In this episode, I am talking to Todd Breen of Virtually Incredible about how to spend less time leasing to make more money and grow your business.

Todd manages a property management company and opened an outsourcing solution called Virtually Incredible. It was designed to help property managers spend less time leasing and spend money on a good marketing campaign, business development manager (BDM), and call center to begin the customer journey on the right foot.

You'll Learn...

[02:27] Business owners devote too much time and resources to leasing properties. [02:47] Putting less effort into leasing and more into listing can free up energy to grow your company. [03:54] Analyze and monetize your leasing process. [04:33] What would a customer’s experience be with your company and what do you need to do to improve? [05:00] Using the traditional model, business owners tend to charge an owner a tenant placement fee and share some of that with a commissioned leasing agent. [05:51] The traditional model is inefficient and expensive. [06:41] If answering a call isn’t your top priority, and booking/showing isn’t something you enjoy doing, then learn how to efficiently monetize leasing calls or inquiries. [07:17] Utilize mystery shopping to gain data about your customer’s journey. [09:05] Companies do not grow because they’re not answering their phones, or they’re preoccupied when they do. [09:19] Specialize your outsourcings and upgrade your technology for your showing process to devote more energy to answering new owner calls. [10:33] Employees who answer your leasing lines should be Fair Housing trained and certified to properly respond to questions. [11:45] The most significant benefits to offloading leasing calls include a quiet office. [13:26] Be good at hiring, training, supervising, managing, and motivating staff. [14:33] Look at how much it costs you to lease a house. Add up commissions, staff hours to answer phones, mileage expenses, and hours spent showing houses. [15:05] Do the same analysis on your customer acquisition cost in getting a new customer to manage their house. [15:38] Are you doing your best job leasing? Can you improve that to free up time and resources to grow your business? [17:42] Cut the number of days to market to rent faster, do a great job renting, and have higher client retention. [18:35] Staff that complies with Fair Housing lowers legal liability and provides a greater peace of mind as a business owner. [19:23] Don’t be afraid to outsource tasks to an outside team. [20:32] Answer after-hours calls to increase your efficiency and reduce days on the market. [22:10] Whatever you’re spending in money on leasing, spent that on marketing for new owners and hiring a BDM. Reallocate funds toward growing your business. [22:52] You should have software to facilitate calls and showings, such as Tenant Turner, Rently, ShowMojo, or Mock Rentals. [23:55] Make sure the call center you select is as good as you hoped. Get a dedicated leasing hotline. [25:22] Publish your rental standards in each rental listing. Describe what is needed to rent from you. [27:24] Have leasing agents who have the listings, but also a leasing director that serves as the leader. [29:00] People who are 35 and younger don’t call. They book their showing online. If you don’t have an online showing option, get one. [29:45] There’s got to be a way to reach out to the people who want customer service and a way to reach out to people who want technology. [30:21] Shift your focus, time, energy, resources, and staff toward growing your business. [30:58] Utilize videos to accelerate your marketing process, reduce your days on market, reduce phone calls, and reduce your showings.

Tweetables

Don’t be afraid to outsource tasks to an outside team.

That’s the real benefit, spend less time leasing and more time listing.

Reach out to people who want customer service and who want technology.

Resources

Virtually Incredible Website

Virtually Incredible email

Virtually Incredible phone number: (561) 693-2648

Tenant Turner

Rently

ShowMojo

Buildium

DoorGrow Club