#79 - Ask Barbara Anything - Building Team Morale, Small Budgets, Stretched Staff & More
WE PUT IT OUT THERE TO ASK BARBARA (ME) ANYTHING AND HERE ARE THE A’s to all of your q’s!
Welcome to this week's episode of Marketing Home. Marketing You! I love hearing about your challenges and trying to help you find solutions. What we do in property management is not easy and what you do daily is incredible work. It’s a lot to juggle and you have to know a little about everything! What's interesting about this set of challenges is the similar pattern I'm seeing in a lot of them. So if anything, it’s comforting to know that you're not alone! Consider this a deep dive into seeing what everyone is struggling with, and maybe you are also struggling with yourself. Today we will consider several challenges and I will offer one concrete idea for each. So watch, tune in or read below!
Here’s a glance at this episode…
>> [01:45] - Marketing Senior Communities
>> [04:00] - Stumped on Outreach Marketing
>> [06:39] - Building Team Morale
>> [08:32] - Social Media Content
>> [11:13] - Team Building and Training
>> [13:08] - Engaging Residents in Events
>> [15:15] - Small Budgets
>> [17:32] - Events With A Stretched Staff
Challenge #1: Marketing Senior Communities
CHALLENGE: Belle writes, “I'm brand new to marketing a senior community and anything will help!”
SOLUTION: I've had the opportunity to do lease-ups for senior communities and rebrands, and it’s really important to know who your audience is. That is going to take some research to see who is currently living at your community, or to whom you are appealing. Many times with seniors, they can be at different phases in life, and understanding what phase they're in is really going to dictate whether the message is strictly for them or perhaps their children. Ask yourself:
Are they the ones making this decision themselves? Maybe they're a little bit in the further stages, and now your message may be for the children of those seniors.
Did they just downsize, sell their house, and are now looking to be part of a community?
Either way, you want to emphasize the experiences that they're going to have. How do you do that?
Some of the best marketing for senior communities will be your team and the events you do. You want to make sure that your language appeals to them - neither too trendy nor stereotypical.
Have a community calendar that showcases what the lifestyle is like. They may not want to do a lot of the virtual stuff, and instead, do everything in person.
Show a lot of pictures on your social media platforms and websites.
Make the print easy to digest and read, everything from the size of the font to the language you're using. Keep things clear, and give easy actionables.
Seniors typically like to deal with an individual at a community. They like to know there's someone there to help walk them through the process.
So, highlight the lifestyle, know who you're talking to, make it clear that there is a human connection there, be willing to do business the way that they want to do business, and use visuals to help really sell that lifestyle.
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Challenge #2: Outreach Marketing
CHALLENGE: Kimberly’s challenge is she needs to generate ideas and programs for outreach marketing but is feeling really stumped.
SOLUTION: I love when outreach marketing becomes a part of my team's regular routine. Meaning: it happens at the same time every single week, no matter what- even when our leasing is going great.
And outreach doesn't always yield immediate results. So the key is consistency. For instance, on a Tuesday you may have someone go straight to outreach marketing before they get to the office or, instead they come to the office first to check in, then head out. It could also be a group effort. Whatever the case, it happens every Tuesday (or more).
Have an outreach calendar with accountability and get really clear about where you want them to go. Keep a log and have everyone write their notes in it, and take turns. You also have to think about businesses that are going to attract your ideal customer. Some great places are schools, medical offices, and small mom-and-pop businesses.
If you're more focused on “quality leads”, that might take a little bit more research. You may want to get into a specific HR department, and that could take some research on LinkedIn to find the right person that you need to talk to. Then courting them by sending something fun or unexpected in the mail. It could be something like Tiff’s Treats, Edible Arrangements, or SENDaBALL- something that's going to stand out and get your foot in the door. Then, try to set up an in-person meeting to talk about a potential partnership. You might only be focusing on a handful every single month, sending them lunch or a goody basket.
HOW SPROUT CAN HELP: I offer a great outreach program HERE. In the shop, you will find an in-depth how-to outreach guide to check out. It’s more of a deep dive; what to say, what to wear, when to go, all that good stuff. We sell the program, and if you're a member, you get access to it for free.
Join our free membership today and access the latest SPROUT MONTHLY ISSUE plus our favorite flyers and resources - click here!
Challenge #3: Building TEAM Morale
CHALLENGE: Kathy expresses that building team morale has been more difficult with changes in her team, in the industry, and now with many working from home.
