Can your leasing staff do it all? Between administrative tasks and sales duties, managers must find the delicate balance or responsibilities to get the most out or staff.

At a time when many top apartment executives and onsite team members are concerned with the state of the apartment management industry, a key to success is the ability to attract and retain individuals who are the right fit for their positions. Leasing professionals, in particular, must possess the skill set needed to satisfy their responsibilities and to effectively close sales and renewals to maximize occupancy and resident retention.

Before hiring a leasing professional, it is important to assess the job responsibilities and expectations that go with the position, which include both sales and administrative tasks. With all the duties leasing professionals are expected to handle, sales responsibilities might not get the attention needed to close sales and retain residents at the levels necessary to beat the competition.

The best practice is to have at least one highly motivated sales personality on the team responsible for answering inquiries, presenting the community and apartment homes, following up with prospects and securing renewals. At least one other staff member with sales support responsibilities should be available when the principal leasing professional is not. This leasing professional--or leasing administrator, to differentiate the two distinct roles--is primarily responsible for administrative tasks associated with leasing, customer service, resident retention and sales support responsibilities.

While there are unique individuals who can successfully sell and complete a large range of administrative tasks, most people have strengths in one area or the other. Additionally, the most motivated and successful sales people prefer spending their time selling and interacting with people more than spending time on administrative work. While the best administrators may enjoy customer service, they generally prefer the rewards of completing their administrative tasks and reports to closing sales.

6 Staff Structure Considerations

Consider the following suggestions when implementing this type of staff structure:

1. Reassess and reassign job responsibilities. Reassign leasing professionals' primary job responsibilities to those directly related to sales and renewals. Customer service and administrative work are secondary responsibilities. While all roles are important, too much administrative work and reporting will distract leasing professionals from their most important sales responsibilities. Leasing administrators' primary responsibilities should include sales support and administrative work.

2. Establish job expectations. Along with redefining job responsibilities, specific job expectations should be established, particularly for the leasing professional. Set specific sales goals and expectations for closing and resident renewal ratios. Leasing professionals with the right type of sales personalities should be able to close sales at a much higher rate than the average closing ratio of the current leasing team.

Based on primary traffic counts (prospects ready, willing and able to lease and to take possession of an apartment home within 60 days), a suggested average closing ratio expectation is 65 percent or more, but that percentage should take into account how traffic is counted (all traffic considered versus separating primary and secondary traffic), as well as any other contributing factors in the market. Do not set the expectation too low. Leasing professionals should secure renewals for the community and meet a specific percentage of renewal lease commitments by a certain number of days prior to lease expiration. Management can use a suggested requirement of 55 percent of commitments to renew by a predetermined number of days prior to the lease expiration. Again, this expectation should be customized to a company's goals and an apartment community's market.

Other possible job expectations or measurements of success include: results of mystery shopping reports; number of return visits; ratio of telephone and e-mail inquiries turned into actual prospect visits; ratio of prospects received from specific preferred employer accounts; and small business partnerships.

Because they are the primary sales back up, leasing administrators should have a specific closing ratio, but they should not be expected to close at the same level as the leasing professional. Based on primary traffic counts, a 45 percent closing ratio expectation could be used; this number should be customized to fit communities and expectations. Leasing administrators also should have strong organizational, administrative and computer skills to complement the "people" strengths of the sales professional. There are pre-employment tests on the market to properly assess computer and administrative skills, and local employment agencies can perform these tests at their locations on behalf of the employer.

3. Structure compensation accordingly. For this type of staffing structure to be successful, the leasing professional must be compensated differently than other office team members so that there is no destructive competition between team members. Compensation structure should adequately motivate leasing professionals. Consider paying them a lower base wage and basing the rest of their total compensation on bonuses or commissions that are linked to their sales abilities. One way to make a direct link is to pay a set amount for each new move-in and renewal that the leasing professional was responsible for securing and possibly stagger the amounts based on the length of the lease term, offering a larger reward for a longer lease term secured.

