A Visit From the King

This is the second chapter of “The Sky is Falling” fable.

Once Upon a Time there was king who ruled a vast kingdom containing many beautiful apartment communities. His subjects were very much in awe of the king, as he ruled with a fair hand and much empathy. They worked very hard to keep his communities beautiful and occupied. In recent days, however, competition from neighboring kingdoms had grown fierce, and townspeople were packing up and leaving in droves to take advantage of the “special offers” in other lands. This greatly disturbed the king, and he called his most trusted attendants together for a roundtable discussion. “Why do they leave,” the king asked, “why don’t they come to my communities?” One of his attendants said “Your highness, the neighboring kingdoms have all greatly reduced their rents, and the townspeople are into saving money these days. You could reduce your rents to compete.” Another, the accountant, said, “Either way, you are losing money and we need to stop all this crazy marketing we have been doing. We should probably dismiss a few subjects as well.” The king decided it was time to inspect his holdings. He would visit each community in his kingdom a week from Tuesday. The horns were sounded.

At the communities, the horns were heard. The vice president of property management pulled his portfolio managers into a conference and announced the king’s visit. “We don’t have much time,” he began, “and we need to be ready. There is much analysis and much reporting I will ask of you over the next week. In addition, you must visit each of your communities for a thorough inspection. We will leave nothing to chance. I feel confident with this great team we will do well. By the way, what’s going on with Whispering Woods? What have you been doing to get occupancy up?” Whispering Woods portfolio manager said, “They have been doing more outreach, but it is too soon to see its impact. I will visit and make sure something is being done.” \

Each portfolio manager outlined expectations for the coming week and the impending visit, most of which did not include servicing residents, exceeding expectations or attracting traffic. The communities were to be spit shined, and every apartment that was vacant was to be ready. No exceptions. Repairs were to be made, new flags ordered, windows washed and laundry rooms repainted. Nothing would be left to chance. The property manager was to study her budget, know her occupancy, renewal and capture rates and in general, was not to rest until the king’s visit was over. Preparations began in earnest.

After working non stop for 6 days and 6 nights, Whispering Woods was ready for the king. The community manager and her team had followed to the minutest detail checklist instructions left by the portfolio manager at her visit. The community looked impressive. The maintenance crew looked tired as they scurried about with last minute tasks. Though exhausted, the community manager knew her numbers cold. She was ready for the king.

The small and pleasant leasing sprite was full of wonder at all the preparations and couldn’t wait to meet the king in person. She wore her nicest suit and made sure the coffee was fresh and the water chilled. Then it was time to wait. She found she was nervous.

Soon, internal tracking systems began signaling the king’s whereabouts via text messages from neighboring community managers. The first arrived at 9:05. “He just left Cottonwood. Lots of them. Looked at a vacant and the model. Heading to The Landing.” At 10:15, “Leaving Landing. Said they were going to visit a building site and then to Whispering Woods”

The manager got on her walkie-talkie and said, “The king is on his way. Be ready.”
They waited some more. At 11:02, the maintenance technician stationed on the corner radioed in, “Here they come!”

The king’s entourage pulled into the community. ‘Which one is the king?” asked the small and pleasant leasing sprite, as she worked hard at looking nonchalant and busy. “There is the king” said the manager, “the tall one next to the vice president.”

The king proceeded up the walkway smiling and laughing with his attendants. He walked into the office and introductions were made. The leasing sprite waited in anticipation. Finally, the manager turned and said, “King, this is our newest leasing professional, Sarah.” The king smiled, reached out and shook Sarah’s hand. “Hello, Sarah,” he said, “Are you finding that Whispering Woods favors you?” “Oh yes!” she said. “Good”, replied the king “I look forward to seeing you do great things and am honored you chose us.” “Thank you!” she replied, and with that the king turned and the vice president escorted him to the community conference room to discuss the crisis.

The small and pleasant leasing sprite decided at that moment that she very much admired the king, and that she would work very hard for him.

After some discussion, the king viewed the model and a vacant apartment, granted permission for new signage and was on his way.

The manager alerted neighboring communities, sat down at her desk and breathed a sigh of relief. “They seemed happy, don’t you think?” she said to the leasing sprite, “They seemed to,” she answered. With that the manager ordered the entire team pizza, and thought, “Tomorrow we can get back to focusing on leasing.”

The morale of the story:

If you are the king, understand the impact a visit from you has to a community and the people involved. All focus has been to exceed your expectations and extensive efforts have most likely been made to roll out the red carpet for you. If you are trying to ensure quality control, you will achieve this objective simply through your visit. That is a good thing. Understand however, if the focus is on your visit, it is most likely not on securing residents, resident functions and planning outreach. In some ways, it is a double-edged sword.

The greatest impact you will have is in how you communicate with those you lead. A simple kind word of encouragement coming from you can have a profound effect on the recipient, and remind them why they chose your company over others. People will go to the mountain for you if you show interest and empathy to them.