by Paul R. Bergeron, III
Leasing professionals at Alliance Residential who are eager to improve their phone-call conversion rate are all ears, thanks to the company’s new Call of Fame program.
The program, which began in August 2011, recognizes its staff’s top phone “shops” based on the leasing professional’s ability to convey warmth, enthusiasm, intelligence and overall personality during the call. All incoming calls from prospective residents are recorded and reviewed, with the most effective examples being posted to an Intranet website page. There, fellow leasing agents and new hires can listen and learn by reviewing successful calls.
This method has proven to be a more effective training tool than printed mystery-shop evaluation sheets, says Alliance’s Vice President of Performance Tina Makssour.
“A prospect’s first experience with the community often is when you speak to their leasing professional,” Makssour says. “Building that relationship over the phone can motivate the prospective resident to visit the community for a tour. [In some cases for some competing apartment communities] prospective residents do not have the chance to meet the agent who they spoke with once they arrive at the leasing office. We recognize the burden that answering phones can be, but you can’t ignore the effectiveness of having an associate lead a prospect through the entire leasing experience.”
As a result, Makssour says her company is emphasizing learning programs that equip associates with conversation skills that are better suited to meeting the needs of today’s customers. “Poor phone performance is not always a training issue,” she says. “Recruiting the appropriately qualified sales associate is equally important—which is why Alliance has moved toward a mandatory phone interview as part of our hiring process. We want to hear how the potential hire sounds on the phone, since that is part of what we’re hiring them to do.”
Generation Gap
Another challenge, Makssour says, is training sales associates who “increasingly are from a generation that has never learned the art of conversation because text-messaging is their primary method of communication.”
To address this, Alliance is adding chat and text-messaging as communication channels for prospects, which will be more native and comfortable for many of its associates.
“We are also teaching conversation skills in telephone training classes,” Makssour says. “As a part of this course, associates will play a game called ‘The Art of Conversation’ that allows them to practice speaking to prospects on the phone. During the same course, we practice speaking in ‘sound bites.’”
Makssour also notes that the Call of Fame program itself is the most effective tool for training associates who might not have the most top-notch phone skills, by allowing them to hear great conversations and learn by example. Similarly, she says, the phone screening during the interview process helps Alliance determine their phone communication skill level right from the beginning.
The Strong Personality
Alliance also works to uncover their associates’ tendencies to internalize negative interactions and help them move past rejection with the encouragement of a mentor or coach.
Overall, Makssour says the Call of Fame program demonstrates that Alliance rewards leasing professionals who are able to exude their strong personality skills.
“Sometimes associates who were hired because of their personalities—those who display warmth and a sense of humor—can become boxed in when they are forced to speak in scripted messages, acting like robo-leasing agents,” she adds.
“Alliance’s decision to encourage our leasing professionals to rely on spontaneity and creative problem-solving has really helped improve customer/agent dialogue.”
The number of phone calls placed on the Call of Fame is factored into Alliance’s quarterly bonuses and performance reviews.
Paul R. Bergeron is NAA’s Director of Communications and can be reached at paul@naahq.org or 703/797-0606.
Video Shops Beneficial, Too
Makssour says videotaped mystery shops also provide training value for leasing professionals.
With written shops, associates can “check all of the boxes” that may be required and score well, she says. “However, when watching a video recording of that same interaction, it shows exactly how the leasing staff member completed those objectives.”
Video provides the opportunity to review whether the associate demonstrated warmth, enthusiasm and intelligence, “or was simply going through the motions,” Makssour says. “Video shops can also reveal distracting mannerisms that associates might not be aware of, such as fiddling with keys while speaking or flipping their hair.”
—P.B.