SOLUTION: I totally understand that it feels like people are all over the place. Having regular “standup” meetings are important so that everyone can check in, but keeping them less formal is beneficial. Again, they need to be consistent. Try something like a “Coffee and Chat,” where the first thing on the agenda is:
What everybody did that weekend.
“What was one thing that brought you joy this week, or one time this week where you felt really proud of yourself?”
What challenges have they faced and were able to overcome this week or are still working to overcome.
The Sprout Team having a Virtual Tea Party
It's super brief but lets you connect with what everybody is going through. When people can connect with each other, it's a really great thing. Something that a few members of my team have done is scheduled virtual lunches with each other.
If you're asking people to meet up after hours, that can actually wear away at morale. So it might be worth it to tell your team that you’re taking care of lunch today or, doing some sort of a meetup, but it's going to be during work hours. Just that decompression time, the opportunity to see people out of your environment, or getting out of the house if you're working from home, can have a really huge impact.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT GIFTS
Challenge #4: SOCIAL Media Content
CHALLENGE: Debbie asks, “Some people are doing great with social media, others are not. How do I keep it in front of them?
SOLUTION: It seems like social media continues to be a challenge. If I had a quarter for every social media challenge response that I get! Everyone struggles with it in a different capacity. For your challenge, Debbie, it helps to have team initiatives. When you make things easy for people on what to post, that really helps. We have a social posting plan that makes it super easy for people to post. The reason that it's successful is that we keep the themes consistent. We have categories and a bucket of ideas to draw from like:
Testimonials
Showing new specials
An amenity feature
Something in the neighborhood
Introducing a team member
Highlighting something cool going on in the community
You could also have monthly themes. Some examples I can think of: Maybe for the month of October, you could have a theme and have everybody on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays post something related back to that theme. Or, weekly themes can look like this:
Motivational Monday: something motivational
Tuesdays: post something about an amenity
Wednesdays: a picture of an event or a past event
Testimonial Thursdays: resident testimonials
Fridays: do something in the neighborhood
Saturdays: introduce a team member
Sundays: can just be something fun
The point is, the easier you make it for your team so that they're not having to come up with something from scratch, the more likely it is that they're going to buy in.
I would also have a place where employees can post ideas, and talk to each other. Whether it’s a Slack channel, WhatsApp chat, some sort of Google circle, or whatever you guys do, that helps your team be able to reach out when they’re feeling stuck. And if it is really a time thing, find those potential partnerships with different vendors.
HOW SPROUT CAN HELP: Many other companies provide social platforms, and we do that also. And if you're interested, you can check out our Social Assist program HERE. At trysproutforfree.com, you get six free captions so you can get those creative juices flowing. It might be the springboard that you need.
Sample Social Content
6 COPY & PASTE SOCIAL CAPTIONS + GRAPHICS TO SAMPLE. In our paid membership, you will find a selection of marketing and retention flyers & digital graphics for our members that can be downloaded, customized in Canva, or customized by a member of our team.
Challenge #5: Team Building And Training
CHALLENGE: This one is from Erica. She says, my new employee headcount outweighs my tenured employees at the moment. Team building and training are very important right now.
SOLUTION: This is a very good opportunity for partnerships, which is something that we've embraced in our company! So whether it’s at the same community or a sister community, partnering a tenured employee with a brand new employee, has been super helpful in building morale. They become partners, it’s who the new member can go to when they have questions. It’s a partnership, a mentorship. The mentors are given ownership, and the mentees don't feel like they're floating out in limbo.
Brief weekly meetings that have a theme are important. Have new employees submit questions and give them to the current employees. Then, at the meeting let your tenured team members answer those questions and how they would deal with some of the situations. In addition to that, transcribe the meetings. There's a great service, rev.com, where you can upload your recording and it will do an automated transcription of a video or audio. Save those to an FAQ Google doc, where you encourage new employees to go first, before asking a question. Then if they can't find it there, ask their partner.
Challenge #6: Engaging REsidents In Events
CHALLENGE: Claudia submitted a universal struggle. She says, “I cannot get residents to join events.” We had it before, but post-COVID, people are leerier.
SOLUTION: Focus on trying to have a little bit more grab-and-go stuff where they feel connected. Try to make it where your team is connecting to residents, just in smaller groups. And focus on making an impact on the few people that are coming in. If you have five people attending one of your events, make it the best event for those five people.
Social proof is a really big deal, so taking pictures of events. Maybe you have a long-time resident, ask to take a selfie together and then ask, “Do you mind if I post this? We just love having you, and I want to share what a great resident you've been!” Different little things like that where you can show other residents that you're building a culture.
