by Rachel F. Goldberg
Some apartment companies look to other industries for prime employees who are driven to close sales, trained on how to provide excellent customer service and have a sharp eye for detail.
Some highly skilled potential employees are now available with talents the apartment industry wants.
As many apartment industry firms decry the dearth of good job candidates, several have turned their eyes to other industries that recently incurred layoffs. The retail, food service, hospitality and mortgage industries offer prime recruits who are driven to close sales, trained in customer service and have an eye for detail.
Searching for a Seller
UDR has turned to the mortgage industry, especially in California, because mortgage sellers are highly motivated by compensation, driven to close deals and have a good handle on sales strategies, says Jerry Davis, Senior Vice President of Property Operations for the Colorado-based REIT.
For example, if a leasing professional wants to sell extras such as an apartment with a top-floor view premium or one that comes with the use of a free large-screen HDTV, the commission becomes higher, Davis says. Some might say those upgrades are too difficult to sell because, for example, the resident might already own a TV, “but good sales people find a way to sell them,” Davis says, “and so they earn more compensation.” And compensation is what motivated sales employees are after.
At Mercy Housing in Atlanta, retail, food service and hospitality employees have brought skills applicable to the apartment industry. Susan Sherfield, CPM, Regional Education Director for Mercy Housing, which develops and manages affordable housing, explains that apartment communities need people who have strong communication and people skills plus a history of effective business practices, so a restaurant hostess or hotel front desk clerk who specializes in customer service would be an asset.
The hospitality and retail industries have proven to be ripe resources for high-quality employees at UDR as well, because those employees bring with them the right set of customer service and sales skills. “The hospitality industry has to reload their vacancies every couple of days,” Davis notes, “constantly having to sell and gain repeat business.” For that reason, hospitality and retail employees practice and hone their selling techniques every day.
“Desk clerks, group sales people or concierges figure out how to make people happy and go that extra mile to do so,” Davis says, and those are skills that onsite community staff need.
Employees from the hospitality industry also have an eye for “the little things that make the difference,” a trait that can well-serve an apartment community, Davis says. For example, UDR has started offering towels in its fitness centers. The company used to believe that residents would steal the towels, but under the influence of hospitality industry employees, the company has found that towels that boast the property’s monogram are generally not stolen and come at minimal cost, he says.
Southern Management, a Vienna, Va.-based property manager with 25,000 apartments in the Mid-Atlantic, has not found “any one niche that is perfect” for apartment candidates, says Olivia Hunter, Recruitment Manager. Someone in hospitality or retail could be a good addition to site staff, but so could anyone ready for a sales position, she says.
For maintenance or custodial positions, Hunter says she looks at trade schools, auto mechanics, the Job Corps, hotel maintenance and self-employed technicians.
Hunter adds that Southern Management has a strong training program, “so wherever we find people with the right motivation, outlook and attitude, we can train them to work for our company.”
Training for Old and New
The strengths of mortgage, retail, food service and hospitality employees come to the fore when the economy is down, competition is fierce and rents stagnate. Waiting lists for available apartments have disappeared, Davis says, and the competition to hold the price and gain market share is intense.
As competition has increased, closing leases has become more important, especially in California, the UDR executive says. Apartment companies are clearly focusing on employees who can make a sale and on creating commission or compensation packages that motivate them. But because companies are looking outside the apartment industry, training new hires is key.
UDR is tweaking its training program to focus on sales and service techniques, Davis says. This modification should help sales employees at UDR catch up to any newer employees who bring stronger sales backgrounds.
Mercy Housing’s training program has to take a different approach. As a non-profit company, staff knowledge of compliance with different government programs is a must. “Some people who may have a background in conventional property management may have a hard time learning the nuances of affordable housing,” Sherfield says. To address this, the company supports longer training periods for new hires.
Training is particularly important for onsite staff, Sherfield says. Even if they come with customer service skills, employees from other industries still need to learn about apartments. Support roles such as accounting and IT, on the other hand, “can be filled from any industry because the skills are more consistent from field to field,” she says.
A good training program can prepare an employee for his or her apartment career if the employee has a healthy attitude, willingness to learn, flexibility and an openness to try new things. The “attitude factors” are most important, Sherfield explains.
Whether employees previously sold mortgages, cars, food or hotel services, “the biggest thing for me has always been to always be looking,” Sherfield says. “You never know where you will run into someone who will be accommodating, efficient and effective in their work, which is more significant than the kind of work they are being effective in.”
Rachel F. Goldberg is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va.