Today’s blog kicks off a four part series on how property managers can close more management contracts. The first part of the series discusses WIFM (or What’s In It For Me) and sales structure.
Property managers work with companies like Fourandhalf to increase the number of leads that come in. Once you get that lead, you control the relationship. The inquiry is that point where you take on the responsibility of closing the lead. The best way to do that is to structure your sales process. This is a great opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors while increasing revenue.
Challenges to Closing Leads
It seems like once you get a great lead, all you need to do is call the lead, close the deal and collect the money. It’s not usually so simple. Sometimes you can’t get the person on the phone, and you just leave message after message. Or, you quickly realize that they are shopping by price only. The problem may also be that they simply don’t see the value in professional property management services. There are a few solutions that can be incorporated into your selling techniques.
Three Techniques to Help Win Every Prospect:
• WIFM
• Structured Sales Process
• Follow Up
1. WIFM: What’s In it For Me?
The right sales mindset is that you have to care to win. Your property management company may not have a dedicated sales person, and it may be up to your managers – and even you – to close those leads. We know that’s hard when you’re responsible for other things. However, if you understand what’s in it for you and how it will benefit you and your family and your company, then you can understand WIFM and adopt the right sales mindset. Adopt a winner’s mentality that says you’re here to play and win.
Here’s a math example that can help with WIFM. Let’s say you give your portfolio managers $50 per month on each new management contract brought in. Assuming that contract lasts three years, it’s going to be a $1,800 gain over that period. If you include a $200 lease-up fee, the total comes to $2,000:
$50 per month x 3 years = $1,800
$1,800 + $200 = $2,000
With this example, closing a lead is worth $2,000 to that portfolio manager. That money is enough to buy a new Apple watch and a new Mac Book Air computer. Or, it covers subscriptions to Hulu, Netflix and HBO for five years. This shows exactly what’s in it for your portfolio manager, and you have a newly motivated salesperson helping your business. It’s important for your employees to personally visualize success.
2. Structured Sales Process
If you try to open up a property management company without an accounting process in place, it’s not going to work well. You need a process for collecting rent and managing maintenance requests in order to succeed. You also need a sales process. It’s just as important. Every sale can be worth thousands and thousands of dollars in potential revenue. A good Sales process will have multiple chances for closing, and using that process ensures that every lead that comes in gets every chance.
As we talk more about how to structure your sales process, we’ll be focusing on four steps:
- Discover the problem
- Present the solution
- Close the deal
- Follow Up with your client
The Follow Up step in particular is crucial. Companies tend leave a lot on the table. If you do the Follow Up and nothing else from this sales training series, you will still win 20 percent more of the leads that come in.
Our next blog in this series will deal with Discovery. Here’s a preview: Discovery is how NOT to lose the deal before it even begins.
If you have any questions about WIFM or what we’ve discussed today, please contact us at Fourandhalf. Otherwise, we will see you next time for Part 2.
