Your Leasing Team Is Getting Leads. Are They Getting Leases?

Getting leads is one thing. Turning those leads into signed leases is another—and sometimes the difference comes down to what happens during a single conversation.

In this episode of The Multifamily Marketers Podcast, hosts Josh Grillo and Caroline Mills take a deep dive into Resident360’s Leasing Accelerator Blueprint, a hands-on training program designed to help leasing teams improve their conversations, build stronger connections with prospects, and ultimately convert more tours into leases.

Drawing from Caroline’s recent training with a multifamily client, they break down the entire leasing journey—from answering inbound calls and asking better discovery questions to delivering personalized tours, handling objections, asking for the lease, and following up with purpose. Plus, Caroline shares practical techniques, real role-playing examples, and simple ways managers can reinforce these skills long after the training ends.

You’ll learn:

• Why leasing teams need to shift from simply processing applications to earning them
• How to use the GREAT method to turn inbound calls into meaningful conversations and scheduled tours
• Why asking better discovery questions—and remembering personal details—can improve the leasing experience
• How to prepare for and deliver tours that sell benefits instead of just listing features
• How the LAER method helps leasing agents confidently address objections and ask for the lease
• Why generic follow-ups like “just checking in” don’t work—and how to create a more effective 30-day follow-up strategy
• How managers can make leasing training stick through role-playing, coaching, and consistent measurement

To suggest a topic, get in touch!

For more multifamily marketing help or to learn about Resident360’s Leasing Accelerator Blueprint, connect with us.

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TRANSCRIPT

Episode 59: Your Leasing Team Is Getting Leads. Are They Getting Leases?

Podcast Co-Hosts: Josh Grillo and Caroline Mills, Resident360

Josh: Good morning, and welcome back to the Multifamily Marketers Podcast. I’m your host, Josh Grillo, co-founder here at Resident360, and I’m joined by Miss Caroline Mills, our director of digital marketing. Caroline, how are you?

Caroline: Hello, Josh. Good morning.

Josh: I think we’re going to jump right into today’s episode, because it’s hot off the press. We mentioned it a little last week on the show: Caroline recently completed our Leasing Accelerator Blueprint training for a multifamily team. So I thought it would be a good idea to spend 10 or 15 minutes deep diving into the Leasing Accelerator, because there are some great takeaways for everybody listening, things you can take back to your own teams.

When someone calls your community, schedules a tour, and walks through an apartment, what happens in those conversations can determine whether they take the next step or keep looking. Caroline’s training for this client covered inbound calls, tours, closing, and follow-up, and today we’re going to break a lot of that down. So Caroline, you opened the training with the idea that teams have gone from processing applications to earning them. What do you mean by that?

Caroline: We were working with some communities that had waitlists and very strong demand for years, and that has shifted. In that situation, leasing conversations can become very transactional. The team knew the prospects were coming. People were already signed up, and the team was just processing applications. They didn’t have to understand what mattered to the prospect, show them how the home fit them, or address their concerns. They answered questions, people sent in applications, and they did the paperwork.

When renters have more options, teams need to be a lot more intentional about helping someone choose the community: actually walking them through the units, answering their questions, working through any pushback, showing them why this is the best place to be, and making the next step clear. Those skills matter even when demand is strong. A prospect should feel like we listened and helped them make a decision. So we helped this team walk through what that shift looks like and how they could shift along with it.

Josh: And did they like it?

Caroline: They did. It was really fun. They didn’t know who I was before we started, so I shared my on-site experience and how I understand what it’s like to be there and go through that kind of shift. I was on site during COVID, and we had hurricanes on the eastern coast of North Carolina, so we went through some of those same shifts. Once I was able to relate to them, we got into some of the games and started having a lot of fun with it. They really opened up, and it was super fun by the end.

Josh: Good stuff. So what does the Leasing Accelerator actually cover? For somebody who hasn’t been through it, what are we really helping teams do?

Caroline: We work through the entire leasing journey. We start with the very first phone call: How do you respond? What kinds of questions do you ask? How do you set an appointment? Then we move into preparing for the tour, walking the tour path, presenting the home, handling objections, and following up afterward.

