After 16 years as a Sacramento area Property Manager, I have learned a few things about our market, our client base and how to attract and keep quality client relationships.
I have read numerous articles, blogs, etc. about how to impress clients, to win their confidence, to dress for success, along with dozens of other catchy phrases promising certain victory in the business world if we follow these simple instructions.
I have always seen myself as an original thinker, as I always seem to find myself looking for a different way to do things that would make me and my company stand out in the marketplace. Some examples of our unique approach to the industry:
1. Be yourself. Clients are more educated than ever, and can often see through a fancy sales pitch. I have gone to meet potential clients in shorts (pause for gasp from the fashion police), and secured the client's business after they had met with 4 or 5 finely dressed, slick-talking competitors. In this day and age, the button-down shirt and tie just cannot compete with a competent, confident individual with a commanding and unscripted knowledge of his or her industry.
2. Don't be afraid to be different. We have signed more accounts just by being the one person that was willing to listen to the client's questions and give specific answers, rather than launch into a pre-scripted pitch that the client has heard in some way or another before. The goal is to stand out in the client's mind as the individual amongst the clones. This principal has allowed us to come away 90+% of the time with clients that have interviewed multiple companies.
3. Never settle for "good enough". Ask yourself "What can I do to make my company truly stand out as an individual in the marketplace?" . For us, the answer revolves around customer service. We return all business calls within 2 business hours. We treat our clients better (in our opinion) than most, giving them regular reports on the condition of their property, rather than forget about them once their unit is rented. We treat our client's tenants with the respect often lacking from some companies, and have been rewarded with timely payment history, even an instance of a tenant becoming one of our landlord clients. We enjoy solid relationships with our landlords and their tenants based on trust, mutual respect, and due diligence.
4. Vision is important, but not the most important. Speaking from experience, working towards a goal is always a good idea, so long as we do not become all-consumed by it. If we cannot enjoy the journey to get there, we might find that the goal, once reached, did not meet the lofty expectations we laid upon it.
To sum it up, being genuine is about being honest to yourself and those around you. There is a remarkable sense of accomplishment that comes from having the integrity to let the world see you as you are, rather than trying to fit into some pre-conceived notions of how someone should think, or act, speak or dress. I think we all experienced enough of that world back in grade school. Wouldn't it be refreshing if everyone just stopped pretending to be someone or something they are not?
Show a little of the real you today. Take it from me, it is well worth the effort.
Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. With over 16 years professional property management experience, our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:
“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”
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