Expert On: Customer Service, Leasing, Marketing Strategies, and Resident Retention

About Tracey Dodson Hopkins:
Tracey Dodson Hopkins started her career in the Property Management Industry at seventeen as a leasing consultant. Three months later she was promoted to manager and proceeded to manage properties throughout Texas. She was again promoted, at the age of 21, to multi-site supervisor. One year later she decided marketing was her calling. Tracey joined Walden Residential Properties, Inc. in March of 1991 as a Marketing Facilitator. As Walden grew into the 3rd largest REIT, so did Tracey’s responsibilities as she was then named Vice President of Marketing. Tracey conducted the marketing campaigns, assisted in repositioning of properties, directed graphic design and trained regional and on-site teams in all phases of property management. She was also responsible for analyzing and determining the position of proposed acquisitions in their markets.

In December of 1997, Tracey joined Archon Residential, a rapidly expanding full service asset management company where she was responsible for those same duties as well as planning and promotion of the newly developed communities. In October of 2000, Tracey opened her own company, Jumpstart Marketing. In addition to marketing, leasing and customer service presentations, she is available as a consultant for marketing or management coaching.

She is currently serving as Chair for the Pillars of the Industry Awards Planning Committee and judged the Pillars awards for three years. She is a featured speaker at the Sales & Marketing Magic Brainstorming Sessions, Multi Housing World, NAA and TAA as well as numerous Apartment Associations across the United States. In June of 2000, she gave birth to twin girls, Madison Key and Kathryn Nicole. They joined their 6 year old brother, James “Tanner” and made Tracey and her husband Marks life busy and complete!

Topic Descriptions

Jumpstart Leasing Workshop
Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the industry, this seminar workshop will set you up to succeed. Participants will learn about today’s savvy customer, what qualities make a great leasing professional, how to put together an effective leasing notebook and what market knowledge is necessary. Without excellent telephone skills, leasing success happens by accident. This session will cover in depth some ways to handle the many instances that happen over the phone as well as demonstrate some 100% effective skills that no one can afford to miss. It’s important to make guests feel welcome with warm greetings and rapport building qualifying skills. Those skills will be taught with reasons why they are so important. Demonstrating, closing and following up are no less important and given great emphasis. We will touch on effective customer service attitudes as well as what to do when the customer is angry. This session is typically a 6–7 hour course with corresponding notebook and resources.

Leasing With Influence…Beyond the Basics
These days, no one likes to be sold to. They prefer to make informed decisions on their own and need from leasing professionals all the necessary information. This session will go beyond the basic sales strategies and cover taking responsibility for having prepared product, merchandising that product and then presenting it in a way that demonstrates vast market and product knowledge. Time will be spent on exploring the best Internet leasing strategies as well as some basic marketing that will improve your overall success. Time will be spent on determining your property’s competitive advantage and how to future lease so that you always have a waiting list. This program is better suited for those who have been leasing for a while and just need to update their skills. This session is typically a 6-7 hour course with corresponding notebook and resources.

Jumpstart your Marketing Efforts
Take a moment to look at your property as if it is the first time you are seeing it. How does it compare with the other guys? How do you compete even if you’re property isn’t the newest or with the most amenities? Can you have great marketing presence without spending a fortune? This session will answer those questions and more. Advertising effectiveness is crucial to consumer perception and making the most of your dollars. We will look at several types of ads and discuss tips on making sure your advertisements are read and get response. Repositioning is the wave of the coming years as markets are bulging with new products. The property that invests their dollars in a way that the consumer buys into its new position will stand head and shoulders over the competition. Evaluate pictures of actual renovations and determine how your community can benefit from these stories.


Through the Looking Glass…A View of Market Responsiveness
Prevent drastic drops in occupancy and learn to be proactive. Since 1968, most markets have experienced as many as five downturns in the overall occupancy. Learn the signs to watch for and how to determine variations. From third party research companies to national newspapers, discover the information you will need to predict changes in your market. Analyze your position in your sub market and discover how to improve it with value enhancement and perception changing ideas. Who really is your competition and what do you need to know about them. Walk away with a template form to use when evaluating the property’s sales and marketing effectiveness. Your findings will unveil weak links and we will discuss proactive ways to strengthen those weaknesses. Advertising effectiveness will be covered with many ideas on making the most of your advertising dollars. You will also receive several marketing campaign ideas that are ready for implementation. We will discuss strategies to maintain higher occupancy, including: future leasing, responsive pricing, lease/policy management, product merchandising, and service performance. Writing a marketing plan will be easy once you evaluate, prepare and implement. Packed with ideas, this session could be the key to your success in a softening or unstable market.

Traffic Generators for any Market
What does it take to really drive traffic to your site? This session will explore curb appeal, marketing campaigns, print and Internet advertising as well as many, many ideas that work in almost every market. Walk away with ideas on marketing with little or no money as well as making the most of the dollars you have budgeted. Some time will be spent on increasing your advertising effectiveness as well as having all the basics covered in order to create excellent word of mouth advertising. It's always a combination of efforts and vehicles that successfully drive traffic - this session will help you define which combination is right for your property.

Writing an Effective Marketing Plan
There is rarely any training offered for those who are responsible for writing marketing plans which explains why there is no specific format used universally. This program will cover the necessary components for writing an executive level marketing plan and emphasis on the need for it's application to "come to life" in order to be effective. What kinds of preparation should one do prior to writing? What types of things does the boss want to see when there are dozens to review? Is it ok to change the plan once it is in place? These questions and more will be answered in this informative session. Participants will walk away with a template to use as a base when designing their company specific plan outline.

Marketing Made Easy For On-site Managers
Look at your community through the eyes of the customer. Are you putting forth your best effort? How is your advertising compared to your competitors? Are you improving your property as it ages and increasing value where possible?In this informative session, managers will learn how to determine why their occupancy isn't consistently 95%. Tips will be given for both basic and advanced marketing management. Industry benchmarks will be covered as a measuring tool as well as direction on where to look when there is a problem.

The Management of Marketing
This in-depth session will put you on the right track to managing the marketing function. You'll learn how to develop solid strategies that ensure concentrated action. Save time and resources you might waste on "hit-or-miss" activities. Complete with marketing systems and tools that you can take back and use now. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a new marketing director, you're sure to gain guidance, creative insight and fresh solutions to common challenges. As with all programs, these can be tailored to the client’s preferences and company policies with greater emphasis on participant’s weaker areas.