In the recent session, we included mock calls, chat exercises, and live role plays, so the team could practice the language instead of just hearing me explain it. They also received call scripts, checklists, objection responses, and follow-up templates to use at their communities. The goal was to give them a process people can understand and practice consistently. We came up with some crazy objections on these calls, and they tried to answer them with each other. They’d push back on what I said, so it gave them scenarios as if they were handling them live.

Josh: So what stood out to you when you worked through this with the client’s team? Was there a question or role play that made you stop and think?

Caroline: There was a really good one where I was making things up on the fly. In one of them, I said, “Oh, and my cat named Ham is moving with me.” I just made it up, but the leasing agent did such a good job. He kept relating everything back to my cat, Ham, and the whole group was laughing along with it. They really got into the personal side of it, which I think was new for them, and they really liked that part. They leaned into the specifics, the pet names, all those little things they hadn’t had to think about before, and they started having a lot of fun role-playing with each other, too.

Josh: Is that something an on-site leasing team member can actually spot in an everyday conversation? Or did practicing out loud bring it top of mind so they’d start thinking about those little things?

Caroline: I think it does both. When you’re meeting with someone and they say, “My dog, Spot, will be coming with me,” a lot of people just register, “Okay, they have a dog.” But when you sit there, practice, and really listen, it moves to the forefront. They were remembering my name. They were remembering people’s kids’ names and pet names, and they made it a lot more personal. Once they started doing that with each other, they’d say, “Oh, and your dog, Spot, will love the dog park down there.” They really got into it. So it’s something you do see every day. It’s about how you use it and becoming more aware of it.

Josh: Awesome. Okay, this is the part I think everybody wants to stop and take notes on. Caroline, walk us through a good first call. What should an agent accomplish before hanging up the phone?

Caroline: Yes, this was a good one. We use the GREAT method, which stands for greet, rapport, explore, add value, and tie down the appointment. Start with a welcoming introduction, get the prospect’s name, and ask enough questions to understand their needs. We walked through in depth what all of this can include at each community. Connect something they told you to the community and how it relates to them, then offer clear next steps. Instead of saying, “Come by whenever,” offer a couple of appointment times. Confirm their contact information and document the conversation, so whoever conducts the tour knows what the prospect cares about before they arrive.

Once they got going, they had some really good ones. In one call, I said, “Well, I really want to come today before you close.” Instead of saying, “Well, we open at 10:00 tomorrow,” the agent said, “You know what? I’ll stay late for you today. Could you come by today? What time can I expect you?” We got to practice some really good stuff, and it was fun. During the mock calls, I had the team call out in the chat when the agent hit each part of the GREAT method. When they hit “greet,” everyone typed “greet,” and when they hit “rapport,” people were sending clapping hands and all kinds of reactions. So they practiced it themselves, and they also practiced listening for it in other agents’ calls.

Josh: I like that. GREAT: greet, rapport, explore, add value, which is probably a big one people don’t think about, and tie down the appointment. Makes total sense. All right, how about this one? Let’s say I call, and my first question is, “Hey, Caroline, what’s your cheapest apartment?” What would you say? I’m sure this happens all the time, right?

Caroline: It does. We practiced this one. You say, “Hi, how are you?” and they say, “What’s your cheapest apartment?” Still go through your GREAT method. You don’t have to keep them on the phone forever, but you’re still greeting them, and you want to answer with accurate pricing. We never want to be less than transparent about what we’re offering, but we still want to work through the GREAT method with them.

So answer with accurate pricing first, then ask a question that helps you understand the person. For example, I’d say, “Our one-bedrooms currently start at $1,500. What’s most important to you in your next home?” That price isn’t real for this conversation, but on an actual call, explain the relevant pricing and fees accurately. Someone asking about pricing may have a firm budget, but they may also be deciding whether the conversation is worth continuing. Answering directly builds trust from the beginning, and then you can find out whether you have a home that fits that person. You’ll be surprised: if you answer and then ask a question, instead of just saying, “It’s $1,500. Let us know if you think of anything,” you’ll get a lot further, and you could get leases out of it.

Josh: Okay, that’s great. Beyond bedrooms, budget, and move-in dates, what questions give an agent useful information?

