Written by Chris Griffin, North Houston Area Regional Leasing Manager
As a Regional Leasing Manager with Venterra, it is my duty to ensure that Leasing Consultants on-site have all the tools they need to succeed and continuously learn and grow. Aside from training on soft skills and practicing leasing techniques, we truly strive to increase teamwork by providing a better understanding of the entire team, specifically the maintenance side. While Leasing Consultants’ primary responsibility is, well, leasing apartments, a solid knowledge of what goes into making an apartment ready for a new resident is vital, as well.
Each year, we host a “Make Ready Meeting” in Houston, during which Regional Leasing Managers partner with Regional Maintenance Managers to build Leasing Consultant knowledge. We select a community, then work with on-site maintenance staff to select two apartments that need to be made ready. This year we were at The Mandolin Apartments in North Houston.
Regional Leasing and Maintenance Managers worked with and guided Leasing Consultants in completing tasks like simple cleaning, replacing a garbage disposal, installing a ceiling fan, stripping caulk, re-caulking tubs and sinks, repairing drywall, installing doors, replacing the insides of a toilet, and much more!
After the work was done and we took a brief moment to marvel at our collective accomplishment, we inspected the apartment as a group using Venterra’s Total Quality Make Ready checklist. For me, it was great seeing the light bulbs come on over the Leasing Consultants’ heads as we walked through and they put process and checklist together. It’s that dawning moment of comprehension that I live for.
At the end of the day, everyone was tired, but in good spirits. There was an overall sense of accomplishment as well as empowerment. With the knowledge they gained, Leasing Consultants are better able to help their team and their current and future residents. They have a better understanding of what their maintenance teams do which leads to greater appreciation of these responsibilities. Connecting processes in a way that builds knowledge, appreciation, and empowerment is what Venterra is all about.