MYSTERY SHOPPING & TRAINING SERVICES

Get Better Results From Your Leasing Professionals.

To get the best results for your property, you need more than just a way to evaluate how well you’re doing...you need to be able to take specific action to make improvements. Ellis gives you all of the data and reporting to monitor your performance against your established expectations and past history as well the ability to measure it against how other properties, companies or markets are performing across the country. We then give you tools, training and resources to quickly improve any desired areas.

Why Use Mystery Shopping?

Mystery Shopping is a method of anonymously evaluating how well and how consistently community personnel are carrying out standards, policies and procedures. The shopping report is also an excellent training resource in itself.

Mystery Shopping evaluates and monitors onsite leasing professionals while providing instructive and stimulating feedback. Shopping Reports can be used as a powerful training tool and can measure current and ongoing leasing performance. Each completed Shopping Report can become a mini-seminar on leasing.

DESCRIPTION OF SHOPPING SERVICES

ONSITE SHOP

Our most popular shop, an Onsite Shop starts with the shopper conducting a telephone shop (which can also be recorded) of the targeted apartment community or Leasing Professional. The shopper will then proceed with an in-person visit to the apartment community. Following the visit, the shopper will complete an in-depth evaluation of the Leasing Professional and an assessment of the community. This type of shop can be completed within seven to 10 days of shop date and sooner in most cases.

Ellis includes with each shop a complete online report with detailed scoring and benchmarking figures. The reports are now equipped with targeted area training links for leasing professionals to address any areas in need of improvement. Audio/training tips are also included with each Onsite Shop, reminding the Leasing Professional of specific techniques that are useful in their day-to-day leasing presentations.  Online access allows the results of these shops to be summarized by performance category (i.e. telephone, greeting, etc.) and by Vice President, Regional Manager, City, etc. These online features identify specific strengths and weaknesses in a particular area of the leasing presentation and/or within certain areas of the property management’s portfolio.

Click here for a sample Onsite Shop Report.

Click here for a sample Recorded Onsite Shop Report with Recorded Telephone.

RECORDED TELEPHONE SHOP

A Recorded Telephone Shop is a recording of the actual telephone presentation conducted by the onsite Leasing Professional. This type of shop is the most economical and generally can be performed within five days of order placement.  Included with this shop are a written report, the recorded call and online access, providing data summaries of all shops.

Click here for a sample Recorded Telephone Shop Report.

INTERNET SHOP

An Internet Shop begins with the shopper completing an online form (through your Internet advertiser) linked to the targeted apartment community, with the intent of evaluating the timeliness and quality of response sent by the Leasing Professional. 

In addition to the customer service analysis, this type of shop is useful in verifying the technical functionality and accuracy of the community’s online operations.  For example, Ellis has discovered issues related to SPAM from various property management companies as well as email being directed to the wrong property.  This type of shop is generally performed within five days of order placement and includes online access to reports summarizing the results of a client’s shops over time.

Click here for a sample Internet Shop Report.

VIDEO SHOP

Carried out onsite by shoppers equipped with a hidden camera, video shops offer the most comprehensive glimpse into the Leasing Professional’s performance. Ellis will professionally edit and deliver a copy of the video via email link to our website, similarly to all other shop types.  Unlike the other shops, Video Shops do not come with the standard written shop report, but rather a brief summary of the 10 Ellis Benchmark questions. For an additional fee, Ellis will produce and include the written shop report.

Particularly beneficial to management companies located far from their properties, Video Shops offer clear views not only of the Leasing Professional but also the actual community.  This type of shop, however, does require more lead-time given the logistical coordination of equipment and specially certified shoppers as well as the professional editing and production process.  Ellis also requires its clients to sign a consent form, given legal stipulations present in most states. The average delivery time for Video Shops is three to four weeks.

Click here for a sample Video Shop Report.
Download time will vary based on your Internet connection speed and can take 20-60 minutes to download.

 

TRAINING ENHANCEMENT SERVICES

ONLINE “TARGETED AREA” RE-TRAINING

As an added service to complement your telephone and onsite shopping reports, EPMS now offers at no added cost to you the option of a personalized online training module, specific to any areas of the shop where the Leasing Professional falls short of your expectations. That’s right! You set the bar, and EPMS will engineer the service to fit your requirements. Then if the target points goal for a particular area of the shop is missed, the Leasing Professional who was shopped will be directed to a web-based reinforcement training session tied specifically and exclusively to that weak area.

Links to each applicable target area for re-training (based on that specific shopping report score) will be easily accessible directly from the shopping report as soon as the report is generated. The specialized training module is complete with written tips, video and audio samples, and includes an element of “fun” to capture its audience and provide a memorable training experience. As management, you will be able to view on the shopping report the current status of each training component recommended for that particular shop so that you can verify the sessions were completed as directed.

This service is designed to be a fast and efficient way to attack common trouble areas within the sales process, from the telephone call, to the on-site greeting, information gathering, tour, and closing. While the program is not designed to replace basic sales training or your current processes for improving leasing performance, it is essential as a time-saving way to redirect and reestablish goals and techniques to accomplish the ultimate goal – selling your customer on living at your community.

RESULTS –BASED CUSTOM COACHING

When situations arise that call for extra attention, call on Ellis for a personal and individualized coaching session! In this two-part service, you (and the Leasing Professional who was shopped) will receive a written report that addresses the Leasing Professional’s most recent “unacceptable” telephone or in-person shop, plus the Leasing Professional will participate in a custom-planned coaching session via telephone with an experienced consultant in the multifamily housing industry.

The written evaluation includes training tips that will help the Leasing Professional improve in specific areas identified as weak points in the presentation. The written evaluation is sent prior to the telephone session, in order to “plant seeds” and prepare the Leasing Professional for coaching. The telephone coaching session then addresses not only the current shopping report but also previous results. Prior to the call, we conduct research designed to paint a fair picture and support our ability to connect with the Leasing Professional, thus facilitating their “buy in” to the training and ensuring the optimum outcome. Prior shopping reports, personal experience level, and feedback from the Leasing Professional’s supervisors are all taken into consideration when creating the coaching plan. This personalized training is designed to help both new and experienced employees in any on-site office position.

During the coaching call we will review previous written shop scores; look for patterns and frequently missed questions; and listen to recorded calls together, asking the Leasing Professional to evaluate their own performance by highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. We ask probing questions to determine what they want to improve as well. This often helps to focus on additional problem areas not as easily identified in the reports results. Based on individual style and any company-specific requirements, we will create a custom telephone script for the Leasing Professional that hits all the points needed to achieve a perfect score! During the coaching session we role-play this script, and at the end we provide a copy they can use and personalize further. 

 

For more information on Ellis Mystery Shopping Services and the Ellis Benchmark, Contact Us.