Caroline: One we really liked is: “What has you looking for a new home?” First, it gives you more information about who’s looking at your community. Maybe they need more storage, a different commute, or space to work from home. Maybe they’re moving for a new job. That answer gives you direction for the tour and the follow-up.

If someone says, “My job relocated me,” now you have something to draw from: “Oh my gosh, where are you coming from? That’s a huge move. Are you excited? Have you been to the area before?” Now I’m building rapport. Then I add value by saying, “That’s great, because we’re right off I-75, just down the street from that employer.” Now I’m really tying it to them.

We talked about how these questions aren’t just for writing down notes. They guide how you follow up, how you run the tour, and how you keep engaging with the prospect. If they say storage is a problem, show them how big the closets are and how the layout can work for them. Don’t spend the whole tour describing amenities they have no interest in. Use a consistent discovery process with every prospect, listen to their answers, and let their stated needs guide what you explain and how you get them in for a tour.

Josh: Okay, now let’s shift to response times. Our training emphasizes speed to lead. I think everybody knows it’s all about speed to lead. So how do teams make that happen when the office is busy?

Caroline: It happens. I’ve been on site by myself on a Saturday with six back-to-back tours, a resident coming in asking for the coffee maker to be refilled, and the phone ringing. In our training, we talked about a five-minute response target for new leads and why it’s so important, based on Zillow studies. Managers need to decide who handles inquiries when someone is touring or away from the desk, so there’s always coverage, whether people are on lunch breaks or out on tours. A target without coverage is just a number. We can say five minutes, but without coverage, it doesn’t mean anything.

An automated acknowledgment can confirm that an inquiry arrived or that a tour was set, but the prospect still needs an answer: a clear way to schedule, or answers to their questions about a unit. So look at your missed calls, your response times, and whether the first response is actually helpful. Speed matters, but so does what you say when you reach out.

Josh: Good stuff. So what’s the difference between showing someone an apartment and leading a tour that actually helps them decide?

Caroline: They’re very different. A strong tour begins before the prospect even arrives. You want to walk your route and check the office, the common areas, and the show home. Make sure the lights work, the temperature is comfortable, and everything is ready to present.

It’s the worst feeling if you don’t. Someone shows up first thing in the morning, you’re walking your tour path, and there’s trash sitting on the walkway into the unit. Or you get into the unit and you’re rushing to turn everything on as they come in, and you don’t have time to actually talk with them. So we talked about why that preparation is so necessary.

Review the guest card so you can greet them by name and recap what matters to them most. You don’t want to spend all that time on the phone learning their needs and then never reference them on the tour. Explain benefits in terms of their needs. We went through this: “There’s a washer and dryer” just describes a feature. Instead, you can say, “You can do laundry at home instead of spending Saturday at the laundromat.” Explain why it matters to that person. Ask for their reaction as you go. If something doesn’t work, you want to learn that while you still have the opportunity to discuss it. We also talked about soft-closing techniques to use throughout the tour, so you can gauge how they’re feeling as you go.

Josh: All right, let’s say someone likes the apartment, the tour goes well, and the agent says, “Let us know.” Why does that happen?

Caroline: That’s very common. They’ll have a great tour, and the agent says, “Okay, we hope to talk to you soon.” An agent may worry about being pushy, or assume the prospect will ask if they’re ready. But people appreciate a clear invitation. We talked about how, most of the time, people don’t apply or come in for a tour because they’re never asked.

So ask, “How does this home compare with what you’re looking for?” If it fits and the person is excited, follow up with, “Would you like to start an application today?” Explain what applying involves and what happens next. If you offer a hold, describe the actual policy and any conditions on specials. And if they aren’t ready, ask what they still need to decide and agree on a time to follow up. You should know where they stand and how they’re feeling when the tour ends.

If someone says, “I need to go home and talk about it with my partner,” or whatever it may be, you can say, “I know you really loved that corner unit with the patio. Why don’t I send you some photos so you can show them at home?” There are different ways to close that still feel connected and help them see the value, instead of just saying, “Okay, well, let us know.”

Josh: All right, how about this one? I’m the prospect, and I say, “I like it, but I need to think about it.” What do you say next?

