Five leadership lessons multifamily can steal from sales (courtesy of Kevin Ducey’s conversation with Tony Sousa)
Regional Sales Director at Updater, Kevin Ducey’s interview with Tony Sousa, Entrepreneur and Multifamily Influencer, is packed with lessons that translate directly from sales leadership to onsite operations. Here are five that hit home for multifamily teams.
1. Trust your people the way you want them to trust your residents
Kevin makes it clear that trust is a powerful motivator. He says, “If that wasn’t real, if it was just lip service, I’d be gone. I’ve accomplished quite a few things in my career. I can go work somewhere else.”
Strong teams stay when leadership keeps its promises. The same applies onsite: if you want leasing teams to deliver great experiences, give them tools and autonomy that make that possible.
Updater supports this by automating the repetitive parts of the move-in so teams can focus on people instead of tasks.
2. Preparation and empathy matter more than talent
Kevin describes a mentor who approached sales like a science, “He would lay out exactly how he wanted to connect with a client before he ever walked in.”
Understanding people is just as important as having charisma. For multifamily, this means understanding what residents are actually dealing with during a move and creating processes that support them in those moments.
The move-in is stressful. Operators who acknowledge that and prepare for it deliver a better experience.
3. Timing is everything
This is one of Kevin’s most relatable points. “Ninety percent of the time, why people aren’t reaching their clients is timing.”
Residents are no different. They miss emails, skip steps, and forget requirements, not because they don’t care, but because life is chaotic.
Tools that streamline the process and reduce back-and-forth make timing less of a blocker. Updater was built for this exact reality.
4. Give your people grace
In one story, Kevin shares that he took his top salesperson to a movie instead of pushing him through a bad day. “I’m not putting you in front of any of our clients today. Give yourself grace.”
Onsite teams need the same understanding. The move-in cycle is demanding. Leaders who recognize burnout, frustration, or emotional overwhelm can prevent small problems from becoming big ones.
Grace leads to better service.
5. Get clear on what really motivates people
Kevin challenges the idea that salespeople are purely money-driven, “Very few people in this world are actually money motivated. Money serves a purpose for other things they care about.”
Residents are motivated by comfort, clarity, stability, and the desire to feel taken care of. Leasing teams are motivated by tools that help them do their best work and leaders who understand their goals.
When you activate those motivators, satisfaction rises naturally.
Where these lessons meet the move-in experience
What Kevin models in his conversation is the same thing operators strive for every day:
- Support your teams
- Understand your people
- Remove friction
- Build trust
Tools like Updater are simply the operational layer that makes those principles possible during one part of the resident lifecycle that tends to be chaotic.
- Strong leadership creates strong teams.
- Strong teams create smooth move-ins.
- Smooth move-ins create satisfied residents.
That’s the connection. And that’s the opportunity.
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