Good reviews are great for a company—they serve as free promotion and validation that the organization is doing something right. A 2013 marketing survey found that 88% of respondents made their buying decisions based on online reviews, so having satisfied customers share positive feedback online is crucial to the growth of your company. This applies to property management businesses as well.
But simply having happy tenants isn’t enough to ensure reviews will be posted online for others to see. Here are four ways for you to encourage your residents to write and publish positive reviews.
Create a Profile on Review Sites
Review sites make it easy for tenants to post their thoughts about your business. Make sure your property management company has a profile on review sites like Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Reviews (on Google Maps). Keep in mind, though, that once you’re on these sites, users can give unfavorable criticism as well. If possible, respond to the negative reviews in a thoughtful, professional manner. Here’s our guide to bouncing back from negative commentary.
Tell Tenants About Your Review Site Profiles
It’s not enough to have online review profiles if your residents don’t know about them. Post a sign in the elevators, by the mailboxes, or at the building’s main entrance to inform tenants about your profiles. Add a link to your profile pages (and your Facebook page) in your emails, website, and e-newsletter. Incentivize people to check those pages by posting relevant information, such as maintenance updates, rental availability, and neighborhood events your tenants might be interested in. Not only will this encourage them to visit these pages, it’ll foster a sense of community that will work in your favor.
Ask Tenants to Review You
People don’t always think about writing a review online, so if someone calls with positive feedback or writes a positive email to you about your company, respond with a thank you and ask if they would be willing to write up the review online. (If you email them, be sure to include a link to your review profile.) If they don’t have the time, ask if you can post what they said on your website or Facebook page as a testimonial.
Once reviews are posted, it’s up to you to track them (we can handle that for you) and respond. Not sure where to start? Here are a few of our favorite responses that you can emulate.
Offer Good Service
Of course, you have plenty of methods to inform tenants about review sites, but to ensure their willingness, you have to offer good, consistent service, resolve complaints in a timely manner, and treat residents with respect. This is ultimately the foundation of it all. Set up automated text and email campaigns to respond to residents after hours, and follow up with them right away the next morning. If you take care of these details, tenants will definitely be more inclined to sing your praises.
Alex Harris is Connectivity’s Eastern Region Sales Manager.
