Do you want leases? Answer the phone.

True story… 2 minutes ago I noticed a lead come through one of our websites. From the questions she was asking I could tell that she was a hot lead, so I decided to follow up with the community myself to make sure that they received the lead & had called the prospect back.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

No joke. No answering service. No answering machine.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time that I’ve seen this. We all spend a lot of time, energy, and money to drive traffic to our apartment communities. It’s important that we’re there to welcome that traffic to our communities when they call or drop by.

It’s not always the apartment manager’s fault. It’s lunchtime right now, and I suspect that’s why this particular community didn’t answer the phone. My guess is that they’re short staffed and haven’t been budgeted for an answering service.

Here’s the bottom line: If you’re on site… make answering the phone priority #1 – even if you have to take a message. If you’re a senior manager or property owner... look at your systems to make sure that your team is set up for success. If your budget only allows for only one person to be on site at a time, then make sure that you have a procedure set up that ensures your phones will be answered while your staff person use the restroom, eats some lunch, or even give a tour.