So let’s say the temperature is 13 degrees Fahrenheit, with the wind chill it feels like -10 degrees Fahrenheit, plus the snow is piling up on the ground. Sounds like a great time to get prospective residents out for an apartment tour, right? Oh wait. We meant a VIRTUAL apartment tour from the warmth of their own home. Sounds a little nicer, doesn’t it?
Most aspects of our lives now have a virtual way of working. From virtual work to virtual grocery shopping and virtual family gatherings, we’ve found new and innovative ways to stay connected. While we, hopefully, won’t have shelter-in-place or COVID-19 regulations forever, we can take the benefits of these virtual options and use them for a multitude of other reasons. For example, skipping going out to an apartment tour during a freezing day.
As a leasing agent, you can provide a high level of service to your prospective residents, while being mindful and considerate of them during the colder months, by offering to connect with them virtually. Then, they can stay home, comfortable, safe and warm, while still getting the leasing and touring experience they need.
Offer your prospects a way to stay warm and comfortable this winter through virtual apartment tours. Here’s a few ways to make them work for you.
Live Virtual Apartment Tours
If you’re looking for how to make a virtual tour of an apartment community that meets all the expectations of an in-person tour with the comforts of a home, a live virtual showing is it.
It’s important to have pre-recorded tours of your units, community and neighborhood before diving into a live virtual showing with a prospect. Maybe this year, it can be a goal to get as many pre-recorded videos of your units as possible. That way you can personalize these live virtual apartment tours to your prospect, and show them exactly what they want to see, when they want to see it.
Since live virtual tours are through a camera, the human-to-human element is retained which is critical in building the necessary trusting relationship to get a lease signed. That is much more than a 3D apartment tour, even 3D luxury apartment tours, can provide. Now, there is the typical live virtual tour where leasing agents would walk through the space showing the unit and community on their mobile device, answering questions in real time. However, there’s another option if leasing teams want to stay warm and safe at their desk or home. That is, live video sessions.
Live video sessions allow for agents to connect with their prospect easily from anywhere. Instead of having to physically walk through the property for the tour, you can have a face-to -face, real-time virtual meeting — think of it as an upgraded Zoom apartment tour. Through this virtual meeting, they can watch a curated library of pre-recorded Realync videos together.
After showing these pre-recorded videos, the leasing professional is there to personalize the video viewing, pausing and showing specific elements, and checking off everything on the prospect’s questions to ask during an apartment tour list.
Did you ask your prospect what their wants and needs are prior to the apartment viewing? If you didn’t, we can’t stress enough how important it is to ask these questions, so you can personalize the viewing experience to that prospect. Check out our live video tour checklist for next time your prospect wants a live video session.
While you will lead the conversation and show your pre-recorded library of videos, through Realync you’ll also have the interaction with your leasing systems. Meaning, you can pull up documents or floor places and be able to fully collaborate with your prospect’s needs. It is a completely comprehensive virtual leasing experience starting with the virtual apartment tour. That allows you to build a relationship and get them everything they need without having to set foot outside or even put a hat and coat on.
Personalized Video Playlists
Another way to do a modern apartment virtual tour that allows your prospect to stay curled up under a blanket is providing personalized, curated video content.
Personalization is one of our top virtual apartment tour tips. So, if you already have a library of pre-recorded videos of unit layouts, amenities, the community in general, gather them up and make a playlist for your prospect. Pull the videos that are most relevant to them – what they want to see and what matters most to them. For example, don’t waste playlist space and attention span on your on-site dog run if your prospect doesn’t have a dog. Your prospect can then watch one or all of the videos in the comfort and warmth of their own home.
These are a couple of easy and simple ways to connect with prospects throughout the winter month in the virtual space. However, the ease and simplicity is predicated on having a robust library of pre-recorded video available. That means you and your leasing team have to go and create these videos. It’s some leg work on the front end, but it’s definitely worth it.
We have longtime Realync clients who have hundreds of videos in their library that they can use to keep themselves and their prospects warm, safe and secure throughout the winter.
Are you ready to make virtual apartment tours work for you no matter the temperature outside? Then you’re ready for Realync!
Let Us Help You!
Close more leases, market more effectively, engage with residents and, as always, keep it real. Do you have a question or suggestion? Or want to learn more about what you read? Email us at contact@realync.com. We’d love to hear from you!
