IDENTIFYING THE TRAFFIC SOURCE OF YOUR WALK-IN PROSPECT

Determining the precise traffic source of ALL rental prospects is a critical part of your comprehensive marketing efforts. Accurate traffic information from both telephone prospects and property visitors forms the foundation of your marketing plan. Think about it; if you determine the precise, initial traffic source of every prospect, you can then know which advertising and marketing efforts REALLY work! By knowing the exact traffic sources, you will then know the source of all the prospects that lease and move in. Wow! Now you know what traffic sources produce not just traffic but which advertising and referral sources result in move-ins…NEW RESIDENTS! All you do then is go back to those traffic sources that produce move-ins and really work ‘em! But you won’t be able to identify these highly effective, new resident-producing traffic sources unless you ask the prospect how they “really” found out about your community!

What you really want to know is this: Today, when this prospect decided to look at apartments and chose your community as one of his options, what influenced him to stop in? Avoid the terms “driving by” or “a friend”. You want to know what is it about your community that motivated this prospect to stop and take a look TODAY? And if a friend did refer the prospect, what is the friend’s name? Was it a resident or a former resident? If the prospect was just driving around the neighborhood, what motivated him to stop to see your community? In fact, see if you can determine what reason the prospect was in your neighborhood altogether! No, you don’t have to shine the light in the prospect’s eyes and do a full interrogation! Just try a question like this…but add the little qualifier before you ask the question:

Mr. Prospect, there are so many factors that influence rental customers to stop here at Cambridge Manor and check us out. Do you mind if I ask how you found out about our apartment community? What were some of the key reasons you stopped in today to take a look?

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