Le Cirque de Sara

Wow, that is awesome, Eric! Heather's activity...

2012-01-08T15:36:52.974-05:00

Wow, that is awesome, Eric! Heather's activity is really admirable. Our teams aren't posting quite as frequently, but we've also had good luck posting a mix of content. That definitely helps to encourage more resident interaction on our Pages, too.

Thank you for reading and sharing...and I greatly appreciate your offer. I'll keep you posted!

Congratulations Sara! Keeping all of that going i...

2012-01-08T14:53:18.929-05:00

Congratulations Sara!
Keeping all of that going in the right direction and organized is no small task. It an ongoing training issue to keep the site staff focused, but when they "get it" magic happens. We had a nice SM Day Saturday, and sent the below email to our gang to squash the excuses.

Best of Luck in your pursuit, and there are lots of us around to help should you ever need it.

Hi Gang,
On Saturday Heather displayed an excellent mix of Facebook Posts on Living The Urbane Life Facebook Page that resulted in considerable "Engagement"

She posted (6) times spread throughout the day, with a mix of articles, pictures and just text with questions that resulted in (54) "Likes" (20) "Comments" and (3) "Shares" Note that there were no giveaways or swag, just her reaching out and connecting to folks.

She accomplished this on a Saturday, one of our busiest leasing days, working solo, and she leased some apartments!

Great Job Heather!

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Mom - that really means a lot ...

2011-12-07T16:27:03.864-05:00

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Mom - that really means a lot to me. But did you have to tell everyone EXACTLY how old I am? ;) xoxo

So proud to see your blog, Sara. You are such a wo...

2011-12-07T15:01:46.110-05:00

So proud to see your blog, Sara. You are such a wonderful mother to C. So beautiful, smart, talented, and truly a joy for me as I think back over my 13,090 days of motherhood. All my love to you and C on her third BD. XOX

Eric, you're absolutely right. It's up to ...

2011-12-06T20:20:25.580-05:00

Eric, you're absolutely right. It's up to the employee to make it happen. However, I think part of what makes employees like Hal (and the superstars at Zappos) shine is partly due to corporate culture: if our employees are empowered to do the right thing, then they will. Of course, you've got to hire the "right" employees in order to do that. If they believe that great customer service — not price, product, or anything else — is the key to getting and keeping customers, AND they have the authority to make things right, then you've got most of the ingredients you need for that secret sauce.

Thanks for weighing in!

Hi Sara, This raises the question, Did the outstan...

2011-12-06T16:36:40.764-05:00

Hi Sara,
This raises the question, Did the outstanding service come from the brand/business or the individual/person. We can all strive for better customer service in our businesses, however it is in the hands of our employees to pull it all off. Hal could have hidden anywhere and no one would have noticed, but he decided to engage the customer, Bravo!

All the training in the world doesn't mean that our employees will actually "Engage" The question is, what is the secret sauce for folks to behave like Zappo's?

Hi Matt - I definitely learned my lesson as far as...

2011-11-21T09:32:03.356-05:00

Hi Matt - I definitely learned my lesson as far as "packing procrastination" is concerned! Never again will I extend my check-out time with the intent of packing late in the day.

We're on the same page when it comes to wanting to provide that same level of service in multifamily. I'm not sure if we're totally there yet, but think we're on the right track.

Greatly appreciate your reading and commenting on the post!

That's a great story Sara. As soon as the powe...

2011-11-19T20:58:02.887-05:00

That's a great story Sara. As soon as the power went out I high talked it out of there. Thankfully I had my bags with the porter. I'm very glad Hal came to your rescue! And kudos to the senior operations guy for a personal response.

I wonder if we can get to the same level of service in multi-family? I sure we are practicing that every day.

Thanks so much, Jonathan! This post has been a lon...

2011-10-25T20:45:08.100-04:00

Thanks so much, Jonathan! This post has been a long time coming and I really appreciate your comments.

I agree with Mike. Definitely need to hear you on...

2011-10-25T17:28:03.130-04:00

I agree with Mike. Definitely need to hear you on the his radio show. This is the kind of transparency that has been lacking for most so huge kudos to you for penning this.

Eric, I couldn't agree more with you on the mo...

2011-10-25T16:05:10.499-04:00

Eric, I couldn't agree more with you on the moving parts. To be honest, that's a big reason that we're proceeding slowly - we want to make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew.

I appreciate your feedback and will definitely let you know how our efforts are going. Have a great afternoon!

Mike, thanks so much for the feedback. You're ...

2011-10-25T15:58:11.635-04:00

Mike, thanks so much for the feedback. You're right, rolling out a social program is MUCH more complicated than it seems, and certainly more complicated than I'd ever expected. (At my previous company, our CEO said, "Hey, we should be on Facebook," and that was that. We were off and running within a couple of weeks.)

Would love to talk more about the podcast - sounds like fun, and if I can help other marketers avoid a few pitfalls, so much the better. Cheers!

Hey Sara, Bravo for sharing what you are doing and...

2011-10-25T15:39:25.827-04:00

Hey Sara,
Bravo for sharing what you are doing and why, It is very helpful for others to see and read and further understand. There are so very many moving parts to all of this in order to tie things together.

Best of Luck, We look forward to further updates!

Sara, this is awesome, if for no other reason th...

2011-10-25T14:57:39.129-04:00

Sara, this is *awesome,* if for no other reason than it shows that it's not as easy to do as it might seem. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the progress of these properties and the rest of the portfolio as you expand the rollout. (Sounds like a great conversation for a future episode on the podcast...) Good luck!