Caroline: That’s a common one. You’d follow up with, “Of course. What part are you still weighing? What are you still thinking about?” The big thing we talked about was to pause and listen. Let them get out everything they want to say. It could be the price, the layout, the timing, or a partner or someone else who needs to see the home. We don’t know until we ask.

Then we taught the LAER method, because we’re all about acronyms here. LAER stands for listen, acknowledge, explore, and respond. Address the actual concern. If another decision-maker wants to see the home, help arrange it. If they need time, respect that and agree on when to reconnect. So you listen to what they say, acknowledge and understand where they’re coming from, explore a little more about why, and then respond: How can we help them, and what’s the next follow-up step?

Josh: So the big mistake would be launching into a full-blown sales pitch before understanding what their hesitation is.

Caroline: Exactly. Answering the wrong concern adds more words without helping them decide, and you never address what they were actually concerned about.

Josh: Okay, I’ve got a great one. What if someone says, “I’ve read the reviews,” or “I heard this place has a reputation”?

Caroline: That can happen. We were talking with some communities that had recently been taken over by a new company, and it happens all the time. A new management company takes over, and new property managers and agents are put in place who had no part in what happened before they got there.

So acknowledge the concern, ask what specifically worried them, and then respond, as we talked about, with facts you can support. You don’t want to get emotional or take it personally. If management changed, explain when. If a maintenance process improved, describe what actually changed. Don’t assume an old concern has been completely resolved. If an issue is still being addressed, be honest about the current situation. Avoid any comments about who lives at the community, and avoid promises you can’t deliver on, which is common in lease-ups, too. Focus on the property, the service, and any documented improvements you have. A prospect wants a credible answer, not a reason to doubt everything you’ve said.

Josh: All right, let’s dive into the follow-up. Your toolkit says never to send a “just checking in” email. I’ve got to tell you, from experience, if I get an email that says “just checking in,” I don’t even look at it. “Just checking in” here, “just checking in” there. There’s really no value there for me in any way, shape, or form. So what should teams send instead?

Caroline: You’re exactly right, especially with how many emails you’re getting. Each message should give the person something useful that makes the next step easier. After the tour, thank them and reference the home they saw. Remember, these people are usually touring more than one place, and they won’t remember everything about every community. So talk about the tour and the home they saw, and include the application link to make it easy.

Then, a few days later, connect your message to something they told you. For example: “You mentioned wanting room for your desk. Here’s a floor plan that just opened up, so you can check the dimensions. Would another look help? Would you like to come by again?” That gives them a reason to respond. Repeating “Are you still interested?” doesn’t move the conversation very far.

Josh: Oh, definitely not. I get that all the time: “Are you still interested?” I was never interested in the first place.

Caroline: Not now, anyway.

Josh: Definitely not anymore. All right. There’s something to being politely persistent. But how much follow-up is really enough? You gave teams a 30-day cadence in your training. How do they use it without becoming annoying?

Caroline: We were talking specifically about stabilized assets. Lease-ups can be a little harder, because you could be leasing for a building that won’t open for five or six months. For stabilized assets, the toolkit gives a starting schedule: a message within an hour of the tour, a call the next day, and additional contacts around days three, seven, 14, and 30. But the prospect’s situation should guide the conversation. That exact sequence doesn’t need to happen every time. It’s a rough guide to what follow-up should look like. Someone moving next week needs different help than someone planning six months ahead.

Ask how they prefer to communicate. Get permission before texting; a lot of places do this automatically. Honor any opt-outs, and record every contact, whether that’s in a CRM or tracked manually. Once they respond, follow the conversation instead of automatically sending the next template. And if they lease somewhere else, you can ask why and document the answer. That feedback helps your operations and marketing teams identify whether pricing, the home, the location, or the process needs attention.

Josh: Awesome. All right, I’ve got a good one. How do you make this training stick, or any training, for that matter? If I go to a conference, I leave all pumped up and super motivated. But you know how it is: as the week goes on, you slowly deflate back to normal. So everyone finishes the session motivated, Caroline, but how does a manager turn that into something the team is still doing a month later?

Caroline: It can be a lot, and it can be overwhelming. So we always say to choose one specific behavior first. That might be completing discovery on calls, walking the tour route each morning, or sending useful follow-ups after tours. Practice it with your team in short role plays, review real examples, and give very specific feedback. “Ask why they’re moving” is easier to act on than “Be better at discovery questions.”

