Another Online Ratings Discussion

So,

A bad review comes in and our policies are to respond professionally to these negative reviews.

Enter owner :

Just ignore it. There is no evidence to suggest responding to these posts have any effect on marketing and occupancy. I would consider doing so if there were any evidence showing that responding will effect my bottom line. However there is not and if there is please provide me with some. :huh:

Now, logic would tell you that its not a good thing to have all these bad reviews posted. One of our current residents even posted a positive review. It was quickly torn apart in the comments section by a former resident that was evicted claiming Management posted the favorable review and we had not. This of course convinced the owner further.

I feel he has a valid point in his case because we certainly have not had occupancy or traffic issues. Averaging 98% YTD on qa 300+ unit MF community.

So with that said we would still like to comment on these reviews but do not have any data to support our position. It's easy to say its not a good thing but not easy to proove it with data. Does anyone know of any studies on this that would support the need to respond? Or any data that supports downward trends with traffic / leasing / occupancy?

Cheers!

There are a lot of variables and I guess it would depend on how many places does a person have to choose from in your area. I guess it would also count on the number of complaints and are they all hitting upon the same areas as well. My rule of thumb is for every complaint, there are 7 or more that did not complain and just walked.

But there is this old saying if you throw enough crap sooner or later some of it is going to stick!

Here is a link to an article that may get to what you were asking: www.appfolio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads...e-Renter-Handout.pdf

I think reviewing posts and then responding to the negative ones is important. You could face a potential problem in identifying the person that made the negative review; in that case, make a post to ask that the resident schedule a meeting with you to come up with a solution. Once a solution is created and implemented; ask that the resident create a follow up post that makes it clear that the problem has been solved.

It is not so much that problems happen; it is how you react when they do.

I think people are smart and when they read complaints they are looking for those complaints where there is a common theme. When there is a common theme, then they tend to give validity to the complaint.

Now what I am going to say next may seem to contradict what I wrote earlier about the ratio for every one complaint there are several that did not complain, but when responding it has to be well thought out and let a few people read what you wrote and have them get back to you as to what they got from it, as it will tell you if what you wanted to get across is clear to the readers.

I was always selective about what I responded to and if the person has moved out, I never asked for a meeting with them, or for them to post anything positive, because it may send the wrong message. It can also place you in a weak position and really open a can of worms.

This is of course my opinion as you can get three or more managers and give them a problem and they all handle the given problem differently. I have seen small problems grow into bigger problems because there was the back and forth and each time the responses got more intense.

So, you want to choose your battles. Proving you are right with a customer does not always make you the winner! I hope that makes sense!

The rule of retail is that for every customer that complains; there are 10 that don't, and of those 10, they tell 3 people they know.

This number and rule is magnified when you figure in the complaint that gets posted on any number of different websites.

When a theme or common thread of complaints is determined; it tells ME as a consumer that there is a fundamental problem with the staff on site. When there is no follow up posting, whether it be from the original poster or from staff stating that the issue has been resolved it is the lack of a response that is a response in itself and the staff does not care; especially if the thread is recent.

In the event of a management or ownership transfer; I welcome a representative of the new team to make a post indicating that there has been a 'change of command' and the new team has read the complaints/comments and welcomes the opportunity to resolve them, whether the change is as simple as a change in staff, an actual transfer of management from one PMC to another, or a total transfer of ownership.

First things first: If you want to convince your Owner that it is the prudent course of action to respond to a negative online review, do your homework, such as reading Nate's link and reading research done by a reputable multifamily associate, such as Satisfacts. There are many blogs and authorities that tell us it is better to respond in a neutral manner, without animosity, to a negative post. You need not go into a lot of blather or detail either in your response. I believe Mark Juleen posted a great response on Multifamily Insiders about this. In fact, I would just show your Owner this site!

Second, you can always ask happy residents to post their thoughts on living at your community on line, too. If you are 98% occupied and are always highly occupied, I would not worry excessively over this one nagative review.

And finally, I would not think there is something wrong with the staff if there is no follow up to ONE negative post. I also would not presume to think no one cares. Sometimes, there should be no public defense which may make more out of something than needs to be. I think your Owner may feel like this ... he is concerned that a very defensive reply will look like a there is credence to the original negative post.

I agree with you, Mindy and would like to clarify:

I would not respond to a single complaint (or to a complaint where the poster is no longer a resident)with a posting, but would be more likely to respond to a trend of similar complaints; of course I would not respond in a manner that has any sense of animosity or anger in it. I would respond in a way that states the facts as I understood them and what my solution included.

I THINK (fingers crossed) I am about to assume management for a property here where the ownership changed and the staff that are currently in place are staying with the owner; so my first plan of action would be to make a post wherever I find resident comments that states that there has been a 'change of command' and I have read the comments posted. This post would indicate my willingness to meet with any and all residents that either have posted negative comments, or have had negative experiences in the recent past that have not been resolved; seeking an opportunity to connect with them and develop a plan of action going forward.

The reason I am cautiously optimistic about this position is that I just finished the knowledge assessment, expect to receive instructions to submit to a drug screen (which the closest I have ever come to a problem in the past was when I was on active duty in the Army in a nuclear missile unit and we had random weekly drug screens and caught guys on steroids) in the mail tomorrow, and I happened to have experience with the company when I was getting started as a 'temporary' employee and was assigned to several properties in their primary market.

Nate Thomas wrote: There are a lot of variables and I guess it would depend on how many places does a person have to choose from in your area. I guess it would also count on the number of complaints and are they all hitting upon the same areas as well. My rule of thumb is for every complaint, there are 7 or more that did not complain and just walked.

But there is this old saying if you throw enough crap sooner or later some of it is going to stick!

Here is a link to an article that may get to what you were asking: www.appfolio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads...e-Renter-Handout.pdf

Thanks for the Link Nate! This may be of use in justifying the need to provide a neutral, caring, and professional post to let on lookers know we take resident concerns seriously.

Thanks to everyone else for the input!

I respond to every complaint and positive review. Because I do this, prospects know I will not ignore their complaints.

My owners know this is a smart idea, because our approval rating is 97% (quite rare for my area) and we have a huge waiting list.

I open the can of worms. I ask everyone renewing their lease and moving out to share their honest opinion. Even residents who leave because they are unhappy here will post a less negative review because I've asked them to help us let people know what it's really like to live here. This helps me attract the type of residents who WILL like our community.

www.apartmentratings.com/rate/OR-Tigard-...anor-Apartments.html

I just checked our reviews, and the negative review that was posted a few months ago has been removed by the reviewer!

Just a suggestion - everytime a resident (or a move-out) says something positive about your community, ask them if they would consider posting it on the ratings web-site. Our ratings went up from 26% positive to 55% positive in 12 months. It doesn't change the negative reviews, but when the evidence starts to stack up in your favor, it helps.