Bold statement, I know.  But as someone who is embedded in the world of feedback, I witness the impact ratings and reviews have on the leasing decision every day.  In a recent user poll conducted on ApartmentRatings, we asked people to tell us their reason for visiting the site.  

Check this out:

•58% plan on signing a lease within 7 days

•91% were visiting to read reviews before deciding where to lease

•29% said their final site was ApartmentRatings

•78% were basing their decision off the reviews they read on ApartmentRatings

Combine these findings with the results from our SatisFacts “2017 Today’s Online Renter Study” and the picture becomes even clearer:

•81% of renters researched their options online before making any type of contact with the community

•71% trust online ratings and reviews as opposed to 36% who trust the community’s website

When the need arises for a new apartment home, renters pick up their phones, tablets or computers and begin the search.  They collect as much information found online as possible – availability, floorplans, photos and yes, online reviews.  They also talk to those closest to them (77% trust friends, family and co-workers) to whittle down their options even further.

By the time they call, send an email inquiry, or walk through the doors of the leasing center, they have a good idea where they’d like to live.  The tour merely at this point is a means of verification.  Renters want to know what they’ve seen online is true in real life.  And for those in that critical 7-day period, the majority are revisiting the community’s online reviews to confirm their decision.

Responding to reviews has a positive influence on future renters:

•52% feel the community has great customer service when they see a response

•51% feel the management team really cares about its residents

And here’s one more nugget to add to the mix:

•12% of renters leased without visiting the community

Translation: Renters are in search of a complete and compelling online story; rooted in the resident’s onsite experience and reinforced by an engaged management team.  The practice of reputation management (asking for and responding to reviews) is no longer enough. 

5 best practices to control the online story

1. Competitive intelligence – early identification of risks and opportunities.  Here’s an action item for you: read through your community’s reviews for the last 6 months.  Notice any common threads?  Negative threads (slow response time, unruly neighbors, etc.) are pain points for your residents and must be resolved immediately.  These create resounding echoes in the minds of future renters who may be considering your community.  Positive threads (great customer service, great looking community, etc.) are the standouts you should be highlighting to prospects and inserting testimonials into your responses to email inquiries.

2. Variance in topic ratings – your community’s Achilles’ heel.  Let’s say you have an overall 4 star rating but maintenance is 2 stars.  That one topic has the ability to completely take you out of consideration for a potential renter, especially if a potential renter has experienced poor service in the past.  Renters will overlook all that’s positive and zoom in on the negative standout.

3. Brand personality – consistency between the online and onsite stories.  If your website is youthful and hip, does the same hold true in person?  Do your review responses echo a similar tone, or are they the copy and paste “So happy to hear you love living here…”?  Creating parallels is a surefire way to instill confidence in a renter’s decision to choose your community.

4. Strategic agility – the practice of adapting to changing circumstances.  Renters are becoming more and more savvy in their approach to decision making.  They are also becoming smarter in combing through online reviews, right down to the quality and timeliness of responses.  The longer it takes for a community to respond, the more detrimental in the eyes of a reader.  “Will it take 10 days for them to respond to my needs as a resident?”  I recommend responding to positive reviews within 2 days and a same day response whenever possible for negative reviews.

5. Knowledge integration – make the most of every response.  Responding is an opportunity to acknowledge the reviewer AND market to the reader.  Here’s an example:

REVIEW:  The building is very nice, the people are friendly, the amenities are very well equipped and the apartment is very beautiful.  The corridors are very well maintained and perfumed.  We do not have pets but it is very good that there is a park for them.

Great review, right?  And the management team actually responded, albeit 18 days later:

RESPONSE: Thank you so much for your review.  We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on our community.

Okay, so this is what we typically see – a nice acknowledgement of the reviewer.  But what about marketing to the reader?  Here’s a response which demonstrates not only are we reading, but we're listening and learning:

KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION RESPONSE: Wow!  Your review made my day – so many kind words I don’t know where to begin.  I do love that you mentioned our corridors.  John, our porter, takes great pride in his work; rest assured I will show him this review.  P.S. I’ll let you in on a little secret: next time you are having a bad day, visit our dog park.  It always makes me feel better!

Of all the visitors to ApartmentRatings in 2016, less than .05% were actually there to write a review.  Communities can use this large difference between readers and reviewers to their advantage by applying these best practices to go beyond basic reputation management.