You might have inherited a community where nobody wants to be at a party or a resident event, and you're looking to change that. Part of changing it is just by being genuine and having those great interactions, one resident at a time. But you also have to show others that those connections are happening and social media can be great, or regularly updating pictures on your portal and website. If your community isn't big on social, print out those pictures, and put them in your leasing office or your mail center. You want people to see so that they can pattern behavior. Your residents that are engaged are in a sense modeling behavior for the residents that aren't, and slowly you get that traction.
Also, make sure that the events are what your residents like. Poll them, ask them when they come in, would you rather this or that? Use a chalkboard where you write down, would you rather have a barbecue or a movie night? And then people can put in a vote based on what they want, or you can put it on social media.
Examples from Sprout Member: Artisan at Judson Park
Challenge #7: Small Budgets
CHALLENGE: Tara says she doesn’t have a large budget, but a large site.
SOLUTION: That can be very tricky. I was in one of those situations where there were over 500 units and not a lot of money. And my goodness, that really stretched my creativity! If you're looking to create camaraderie with residents, I think you can ask yourself, what can we do? Is it something really small you plan to do, but consistently? For example, let's say we're a huge pet-friendly community. Are we going to put some money behind getting tennis balls and pet treats and every Friday have people come in? Or, what can we do that's free? Can we do pictures behind a fun backdrop that the team makes out of tennis balls? Then residents can get a picture of them with their pets. It can be super simple things like that.
What about skills within your community? Is somebody on your team a photographer or a musician? Does someone make awesome cookies? Look for things that can be contributed internally and then repurposed. What are your vendor partnerships like? Do you have some contributions or petty cash? Then really decide how to get the biggest bang for your buck. Maybe there are businesses in the area that would host something like a farmer's market, or a trade show where they showcase their services, but are giving away snacks and refreshments. You could host a local charity or, have the police department come in and offer some sort of training. Have a library session where you do a book reading club. You don't have to have a lot of money, it's definitely going to be more difficult without a budget, but you can make it happen. The biggest thing is, just make it an experience for your residents, treat them well, and whatever you do, make it memorable.
Another thing I did to stretch things out, I remember, was save my money for a quarter, then I would do an event. And we got good attendance because we didn't do them that often, so it was special. Or we would save our money for a back-to-school drive, or colors and coloring books, or grab-and-go stuff, little things that weren’t super expensive that made an impact.
Challenge #8: Events with a Stretched Staff
CHALLENGE: Lucy says, “Having not had a full staff in months, we need to host events that don't need "all hands on deck" because we are just completely stretched.”
SOLUTION: Grab-and-go events are great because it makes an impact. You can have one potential team member standing there handing things out. I like things like, Breakfast at the Gate because it is a dedicated amount of time, it’s not an event that's going to stretch out for hours. You might say from seven to eight o'clock we're doing breakfast muffins at the gate. It’s quick, you get face-to-face time, you make a good impact on residents and they're out the door. You can also do things like grab-and-go treats for pets, and popsicles at the pool- where you can go around, pass them out, make an impression, and make them feel good about it. Those to me, are really big, especially when you don't have a full staff.
You can also get very efficient. Know exactly who's going to do the pre-promotion, and who does certain things at the event. After, who's posting the pictures on social, getting the testimonials, and making that impactful? Part of stretching capacity is also just getting your team to be really good at what they do.
I'm also a fan of social media challenges. Have your residents guess how many wine corks are in a jar for a chance to win a $50 bottle of wine! Everybody guesses, and then you’ve got interaction there. Then post a picture of the winner with their bottle of wine or their gift certificate. For another event, do a pet-friendly theme. Can you guess “X” or some statistic about pets or dogs? And then post the winner.
Resident-led events are also great. Post something like: “We're trying to connect all our runners in our community, who of you loves to run? Have you found any great trails nearby? Post in the comments below!” You're trying to build that camaraderie. Offer to provide snacks, and set aside community space. Host a book reading club, but have a resident lead it. Get whatever it is going, find a resident that's really passionate about it, and then ask them to just run with it, and you provide the space and the refreshments.
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I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode! We answered 8 questions submitted through trysproutfree.com. When you sign up for our free monthly marketing magazine, there's an intake form, and you can submit your challenge that could be featured on an Ask Barbara Anything episode like today. I had many more, but this was a nice mix of team training, marketing, social, and all the good stuff in between! If you'd like to submit your question, join our membership at trysproutfree.com, free of charge. You will also get access to our monthly marketing magazine. You can also DM me on Instagram @sproutmarketing or message me on LinkedIn at Barbara S.