Even the best-laid plans can be delayed. The ASC w...

2011-09-20T11:36:20.038-04:00

Even the best-laid plans can be delayed. The ASC will be launching SOON - stay tuned for more details.

Love this post Sara. My kids are much older but t...

2011-08-08T16:00:42.417-04:00

Love this post Sara. My kids are much older but they inspire me still to this day with their thoughts and their hugs. Remembering the little things and keeping perspective as a parent is so important. Love this post and the reminder you gave me as a parent.

Thanks for the link love Sara. I appreciate it. ...

2011-07-05T13:27:49.231-04:00

Thanks for the link love Sara. I appreciate it. I completely agree with your wrap up of the event. I personally hate Vegas but that is just me. Hotels for some reason charge a small fortune for WiFi which is ridiculous to me. It did make the whole "social" aspect of the event difficult. I tweeted what I could! Look forward to visiting your home town next year. It has been many years since I was in Boston.

@Jonathan, I couldn't agree more that finding ...

2011-05-26T16:33:56.610-04:00

@Jonathan, I couldn't agree more that finding a balance is the key: knowing your own limits is so important. I'm not sure whether my former coworker was having a tough day, or whether she was just out to have a good time (and overdid it), but she really made the wrong impression. If she were ever to apply for a role at our company, I can almost guarantee that this whole story would come up...and it unfortunately wouldn't reflect well on her.

@Michael, I too am a light weight - I actually have a rule that if I'm driving, I only have one drink, and I have it early. Since I'm often driving to and from work events, my rule makes it easy to stay in control.

Thank you both for reading and commenting!

Spot on, Sara. Like Jonathan stated, impressions a...

2011-05-26T15:02:45.795-04:00

Spot on, Sara. Like Jonathan stated, impressions are impressions no matter what. And I have seen some coworkers (some of them former) make some very bad impressions. It's a good think I'm a light weight. :-)

Great post Sara. Impressions are impressions no m...

2011-05-26T14:48:47.863-04:00

Great post Sara. Impressions are impressions no matter what the scene or circumstances. I agree with you that there needs to be a balance with work related entertainment. You can embarrass yourself pretty easily. Thanks for the post.

I'm relieved (though not surprised) that I'...

2011-05-17T11:45:08.170-04:00

I'm relieved (though not surprised) that I'm not the only one struggling with this, Jonathan. I DID sign up for that Boot Camp class, which I'm hoping is a step in the right direction...and I packed my gym bag so that I can hopefully squeeze in a quick workout at lunch today. I hate that my lack of a routine has become a routine all on its own, and am determined to turn that around.

Good for you for making a weekly schedule - I hope you're able to stick with it!

I totally can relate to your post Sara. I have be...

2011-05-17T07:49:19.041-04:00

I totally can relate to your post Sara. I have been trying desperately to get back into an exercise routine. It is certainly not easy but I am keeping at it. I am glad to know I am not the only one. I am sure you will receive lots of encouragement all over to keep the pace up. That is what keeps me going. Now I need to plan my gym routine for the week :)

Have fun!

Absolutely! You know I will. :)

2011-05-16T10:43:01.660-04:00

Absolutely! You know I will. :)

Sara I hope you will come see me to say at NAA! Ju...

2011-05-16T10:38:08.671-04:00

Sara I hope you will come see me to say at NAA! Just to see you and have a face to face hello you know means the world to me :)

So sorry for the delay in responding...travel and ...

2011-05-16T10:35:13.791-04:00

So sorry for the delay in responding...travel and a cranky Blogger platform have held me up.

@Jonathan, I definitely see your point on the value that the giveaways have for vendors - my personal philosophy is to not visit vendors' booths at a tradeshow unless I know I have an interest in their product. Quite honestly, I don't want to waste your time or mine.

@Bill, I'll keep you posted. Who knows, maybe I'll get REALLY lucky and win $10K, like one of my coworkers did last year! If that's the case, I think I'll just go and buy an iPad. :)

Le Cirque de Sara

Wow, that is awesome, Eric! Heather's activity...

Congratulations Sara! Keeping all of that going i...

Aw, shucks. Thanks, Mom - that really means a lot ...

So proud to see your blog, Sara. You are such a wo...

Eric, you're absolutely right. It's up to ...

Hi Sara, This raises the question, Did the outstan...

Hi Matt - I definitely learned my lesson as far as...

That's a great story Sara. As soon as the powe...

Thanks so much, Jonathan! This post has been a lon...

I agree with Mike. Definitely need to hear you on...

Eric, I couldn't agree more with you on the mo...

Mike, thanks so much for the feedback. You're ...

Hey Sara, Bravo for sharing what you are doing and...

Sara, this is *awesome,* if for no other reason th...

Even the best-laid plans can be delayed. The ASC w...

Love this post Sara. My kids are much older but t...

Thanks for the link love Sara. I appreciate it. ...

@Jonathan, I couldn't agree more that finding ...

Spot on, Sara. Like Jonathan stated, impressions a...

Great post Sara. Impressions are impressions no m...

I'm relieved (though not surprised) that I'...

I totally can relate to your post Sara. I have be...

Absolutely! You know I will. :)

Sara I hope you will come see me to say at NAA! Ju...

So sorry for the delay in responding...travel and ...

Sara, this is awesome, if for no other reason th...