Then watch the process and the results: your response times, appointments, tour attendance, applications, and signed leases. Account for pricing, availability, and changes in incoming leads. Training can improve the conversation. It just doesn’t fix every reason someone chooses another community.

Josh: For this recent client session, what were you most interested in hearing back from the teams?

Caroline: I did something really interesting at the very beginning and end of the call, which I love to do in any training session. At the beginning, I asked, “How confident are you in closing leases today?” on a scale of one to 10, and we got a range of numbers. At the high end, we had sevens and eights. At the low end, and it was hard because they were admitting this in front of their leaders on the call, we had some threes and fours.

At the very end, after going through the whole session, I asked again: “Drop it in the chat. How confident are you feeling?” Now we were getting sevens, eights, nines, and tens. Lots of nines and tens. Everyone was saying, “I can’t wait to put this into action.” And it was fun that the people responding with nines and tens were the ones actively participating, the ones volunteering on the calls, and it made them a lot more confident. I think the next step is secret shopping, to see what they learned and whether it’s being put into practice.

Josh: From your experience, are there a lot of leasing teams out there that have never had a proper training protocol, blueprint, or process for this?

Caroline: There are. That’s often the case. And even someone who’s been in the industry may have come from a completely different company, a different type of asset, or a different area that doesn’t have the same leasing process. Just because someone has one or two years of leasing experience doesn’t mean they’ve had the same training. Sometimes it really takes going back to basics, making it fun, and talking about why it matters. Everyone knows why leases are important, but it’s about why the process is so important.

Josh: Companies really should have a formalized leasing training plan in place, right?

Caroline: Absolutely. I’ve seen it called all kinds of things: leasing school, leasing university, Leasing 101, whatever it may be. You should absolutely have a standardized approach. Not only so agents get the training itself, but so you have something to fall back on: knowing where agents start, where they end up, what comes next, and how you’re tracking their progression. Then, like we said, it’s easy to look back at your calls and everything else. If the leasing team is knocking it out of the park on every tour and every follow-up, and they’re still not getting leases, that points you to something else, whether it’s the product, the price, or something about your location.

Josh: All right, a couple of quick rapid-fire questions, and then we’ll wrap up this episode. Huge value on this one, Caroline. In my opinion, this stuff is pure gold, so hopefully everybody out there likes it as well. Rapid-fire, starting with number one: most useful question on an inbound call.

Caroline: “What has you looking for a new home?”

Josh: Number two: one phrase you’d retire from follow-up.

Caroline: “Just checking in.”

Josh: We knew that.

Caroline: Stop using that one.

Josh: You know what? Now every time I see that in my inbox, I’m going to give it a second thought, because we just talked about it. All right, next one: first thing to check before a tour.

Caroline: Walk your tour route and make sure the home is ready. Do it first thing in the morning, right when you get in.

Josh: All right. Best response to “I need to think about it.”

Caroline: “What part are you still weighing?” or “What part are you still thinking about?”

Josh: Next one: Where should urgency come from?

Caroline: Your actual availability, a real offer or special deadline, or the prospect’s move-in needs.

Josh: Okay. One thing a manager can do this week.

Caroline: Practice one leasing conversation with the team and give specific feedback based on what we talked about today.

Josh: Awesome. One thing every tour should end with.

Caroline: A clear next step, whether that’s applying or checking back in. Make it very, very clear what happens next.

Josh: Awesome. All right, Caroline, last thing. If listeners remember one thing from today’s conversation, what should it be?

Caroline: Use what the prospect tells you. Their reason for moving should shape the questions you ask, what you show them, and how you follow up. Help them understand where the home fits and make the next step clear. That’s something teams can practice and managers can coach every single day.

Josh: Awesome. All right, everybody, if you’d like help doing this across your communities, our Leasing Accelerator Blueprint is available. It’s a two-day training, one hour each day, customized for your property. Just reach out to us at resident360.com, and we’ll be happy to help. As always, we’ll be back next week with another episode of the Multifamily Marketers Podcast. We appreciate you listening. Thank you, Caroline.

Caroline: Thank you, guys. Bye!