playing the game. Keep your eyes off of the scoreboard and play every last second like it is your last second. Look at me – if you go out there and give everything you have right down to the very last second you are on that court – the scoreboard will take care of itself.

He otherwise meant that if we would just focus on translating perfect practices into hard-core results on the court. If we just focused on taking care of business – we would win the game.

Go Out There and Work Hard Every Minute

I would suggest that it is no different in the business world. Your organization awarded you an opportunity to come to work everyday in lieu of standing in an unemployment line. They gave you a chance to exercise your mind and your body. They gave you a chance to move the meter. They gave you a chance to make a difference. They gave you a chance to produce results. 

Everyday is your time to shine. Everyday is your time to keep your eyes focused on playing the game. [Read: perfectly practicing the fundamentals]. One who does so should never have to pay close attention to the plethora of reports that measure the success of an asset.

Work hard (and, smart) and the scoreboard will take care of itself.

Your – focused on the game – multifamily maniac,

M

Pic props: Raiderpower.com

I read a book some time ago that started with the line (para-phrased); If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. It went on to describe that the aroma of a home is detected the second before you walk across the threshold and into the front door. And, that aroma can elicit memories from ago both good or bad.

It sets the stage for a good, bad or indifferent visit. And, even though it happens in an instant – it happens.

Our properties and/or corporate offices are no different. In a sense, you are either baking apple pie or its rotting on the shelf of inaction or worse yet, ill regard.

Culture is everything in a business. It sets the stage for the people you work with and for; and, it’s powerful in the way of building enduring relationships with the people who live in your communities.

Building Culture in a Word

Care

That’s it. That’s all she wrote folks.

Get Care right and you get right Care. (We will post more on this later).

What are you doing to make sure your aroma is inviting and worthy of partaking in? Cook up a good comment and leave it below – we will eat it up. Pun intended.

Your caring about culture multifamily maniac,

M

Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

…What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

(Author: Patti Digh)

Multifamily Right and Wrong

There was a time not so long ago that I go so wrapped up in social media and the highs it gave me that I lost track of being ordinary. Be it comments on my blog posts or twitter conversations with people on the local or national scene in the property management business or the occasional back and forth with a best selling author, it was all very addicting. Addicting to the ego and contradicting to the ordinary.

It cost me in a big way personally about five years ago. I got so caught up in that I ignored the most important people in my life. Not so good. I read a book back then titled: The Heart of Man by Eric Fromm. In it, he described the ego in the way of every man being a wolf. Innate in all of us is this wonderful gift termed free will. It’s right on when handled right and likewise when handled wrong. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the ecstasies of work, life or otherwise because the wolf is always at play. He’s looking for the moment to strike at the true heart. The wolf loves clever and every other wild endeavor. He abhors ordinary.

My prompt – stay true to who you are. And, by all means necessary [put down the phone, the email, the text, the facebook, the twitter, the iPad] to ensure you are true to the ones you love and the ones that love you. Ordinary is extraordinary when you think about it. Try it on for size sometime.

Pretty good prompt for a Friday -

Your see you down the stretch contributor,

M

When I hear the word coach I am instantly taken back to the years I ran up and down the court playing basketball. I was blessed enough to have some amazing mentors an coaches in my life. And, through their teaching, training, prodding, gentle and sometimes harsh discipline; I was afforded a full ride Division I scholarship to play basketball at Texas Tech University. They gave of their time, their effort and their knowledge of the game in order to expand my capabilities. They served compellingly.

Multifamily Coach

My punch line today: Be a Coach

1. Be selective about who you give of your time and effort. I once was told that I was not the savior of all humanity. Apparently at the time; I thought I was. That aside, it made a ton of sense to me. Not everyone is there to learn and grow. Some are just there to give you 100% from 8 to 5. Other’s much less than that. Point: choose wisely.

2. Use moments of truth as your catalyst for discussion. Just last week I was involved in a formal coaching session with two employees. A supervisor was delivering a written message to a co-worker and the proverbial ‘but’ sandwich came out. You did this ‘but’ you also did that. I took the time to suggest that the words ‘and in the same respect’ were used in lieu of ‘but’. In my head, it allows for the power of the lead statement to endure in ones mind whereas a ‘but’ crushes the lead statement.

3. Become a master questioner. Be incisive. One of the best questioners I have come across in some time is Mr. Mike Whaling of 30lines. It’s an art and if you ever have the chance to talk to Mike, be prepared to have your logic and wherewithal challenged with thoughtful questions.

4. Use the classroom to arm people with tools and strategies. Use the real world as the place to apply, learn and thrive on the application of those tools.

Share your thoughts with me; What would you add or take away from the list above?

Your always looking to be a coach contributor,

M

Multifamily Doers

What is a doer? I heard a saying one time that went something like this; I would rather catch a tiger by the tail than have to light a fire under an elephant’s ass. It speaks loudly in the way of defining a doer. Doer’s get things done. They move mountains. They find ways that others never even dream about much less think about. They never let a day go by without making meaningful progress toward their goals and aspirations. And, doers get rewarded.

Three Suggestions

1. Measure what you expect and reward what you measure

2. Reward the doers far in excess of the status quo – exaggerated and excessively reward the doers

3. Promote those that get things done – quickly

Results Rule

Up to this point in our Seven Behaviors Leadership Series we have talked about Knowing Your People and Knowing Your Business,  Insisting on Realism , Setting Clear Goals and Priorities.

In today’s entry we are going to discuss follow through. I have disclosed my follow through epiphany story a couple of times on this and a couple other blogs. It really was the turning point for me in my career as the point of follow through hit me right between the eyes. It was one of the those duh! moments.

Multifamily Team Follow Through

That said and on the heels of our Relentless Courage a couple weeks ago. The post spoke to people withholding comments and feedback in group meeting forums. So much gets missed if we don’t encourage an open culture where feedback is paramount to getting better. Once you have the sharing culture set in place; follow through should be next on the list.

Four Things to Consider

1. Team leaders/communicators have to make objectives or action items very clear. Ask clarifying questions such as; Do you understand what is expected? or Is there anything you don’t understand about what we need to get accomplished?.

2. Help people understand the ‘Why behind the what’ of follow through items. Helping people see the big picture assists with two things

a. They see the action item as a mission and not a task

b. They understand that the action is assisting in the creation of something bigger than self. A key motivating factor for many

3. Set the right follow through mechanisms in place. Who is responsible? How will they track? Who will they report out to? When?

4. Ask questions along the way. Don’t just assign and forget. As the leader, it is imperative that you check in along the way.

5. Always conduct postmortems? Review the results of follow through or lack thereof. There is tremendous value in replaying events.

Your off to follow through on today’s commitments contributor,

M