A stellar online marketing strategy can be thwarted by negative reviews. The 2020 National Multifamily Housing Council & Kingsley Associates Apartment Resident Preferences Survey reports that 33% of renters highly value online reviews when deciding on an apartment. Are your reviews working for you or against you? Take the four steps below to ensure your online reviews are an asset. Who is paying attention to your online reviews? Renters of all ages use the internet for product research. Renters ages 25-34 years value online reviews the most. Nearly 40% of Millennial renters “highly value” the content of online reviews. While all your residents appreciate good customer service, younger renters are more likely to take their opinions to the web. They’re also more likely to seek out the opinions of others before deciding on a property. While some of the young renters are residents, most are prospects. Curiously, they’re searching out negative reviews. Studies show that since there are more positive reviews than negative ones, negative reviews are given greater value. Low-star reviews are scarce, so they’re held in higher esteem, like rare gems or box seats at a sporting event. That is why dissatisfied residents need extra care. Per the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, dissatisfied customers typically tell nine to 15 other people about their experience in person. The availability of online reviews can quickly escalate their reach. The negative review of a dissatisfied resident will reach hundreds of prospects each day, prospects who are already looking for negative reviews to narrow their apartment options. The four tips below can help you avoid and mitigate negative online reviews while boosting your positive online presence. Resolve issues online before reviews are posted online When renters have a concern, they are going to get online....

Have you ever decided on purchasing a product online or going to a new restaurant as a direct result of an anonymous user’s review? As the popularity of various shopping or social platforms rises–such as Amazon or Yelp–so does the importance of online reviews. Studies show that at least 90 percent of people say that online reviews influence their purchase decisions, and at least 88% of people trust online reviews from strangers as much as personal recommendations. A study by the Harvard Business School found that positive reviews have a direct correlation with increased sales. For example, restaurants that boost their Yelp rating by one star see an increase in revenues anywhere between 5 to 9 percent. It is no surprise that businesses around the world are deciding to pour resources into obtaining more reviews for their products in hopes of generating more sales. Businesses increase the incentives for leaving reviews by using tactics such as giving set discount amounts in their customers’ purchase, or even providing credit that can be redeemed on their website for future use. In addition, online review companies such as SharedReviews or RateItAll operate like social networking websites, where users can rate items in various categories such as food, games, movies, and many other things. In return, users will receive a share of the revenue that the online review company earns. However, some studies show that paying users to leave reviews leads to a significant decrease in the number of reviews on their sites. According to a study done about a social shopping platform in China, after introducing a credit reward system in exchange for reviews, the number of reviews on the platform decreased by 30 percent. Why would that be? A possibility could be that customers with large...

Dealing with negative feedback and difficult questions can be a test of character. When a comment points out a genuine flaw in your product or service, it can trigger excuses or a defensive response. When the comment is unnecessarily rude, you may want to formulate an equally searing comeback. Dealing with negativity is never fun, but there are ways to turn negative feedback into opportunity. Pause. Think twice and then respond. Waiting until cooler heads prevail can help to mitigate a bad situation. When you respond in haste while you’re frustrated or upset, it will come across in whatever you write. It’s best to wait, cool off, and maybe take three to five minutes to explore a few responses before settling on one. The one that you select should cast you and your organization in the best light while addressing the heart of the problem. Identify and analyze the problem. Sometimes the heart of the problem gets lost in the renter’s foul language and snarky remarks. Take a moment to identify the source of the problem and respond appropriately. Act as if the rest of the rant didn’t exist. Never ignore negative feedback. While ignoring a bad attitude helps, ignoring the complaint altogether will only fuel the flames. You certainly don’t want to delete negative comments, primarily because the commenter will likely troll your account and repost repeatedly until you respond, anyway. Secondly, it will look as though you and your organization are trying to silence the voice of the people which is never a popular approach. Try to address each concern and complaint on your social media to show readers that you’re listening and ready to find solutions with your residents. Arguments are best resolved one-on-one. Rather than going back and forth in the comments...

Residents are sometimes quick to post negative reviews on apartment rating sites, but don’t always take the time to write positive reviews. However, there is a solution to this. MHN talks to Bruce Keene, president of management services of Tampa, Fla.-based Franklin Street, a Yardi client, about some trends he is seeing in property management, such as how to get positive reviews on ratings sites. MHN: Tell me about Franklin Street. Keene: Franklin Street is a real estate services company. We provide a myriad of services not only to the apartment investor, but also to the retail sector. The company itself has four divisions: one of them is the property management division, which manages both multifamily and retail, one division is the investment/sales division, which is the brokerage division, there’s a capital advisors division, which finds debt and equity for investors, and we also have a property and casualty insurance company that provides that service to property investors. So it’s a one-stop shop for the real estate investor. Currently we manage about 4,000 apartment units and about 5 million square feet of retail. MHN: What are some multifamily property management trends that you’re seeing in Tampa? Keene: Since the economy has improved and the apartment market in general has improved, I think that everyone is more focused on fine-tuning the operations for maximum performance. We’re not fighting concessions anymore, we’re not fighting for rents anymore, and we’re not fighting occupancy issues anymore. Especially in our markets, concessions are gone, occupancies are up and it’s time to focus on customers and maximizing efficiency in the processes we use. There’s one trend in particular that’s interesting that I’ve been looking into and we’ve began to use, and that’s a focus on certain technologies that will improve...

In the days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing in mid-March, PR and crisis management experts around the world watched the news and cringed. “I’m not so sure that you stay off their airline or their brand is ruined, but right now I don’t feel too good about Malaysia Airlines because of their very weak response,” said Roger Conner, an expert in crisis management for the hospitality industry, 10 days after the flight went missing.  Conner’s expert opinion—he went through 9/11 and multiple other international terrorism incidents while vice president of communications for Marriott—was reinforced in the media. Canada’s National Post called it a “master class in crisis mismanagement,” both on the part of the airline and the Malaysian government. Malaysia Airlines was lauded for introducing a brand-agnostic website to provide crisis updates on the mysterious disappearance, but criticized for not working fast enough to determine exactly what had happened with the flight. And families of the passengers went so far as to emotionally and publicly protest the lack of information available while they waited anxiously for news in Beijing, the flight’s intended destination. With the news that the flight had been lost in the Indian Ocean, their complaints only intensified. There are many differences between the airline industry and real estate, but dealing with an unexpected crisis situation – one that could irrevocably change how the public views your brand – is a concern for any business. As the global economy expands, as dependence on technology becomes pervasive and social media saturation is a fact of life, companies find themselves with more risk factors to control than ever before. Preparation, brand management and the hopefully unneeded crisis response are now essential parts of any business toolkit. Increased Global Risk...