Give your residents and prospects a big K.I.S.S.

Tell me what's wrong with this scenario.....

A leasing consultant just showed an interested couple a model apartment and they're very excited about picking out their actual new home. The leasing consultant sits down with them and says,

"Ok, let me take a look at my detail here.....hmm....ok, it looks like I have a B1V in what we call building 2, which is really 1700 Shady Lane, on notice for August 2nd, but the cleaner, painter and maintenance will have to go in, so maybe we can schedule a move in for August 5th."


Some of you may be saying to yourselves that nothing's wrong. Sounds just like a conversation you have with your prospects every day. Well, here's the thing....this leasing consultant has given them way too much information, included terms they don't even know and taken away their initial excitement for the community! Sometimes we get so caught up in our jobs and don't think about little things like that. We know what we're talking about, but it doesn't mean the person on the other end of the conversation will. A better response for that leasing consultant would have been...

"Fantastic! I see we have a beautiful 2 bedroom home in the Magnolia plan that you just saw that will be available for you to move into on August 5th! It's on 1700 Shady Lane, a popular building with views of the lake!"

See how much better that sounds? The leasing consultant has given all of the same information, yet kept it simple and exciting for the prospect!

K.I.S.S. is something I learned on Day 1 of my first Journalism class in college. It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. We have a tendency to overthink and overspeak all of the time. But sometimes we have to remember that the person on the other end of the conversation doesn't need to know everything. Sometimes offering too much information or information they're not clear on can just make the real facts get lost in translation. You can apply this rule to every aspect of your job, whether it be dealing with prospects, residents, vendors or co-workers. Think of it when you're on the phone, when you're writing resident communication or when you've got someone sitting in front of you. I guarantee you it's a tactic that will never fail!