During the leasing process, prospects have many re-occurring and common complaints. These can be a real hinderance to your leasing process, and will result in lower occupancy. Addressing these complaints can help property managers improve the leasing experience and increase the likelihood of converting prospects into residents.
Based on our experience working with properties, prospects, and residents - here are the common complaints we see.
Slow Response Times:
Prospects often complain about delays in receiving responses to their inquiries about available units, pricing, and tours. This can be slow response to Emails, or phone calls not being returned, or live chat agents not being available.
How Leasing Chat Helps: We have a 30 second guaranteed average response time for our Live Chat Support Services. And we never miss a call.
Inconsistent Information:
Receiving conflicting information from different leasing agents or finding discrepancies between online listings and what is communicated by staff can be frustrating for prospects.
How Leasing Chat Helps: As the first-touch point of contact for most of your prospects, we keep ourselves in tune with the status of each and every property we work with. We have internal systems to track updates within Yardi, Realpage, and other PMS/CRM systems, and we work hand in hand with on-site teams to make sure all information is accurate and up to date.
Unavailability of Units:
Discovering that advertised units are no longer available or that availability information is not up-to-date can deter prospects.
How Leasing Chat Helps: Unit statuses can sometimes be a moving target, particularly for properties using automated listing services. Thankfully our Live Chat Service has direct access to the exact status of every unit, and is available instantly to convey that information to prospects.
Complicated Application Process:
A lengthy, confusing, or overly complex application process can discourage prospects. This includes difficulty in understanding application requirements and what is needed in each step of the process.
How Leasing Chat Helps: We aren’t just a chat service, we are remote Centralized Leasing Consultants and can help support your prospects throughout the application process. We assist with application questions, updating application details and files, monitoring status, and auditing.
Lack of Transparency:
Prospects want clear and upfront information about all costs involved, including rent, security deposits, application fees, and any additional charges. Hidden fees or unclear pricing can be a major turn-off.
How Leasing Chat Helps: We have seen first hand the frustration prospects or residents can have with unforeseen fees and added costs for services. We make sure each prospect we interact with is informed of all these details before they start an application.
Poor Communication:
Inadequate or unprofessional communication from leasing staff, including missed calls, unreturned messages, and poor follow-up, can lead to frustration.
How Leasing Chat Helps: This is perhaps the biggest failure of customer service industry wide. Calls don’t get answered or returned, emails sit for days, chats are unresponsive. We solve all of this with our CRM monitoring, follow-up schedules, and instant response service.
Scheduling Issues:
Difficulties in scheduling tours at convenient times or having tours canceled or rescheduled without sufficient notice are common complaints.
How Leasing Chat Helps: We can work with prospects and offices to schedule tours at the times that work best for everyone. And we can also do the outreach for offices if problems arise with a scheduled tour.
Pressure Tactics:
Feeling pressured to make a quick decision or sign a lease without adequate time to consider all options can make prospects uncomfortable.
How Leasing Chat Helps: All of our service agents and Leasing Consultants are trained to focus on Customer Experience above all else. if the customers don’t feel cared for, and that their needs matter, they are unlikely to sign a lease. Being pushy isn’t the right approach, but identifying needs, and suggesting solutions is!
Lack of Flexibility:
Rigidity in lease terms, move-in dates, or special requests can be a deterrent. Prospects appreciate flexibility and accommodation of their specific needs.
How Leasing Chat Helps: Automated bots and Chatbots work within rigid guidelines and can only provide black and white solutions. We pride ourselves on serving customers with a holistic approach, and work to accommodate needs, and find appropriate solutions when there are dates or terms that just don’t quite work.
Limited Access to Information:
Difficulty accessing detailed information about the property, amenities, neighborhood, and leasing terms can make it hard for prospects to make informed decisions.
How Leasing Chat Helps: One of our specialties is keeping tabs on every relevant details about your properties that a prospect might like to know. This includes 125 different data points that we house within our chat system so our Centralized Leasing Team knows the exact answer to every property question.
Conclusions
Solving common complaints isn’t always easy, and no solution will provide a 100% perfect customer experience every time - but we strive to reach that 100% goal every day, and we have the satisfaction surveys to prove it!
If you are looking to improve your customer experience and solve some of the problems in your leasing process, have a look at our Leasing Support Services. And make sure to reach out for a free consult, and see how we can help you provide a better leasing experience for your prospective residents!