Tension Building

Just before going into work yesterday I read the notes from one of my prospects that called in the morning. They were coming in at 11 AM - our start time - and they mentioned that they wanted to see me when they arrived. It turns out that their plans to move their mother into an independent living community accelerated when they brought the mother to Vista, from Yuma, AZ earlier than planned. I spent the rest of the morning showing them vacant apartments and they were ready to commit to one. With a tight budget, we had to get special pricing approved, and that's when the tension reached a boiling point in our office.

The sales situation was described by Charlie as "early discovery" to our Regional Director, who had to approve the special pricing, and he asked why we were asking for special pricing when we didn't yet have all the facts for this prospect. Charlie mistakenly described the sales situation and the RD didn't provide approval. I went ballistic and said I was frustrated with this sales process. They are either forcing us to get contracts from anybody that walks in the door, even if they are barely breathing or barely qualified, and I have this qualified lady ready to sign and move-in, and they can't even get the pricing approved. Charlie was sorry he didn't properly describe the situation, but the RD should have read my notes in the data base which described the situation in great detail and he would have known it was a "hot" lead, ready to sign. I think it will work out though, as the mother is going to stay with us for 2 nights as a special guest, and then they will sign the contract - assuming that mom enjoys her stay with us. Trust me, we will make sure she is kept busy and is with people that will give a positive story about Arcadia Place and her stay is very pleasant. It will be an interesting experience over the next 2 days.

Charlie and Terri are beginning to show their stress. They couldn't wait to get off work yesterday at their quitting time of 3 PM. Normally, they stay over and work hours after quitting time to get things done in the office. It's up to Josie now to try to keep things under control on the operations side. The next 2 days are our solo days, and we are now happy that nobody else will be in the office during that time.

In the meantime, the weather is fabulous and it is expected to stay this way until, you guessed it, our days off starting on Sunday...