LeadSimple Blog
Property managers can feel like they are drowning in applications and calls from applicants, especially during leasing season. What can property managers do to simplify and automate AND increase their 5-star reviews even during the busiest time of the year?
Property managers have to screen hundreds of applications for the rental properties they manage every month.
This involves pet screening, employer, residence, and income verification, credit checks, and of course, responding to and handling incoming questions from applicants.
Add to that the need to let the applicant know you’ve received the application, confirm that the application is complete, the application fee has been paid, all co-applicants have applied, the pet deposit has been paid, and send approval and denial letters and you have a lot of work that needs to be done on each and every application.
In the summer (leasing season “hell” as it is sometimes termed), this work increases exponentially depending on how many properties you turn over every summer.
As more applications come in, your leasing team can start falling behind, and applicants start calling in asking for info on the status of their application. This of course slows down the process even more.
Soon, hundreds of hours are wasted answering calls and replying reactively to the same questions from different applicants. The team burns out working late and on weekends to keep up. More mistakes are made, stuff slips through the cracks, and time is wasted doing the hard and time consuming work before realizing that the applicant is disqualified for a different reason (eg. pets).
In return, no matter how hard they work, the company gets bad reviews about their response time and the time it takes to process an application.
It becomes a vicious cycle.
Let this go on too long, and additional implications for the property management company start to surface:
🔥 Fair housing liability concerns due to an inconsistent process
🔥 A low online reputation affecting your SEO and the likelihood of getting great applicants and new owner clients
🔥 Longer vacancy times (which cause a higher potential for owner churn)
🔥 Burnout and low morale in your team, causing turnover of your best employees
🔥 Loss of great applicants who find a different rental
Oftentimes property managers recognize these problems and start the search for solutions. However, the solutions that first present themselves aren’t always the best in the end.
Hiring into the problem isn’t scalable because drowning in applications is a seasonal event. What will you do with the extra capacity once leasing season is over?
Tracking the work in a spreadsheet simply adds additional work to your team’s plate to keep it up to date, and doesn’t help them actually complete any of the tasks.
Same thing goes for a task or project management software - the work isn’t automated in any way, the communications are separate from where everything else is tracked, you have to recreate the work every time, and you have to carefully monitor it for mistakes and human error.
So is there a solution that can help property managers handle applications effectively and efficiently?
Great news! There is a solution that helps property managers handle applications easily without burning out every leasing season.
You need a standardized, automated, simple-to-use process that will keep you and your team on track.
This is more than a policy or training document, or checklist. This is an actionable process, with everything you need at your fingertips, designed to take your operations to the next level.
You don't need to reinvent the wheel with every single application. Stop letting tasks fall through the cracks. Don’t bug your team for updates or context or waste time holding extra update meetings.
Instead, cut down on the time needed to process each application with LeadSimple’s workflow tech solution designed specifically for property management:
⚡ Start the process automatically for every new application with data synced directly from your accounting software
⚡️ Automate the first response to all new applicants
⚡️ Easy to use, actionable process that guides your team through processing the whole application
⚡️ Automated templated emails throughout the whole process
⚡️ Full documentation of how to do every step, with decisions built in with conditional logic
⚡️ Dashboard to track, manage, and find all applications in one place, with all communications attached
⚡️ See what tasks have been completed and what’s still to come at a glance
⚡️ Pull all open applications for a property and see where they are at with one click
Not only will you reduce your leasing calls by 30% or more, save 3+ hours on every application, and get more 5-star reviews - you’ll shorten your vacancy times, differentiate your company, and manage more doors with the resources you already have.
"We went from 200-300 applications per month to over 700 during covid, and it just completely broke everything. We were just drowning in applications and one-star reviews because we couldn't call people back - we were getting like 300 phone calls a day, so I knew I needed to solve for this.... I have an applications team of two people and LeadSimple has saved them time and energy and effort and just made their job much easier." ~ Sam Shwetz, Mesa Properties
You can start getting the benefits of a streamlined application process in 5 easy steps:
Our expert implementation team will be right there with you to help you build and customize your processes and train you and your team.
With unlimited users, you can get your whole leasing team in the software today. Teams love how LeadSimple saves them time and headache - no more task overwhelm and fewer frustrated clients to deal with!
“I went from catching up on tasks on the weekend, to turning my computer off on Friday and I don’t have to worry about it until Monday. There’s no amount of money that I would pay to be able to have that.” ~Angel Getzinger, SCUDO Property Management
Then move on to build out your Move In, Lease Renewal, Move Out, and Late Rent Collection processes, as well as dozens more, to systemize your entire company and transform your company into an unusually profitable and effective property management machine.
Wanna learn more about the application screening process? Watch our recent webinar on applications right here.
Want to see LeadSimple in action? Book a quick consultation with our team.
.png){kind=small}
Aimee is the Content and Customer Education Manager at LeadSimple. She creates training, educational, and other content to help clients achieve success in sales, operations, and the health of their business. When she isn't working, she enjoys the outdoors, crafting, family time, and learning new skills.
Sales doesn't have to be an afterthought, and your processes should be automated. With LeadSimple, you will have a seamless handoff between sales and service teams, and help you turn cold prospects into raving fans by delivering a great customer experience.
