From Warrior Pose to Leasing Warrior

I rolled out of bed late on Saturday morning, squinting my eyes as I tried to keep them open. To call me sluggish would have been an understatement. I’m normally an early to bed, early to rise sort of person, but not this Saturday. As I made coffee, I mindlessly checked my email, to-dos, and calendar. “Shoot,” I mumbled to myself, “I forgot that I signed up for a noon yoga class.”

My first instinct was to find a way out of my reservation. But they would charge me a $5 fine — was that worth it? What if I told a little white lie about my bike breaking down? The receptionist was so nice when he offered a refund after my bike broke down last month. No, no, my shoulder angel won’t let me justify lying. Well, $5 wouldn’t be too much for just this one time, right? I could always work out at home. I do have access to my favorite instructor’s YouTube channel, but would I do a real workout? The last few times I did an at-home yoga class, I fast-forwarded past the sections I didn’t feel like doing, which was about half the class. If I’m honest with myself, I didn’t even break a sweat. I need the social pressure of my yoga classmates “watching” me to get a high-quality workout in.

Sighing, I resigned myself to attending the yoga class, knowing that I’d thank myself later.

My innocuous story about a yoga class decision tree aligns perfectly to the performance of a multifamily team.?

• Decision to sign up for a yoga class = signing a policy about a firm’s leasing strategy.
• Yoga classmates “watching” me = being shopped by mystery shoppers.
• Working out instead of slacking off at home = training and re-training; community staff need to build those leasing and operations muscles!

This same decision tree happened in our Grace Hill data. We first analyzed the pass rates of training courses. A pass rate is generally a score of 70% or better. Then, we compared pass rates for firms without policies or mystery shopping to those with policies and mystery shopping. Firms with both had a higher pass rate by up to 111 basis points. And as you can see below, that spread is growing.

Let me give you another example, this time from psychological theory.?

Imagine you’re a leasing team member. You’ve been leasing apartments for a couple of years and crushing it. You think you’re hot stuff, as you should! Then, out of nowhere, a mystery shopper rates you as below average — womp, womp. This immediately conflicts with your self-perception. You decide to review your training to ensure you’re following a successful leasing strategy. Because of your added attention, you pass each course on the first try.?

For managers, the same principles apply. You first set expectations with policies and training. Then, you measure the outcome with mystery shopping. As the saying goes, “What gets measured gets done.” If your team members need to improve, you guide them back to the appropriate training.

"With mystery shopping, policies, and training combined, you’ll reap the benefits of better leasing and operations." - Jen Tindle

This is the psychological principle of consistency at work. According to Robert Cialdini in his seminal book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, “Once people make a decision, take a stand or perform an action, they will face an interpersonal pressure to behave in a consistent manner with what they have said or done previously.” Most multifamily teams — and for that matter, all of us — like to think of ourselves as being good at our jobs. By committing yourself or your team to a higher standard of performance with a policy, you’re more likely to achieve that high standard.

With mystery shopping, policies, and training combined, you’ll reap the benefits of better leasing and operations. Not only that, but you’ll also have more motivated staff who are excited to improve.?

Want to learn more about our mystery shopping, policies, and training? DM us on LinkedIn. We’d love to speak with you.

—By Jen Tindle