If you’re just popping into this blog you may have noticed that this is a series of blogs about how to sell your rental units to prospective residents. If you missed the first two, you can check them out by clicking below:

The #1 Question to Ask Yourself to Fill Your Chico or Redding Rental Property

Tips to Understand Your Customer and Fill Your Rental Property 

Just to recap, the first step in selling your properties is believing in them. Believe that your properties are a benefit to people and believe that yourself or your property management team will take good care of the resident’s needs. This is an intangible principle but it is also foundational. 

The second principle is to understand your prospective resident. Ask open ended questions and really listen to them so you understand their problems, goals, and desires. 

Once you’ve done the first two steps, the next is to sell the benefits.

This is basic sales. What I’ve found in life is sometimes people need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed. So, if this is new to you, great. If you’ve heard this, consider this an important reminder to you. 

Features and Benefits

Your property has features. Features are actual things that your property offers. Maybe your Chico rental property has:

• A nice backyard
• A pool
• Granite countertops
• A garage
• A storage area

These things are all features of your property. All of these features have benefits. The benefit of having a nice backyard is you can eat outside, entertain guests, or have a private outdoor space to relax. The benefit of having a pool is it allows you to have a refreshing escape on a hot day or a place to entertain your kids. Here’s the thing, people don’t buy features, they buy benefits. 

I have a Klean Kanteen on my desk right now as I write this. The feature is that it holds ice cold water.  The benefit is that I can stay hydrated at my desk without having to get up all the time to go to the water fountain. I didn’t buy it because it held water, I bought it because I wanted to stay hydrated at work. I bought it because of the benefits, not the features. 

Don't forget to mention the benefits!

So many times, either over the phone or in person, residential property managers list the features of their properties without directly telling the prospective resident how these features will directly benefit them. This is not effective.

You can’t just say, “this apartment for rent has a washer and dryer inside the unit.” A much more effective way to say that is to say “this apartment has a washer and dryer so that you don’t have to lug all your clothes to a laundry mat every week and spend two hours washing clothes.” You draw a direct line from the feature to the benefit. It’s such a small difference, but it helps people clearly see the value of how your property will benefit their lifestyle. 

Point out how the property meets their needs

Really, at this point in the sales cycle, you should have already asked a number of questions and know what your prospective resident’s problems and goals are. You’ll want to point out how your rental property meets their needs.

If they said they work down the street then highlight that. Say, “and you’re right down the street from you work so you’ll save yourself lots of time and gas money.” Whatever info you get from them in the discovery process, use that to point out how the features of your property will benefit them. 

Your sales call or showing won’t always go perfectly smooth. The more you think through and focus on your sales process, the smoother you will become. Pretty soon you’ll be an expert at understanding your prospects and showing them exactly how your property will benefit them. Being a great salesman will definitely give you a leg up in the market and it will help ensure your Chico or Redding rental property stays full.