Boss Talks

Episode 12 with William Butler

Recorded on:
September 7, 2022

Hey, Boss! Get ready to be wowed by William Butler’s off-the-charts apartment leasing strategies, conversion rates, and not-so-secret formulas. Pop in your earbuds, snag his leasing guidebook, and hear what Empower PMC could do for your multifamily community.

*The views and opinions expressed on Boss Talks are those of the host and their guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Community Boss.
  • 01:09 - Meet William Butler with Empower PMC
  • 04:32 - Practical apartment leasing best practices
  • 05:59 - His Book RELEASING: A Counterintuitive Approach To Apartment Leasing
  • 07:05 - Why you need these counterintuitive tactics
  • 11:05 - The biggest area where you can fix (and improve!) your multifamily leasing
  • 13:47 - William’s multifamily conversion ratio — it’s high!
  • 17:15 - The not-so-secret formula to achieve high conversions
  • 20:02 - Unleash the power of creative marketing
  • 22:57 - William’s team and community
  • 27:18 - What you’d eat at William’s house for dinner, plus his favorite coffee
  • 29:10 - What markets are you in right now?
  • 29:44 - What types of properties do you consult for?
  • 30:13 - What fundamental apartment leasing principle is underrated?
  • 32:33 - Share your story on Boss Talks!

“I wanna do something a little bit more. I wanna leave a legacy on the industry.”

In this Boss Talks episode, William divulged his multifamily conversion rates and shared how you can take specific actions to experience similar rates in your community. He’s been in the industry since 2009, wrote a practical book about apartment leasing strategies called RELEASING: A Counterintuitive Approach to Apartment Leasing, and owns his own property management consulting company, Empower PMC.

“The fundamentals aren’t necessarily always fun, right?” But go back to the basics. Revisit the things that will get you the conversion numbers you need.

  1. First, disown your ego. A Boss is humble and knows when to ask for help. It’s okay if you need assistance to boost your leads or conversion rates.
  2. Invest in your staff. Train them to be relational, strategic conversion experts who intimately know your property and help leads visualize living their best life there.
  3. Magnify your mindset. Don’t settle for average — you’re better than that! Shift your mindset away from collective psychology toward being top-notch.

How can you increase your conversion ratio? Convert your leads into apartment tours and then get them to sign an apartment lease. A lead is anyone who expresses interest in your property. A conversion ratio is the number of leads who end up signing a lease. What are Empower PMC’s conversion rates?

  • 50% of leads who inquire about our community show up for an apartment tour
  • 75% of the leads who take an apartment tour sign a lease

How do William and his team achieve these utterly amazing rates? “I stop talking about the property. I start talking about you.”

  1. Discover what motivates your buyer’s decision, ask what they desire in a new apartment, learn what they do for fun, and find out what is most important to them.
  2. Then use that information to sell the features and benefits of your community, like the best apartment amenities or your apartment community app. “Once you figure out those details and are able to articulate the value proposition of your asset in particular, the recipe’s the same at that point.”
  3. Close the deal and sign the lease!

If your mind is swirling with must-try tactics or your personal multifamily leasing success stories, we’d love to hear all about it! Be our next guest on Boss Talks by reaching out to our host, Evan Happel. Until then, share this podcast with your multifamily industry friends and keep Managing Like A Boss!