Asking for Reviews, the good, the bad and the ugly

There was an excellent idea by presented by Jamie Gorski of Bozzuto at one of the presentations I went to at Brainstorming a few months ago that basically involved asking your residents for honest reviews...yes, the good, the bad and even the ugly.

I would like to impliment this for our properties...mainly to balance out some negative reviews we have been getting. I realize that this may invite more negativity, but my hope is it will give the content and happy residents the little push they may need to put thier thoughts and experiences living in a Roscoe Managed Property online.

Has anyone implemented this program? If so, how was the response? Would you do it again or have you continued it? Why or why not?

I am ready to start, but my VP is concerned that we are inviting more bad press.

Thanks!

Carrie

www.roscoeprop.com

I definitely think this needs to be done, as people who are going to write negative reviews often already have, so you are just adding positive people to the mix.

That said, if I heard him correctly, the Yelp folks were saying that they discourage asking for reviews. Apparently, those who end up writing the reviews often get screened out by their algorithm. The thinking was that a person who actually takes you up on the request to write a review, probably likes you a lot. And often, this will be the first review that this person makes; therefore, it could be a really positive review by a brand new account, which throws up red flags in their system (as it thinks it might secretly be a self-review). So that review has a very high chance of getting removed in the end.

Of course, that only impacts Yelp and not something like ApartmentRatings, so overall, the plan still is a good idea in my opinion.

As an active member of Yelp, I do know that fishing for good reviews is frowned upon and could do more harm than good....however, that is where we have been hit the most...our Apartment ratings aren't that bad. I am hoping that current residents who also happen to be Yelpers will put fingers to keyboards (so to speak). This is another reason that I would want to stress "Honest Reviews".

I am having a total change of heart about my approach to the rating review sites and how to manage that online space. I believe we should "INSPIRE" great reviews and no longer pay or come right out and ask for them! I would love to share a conversation with you personally, my cell is 970-371-6203 and I am available. You can read a very long discussion on this issue on my FB Fan page TotallyToni.com under "discussions".

I think this is SO important and how we approach and "show up" in these spaces is KEY to our success online. Additionally, most of these sites are FREE resources. ApatmentRatings.com is SO VERY connected and their links are bringing tons of traffic to our reviews who are "looking for an apartment". It is unbelievable that many managers do not even join in the conversation about their own community!!! It's time to show up - I just think we need a clear strategy for the most effect language and approach. I would love to discuss my ideas. The plan for apartmentratings.com should be applied to all the review sites along with the local listing sites. Most all of these sites are interactive media spaces with opportunities to establish a profile and communicate with the public. I have very clear procedures that I know will help you establish duplicatable best practices and manage the "tasks" quickly.

I much prefer talking than typing, call me!!!

Toni Blake
TotallyToni.com

PS Just so no one misinterprets my offer. I am not selling a business deal - just offering to have a conversation with a fellow industry professional. : ) Sometimes it is more productive to spend my time sharing on the phone! I don't have to type, re-read, edit, spell check, re-read and proof. I prefer to talk and than type!! : ) Those of you who know me - know this is true!!!!

The other important factor here is in training the on site team to manage the expectation. So many of the nasty comments seems to be based in unrealistic expectations regarding their living situation. You will find talking points at my blog post "Are you Invisible? Take off the Invisibility Cloak" www.multifamilyinsiders.com/home/myblog-...isibility-Cloak.html Hope they help as you develop your plan.

Carrie,

Thanks for starting this conversation: I've pasted a lot of info from a post I placed a few days back that began with ..."There’s an old saying that “if you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”

Old sayings get old for a reason…because they are usually right.

A company who wants to serve their customer will not shrink away from hard truths. Not everything you'll find is going to be positive. Instead of looking at poor results as bad, a true results-oriented company will see the results as an opportunity to listen, learn and grow.
They'll take their own medicine and devise a solution.

Tina Makssour, Director of Mktng for Phoenix-based, Mark Taylor Residential says that they work their "negative ratings" and turn them into leases. WOW! She's my hero!

Industry professionals have so many options for marketing these days and no One answer is right for every property. When I was on site, we continually reminded ourselves that "Every situation is an only" and have to be addressed individually.

Bob Dylan sings, "The Times They Are A-Changing".
Partner with partners who are nimble and flexible and living and dying by the sword. And then getting back and up and reworking what they're doing for you to make it work.

Healthy conversation and review of facts leads to revelations and often times to resolution. Sometimes what you hear is hard to swallow...but it's amazing what you learn when you listen.

Heck, we at RentWiki.com have had healthy doses of bitter pills we've had to swallow down over the course of the last year in the beta testing and launch of our new product. But we listen, learn, and are moving forward taking those lemons and turning them into good-ol'-fashioned lemonade.

It hurts to get spanked, but "testing develops perseverance".

Brings to mind Kevin Bacon as a freshman in Animal House college..."Thank you, Sir, may I have another." :woohoo:

Village Green is using current resident ratings to provide more credible apartment community reviews via ApartmentGrade.com. We survey our residents every year (via CEL) and thought it important for the independent ratings to be available for all to see.

View the press release at dwarfurl.com/81e7d and more info can be found at www.apartmentgrade.com .

First of all - train your residents. (Read Lori's post above - it's spot on!) When your residents know what you do, how you do it, why you do it and when you do it, they will have a more realistic expectation and typically won't be as upset as they are now, knowing little or nothing about what to expect.

Second, why not keep it simple with a Service Ratings card, and add a line, "If you're not happy with the service we provided, please tell us; if you are happy, please tell us and AptRatings.com"

(Moderator Note: Please contact us , Mike.)