Nick Jekogian's Monday Morning Message - Wins and losses

Wins and losses

"You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat." - Paul Brown, Cincinnati Bengals coach

I am a dyed in the wool optimist and couldn't imagine being an entrepreneur in the real estate business or any business without optimism. I am also a realist who has learned (the hard way in many cases) that you must learn from your mistakes. Ironically, we often learn a lot more from the losses than the wins.

As for the wins, we did a great job this leasing renewal season at Signature Community. We renewed more than 75% of our existing residents, we leased up to 100% occupancy in just about all our markets and we cut our cost to turn and renovated apartments to fractions of what was paid in the past. I am very proud of our entire team for reaching the incredibly difficult stretch goals that I set for them and making it happen! We are celebrating these wins this week.

We also had a few losses this year.  We failed to meet certain lending requirements for buildings that will jeopardize our long term ownership of those assets. We failed at cutting expense quickly enough to offset some of the revenue decline we have seen in markets.

In the fourth quarter of this year our primary focus is learning from our mistakes and amplifying our winning traits. If something worked in one market or building we are going to make sure it is implemented in all buildings. If something failed we are going to research why and make sure that we learn not to make the same mistake again.  We are not wasting this recession.  We are learning from it and getting better because of it.

I am looking forward to working with all of you to make Signature Community better in 2011 and beyond. Thanks for the wins and let's learn from the losses.

 

Nick

Nick Jekogian's Monday Morning Message - Brown Paper Bag

Brown Paper Bag

Craig Hodges, Managing Director of Australia-based King Content, suggested the best business question I've heard in 2010 , "What's The Brown Paper Bag in Your Business?" As the story goes, Craig was in NYC and managed to garner a dinner reservation at the famous Gramercy Tavern. One thing led to another and he ended up closing the place down, enjoying beers with the staff (what Aussie's do best!). As he was leaving, the staff handed him a brown paper bag and said it was a little something for breakfast the next morning. He started to look inside, but was instructed to keep it closed until the sun came up.   When Hodges was ready for breakfast the next morning, he found inside the properly sealed bag a freshly baked muffin, muesli, and an orange juice - a welcomed delight. It was then that he wondered "what was the brown paper bag-equivalent in his business?" He wondered how his business could generate the same word-of-mouth promotion he's given Gramercy Tavern as a result of something so simple, yet memorable?

The above story made me pose the question, "What is Signature Community's Brown Paper Bag?  Because this can mean a lot of different things for everyone on our team; on Wednesday I am going to ask each and every market for their Brown Paper bag so please be ready to participate.

I am looking forward to hearing all the different ideas for our Brown Paper Bags.

Nick

Nick Jekogian's Monday Morning Message - Teamwork

"We are all part of a chain. You must carry your load." - Bill Walsh, 4 times Super bowl winning coach

I am amazed at how easy it is for children to instantly join together as a team to accomplish some wildly imaginative goal.  No egos, no jockeying for positions, no politics. They put 100% of their efforts into accomplishing the common team goal without any concern for their individual interests.  In this case a few of the kids fell off the top of the mountain but they got right back up and helped the team again.

Interestingly, even at young ages the kids fall in line as leaders and followers. They realize that the team needs direction and control which can only be put into place by a leader. 

At Signature Community we have a huge initiative over the next quarter to focus on ideas, innovation and implementation, Si3. We know from experience that if we come up with a lot of ideas at the corporate level and try to implement them in the field they will fail miserably.  So what Si3 does is involve the entire company in the process, teamwork.  Teams are being formed to work on key areas of improvement: resident services, accounting and financial, employee experience, Signature Training (star center), technology, and strategic initiatives.  Over the next few months these teams will work together on the goal of making Signature Community the best place to live, work and invest!

In past years the research and implementation we have done during these months has not only produced great results for our company, but has also shined a spotlight on many of the star players in our organization.  Just like on the playground where the kids work together to fill the roles needed for success, we have experienced the same type of effort in our teambuilding and watched employees excel in the organization through this initiative.

I look forward to hearing any of your ideas and thoughts as we proceed with Si3 over the next few months.  Please send any ideas or comments to ideas@asignaturecommunity.com.

Thanks again for making great things happen at Signature Community.  

Nick