When considering bonuses or commission-based pay for successful new sales and renewals, allow leasing professionals to have upsides to their potential compensation that could result in them making more money than the assistant community manager or even community manager in some circumstances. Remember, if leasing professionals are doing well with their commissions, everyone wins with higher occupancy levels and net operating income.

When establishing this type of compensation system for leasing professionals--especially with a new pay structure--the following is important to consider:

* Make sure the right individuals are in place who will thrive on this type of incentive compensation. If the leasing professional is not motivated by the incentive, the desired result will not be achieved.

* Once proper teams are in place, make sure they fully understand the pay structure. Without making promises regarding what they might anticipate to earn, provide them with enough information to show them just how financially successful they could be with this type of pay structure.

* In addition to the monetary reward, make sure that supervisors are verbally recognizing them for their sales abilities. Positive recognition, especially in front of peers, is extremely motivating.

* Solicit leasing professionals for their ideas on incentive compensation and implement them when appropriate. Ask what would motivate them the most.

* Make sure that leasing professionals always are given the first opportunity to tour the prospective resident and secure the renewal lease. While all office team members ultimately assist in this process, leasing professionals need to be reassured that they will be afforded the first opportunity to secure the lease, and therefore, receive the monetary incentive. Along with this practice, other office team members should not receive equal incentives to the leasing professional for securing move-in and renewal leases. Consider paying leasing administrators a higher base wage with less commission or bonus incentives.

* Communicate incentive bonus or commission programs in writing to ensure that all parties are on the same page regarding incentives. Incentive compensation does not work if the employee is not aware of or does not fully understand the program.

* Be willing to re-evaluate the compensation program throughout the year if necessary and on an annual basis thereafter. Listen to employees and analyze what is and what is not working. Incentive programs should always be worded to allow for changes to be made anytime on a prospective basis. However, resist the urge to constantly change the program based on market conditions; too much variation can become confusing. An incentive program that is not clear does not motivate.

4. Support the reassigned job responsibilities. It is one thing to reassign job responsibilities and job expectations and to establish motivating incentive compensation, but it is another to support these new roles on a daily basis onsite. Leasing professionals need to be afforded the proper time so they can treat each and every customer as if he were the first to walk in the door on a day when all reports are done and every application has been properly processed. Give them that time. If they are not given that time, the service to the customer will suffer. Be careful not to re-establish job responsibilities and increase sales expectations without truly relieving them of a majority of their administrative tasks.

5. Recognize excellent performance. Leasing professionals are highly motivated by recognition for each individual sale and renewal lease and for meeting occupancy and retention goals. The monetary rewards must be supplemented with non-monetary recognition. The true sales personality, more than other team members, thrives on this type of positive reinforcement. When traffic and leasing conditions are slow, it is even more important to motivate leasing professionals with smaller daily or weekly leasing goals and to properly recognize them when those goals are met.

6. Consider the partnership between the leasing professional and leasing administrator. The leasing professional and the leasing administrator need to complement each other. The sales strengths of the leasing professional are reinforced by the organizational and administrative strengths of the leasing administrator. To succeed, their personalities must be managed appropriately. Remember, adding a true sales person to the team can greatly change the team dynamics. Even the best property managers may find themselves challenged by this new type of team member because sales people are highly competitive, outgoing and driven. They long for personal, rather than team-related, success and recognition.

Though a strong team attitude is important, try to accept and support leasing professionals and their personalities and do not try to change them by discouraging their individual drives to succeed. It is this drive that sets them apart from others who are not as successful at the primary sales responsibilities. Reward their individual efforts and recognize them often for their successes. Put goals in place, track their progress, encourage them to meet these goals and then reward and recognize them when they do.

The simple fact is that leasing professionals with the right sales personality desire to be successful, and when they are successful, the team and the property are successful. Remember that leasing professionals are the voices and faces of the place residents call home. They, more than anyone else, represent the team, community, company and owners of the property. Hiring the right leasing professional can help turn a troubled community around or make a successful community even more successful.

Jennifer Koster, SPHR, Human Resources Director of IPA Management Inc., is co-author of a new book, "Straight Talk on Multifamily Management," (www.StraightTalk-mfm.com). She can be reached at 616/850-1062.