Posts Tagged ‘Online Reputation’

How To Improve Your Property’s Reputation In 2014

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

The best part of the transference into a new year is the opportunity to start anew. If you’re a property manager or multi-resident complex owner who has had some reputation issues crop up online in 2013, the coming year offers an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and convert that negative image into a positive and appealing one.

You’ll have to take action rather than disregard those negative remarks on the web, however, it’s not necessary to hire a reputation management consultant to begin the healing process. With a little bit of patience, diligence, and the assistance of a good property management software application, it’s possible to improve your property’s reputation within the first quarter of 2014 with your own efforts.

Reputations Management Do’s and Don’ts for Multi-Housing Properties

According to an article by Onsites Insites, a leading publication for apartment property management information, more than 85% of consumers read online reviews of rental properties before even bothering to drive by the property or inquire about availability. These professionals also offer some tips on how to manage any negative online reviews that may be cropping up about one of your properties.

Reputation Management Do’s

  • Take time to respond to every review.
  • Think before responding negatively.
  • Encourage reviewers to move the conversation offline by offering your contact info.
  • Remember that anything can end up online with every action you take on property.

Reputation Management Mistakes

Don’t make the mistake of only responding to reviews left by current residents. Remember, it’s the ghosts of the past that can haunt your future, and the Internet is forever. Avoid responding to negative comments with an emotional stance or believing that resident complaints won’t get any further than a complaint form letter or a phone call – understand it can end up on the web.

Streamline Communication with Current Residents for Better Retention

Happy residents are repeat customers so to speak, and their word of mouth referrals can make or break your property’s reputation. Resident’s love knowing that you’re receiving their complaints, compliments, requests, and payments for rentals or homeowner association fees. The days of putting stamps on envelopes are gone for most of us, and people like the freedom to handle all of these tasks online. Immediate gratification of, “you’re message has been sent” or “your payment has been processed” is comforting.

Streamlining accounting, the processing of tenant requests, and making property details and notifications online is easy a with an online property management software program data basing all this information. Tenants are happier, leave better comments online, and are more inclined to refer your property when their needs are being heard and met quickly.

Use Social Media to Jump Start Your Reputation Management Campaign

Social media is a simple and free way to tap into a completely new set of potential residents. Use the most popular apps and social media circles to promote any new additions or improvements from 2013, or talk about any changes to look forward to in the New Year. Pool updates, newly surfaced tennis courts, or freshly renovated interiors are desirable improvements that can drive the most desirable clients into your rental office.

While using all this technology to your advantage to improve your property’s reputation in 2014, don’t forget the power of the human touch. Nothing beats good old fashioned courtesy and fairness when it comes to enhancing tenant satisfaction, so be mindful to not overly automate tenant services while taking advantage of modern conveniences.


appfolio Appfolio | Company Website | LinkedIn Connect |AppFolio, Inc. develops Property Management Software that helps businesses improve their workflow so they save time and make more money.  Appfolio submits articles & blogs including topics of Resident Retention, Improved Owner Communication, Time Management, and more.

 

Income Property Management Expo

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

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Apartment News Publications Inc. is teaming up with the Income Property Management Expo to provide Apartment Owners/Managers & Commercial Property Management Companies with tools for efficient, cost effective management, operation and maintenance of their communities & facilities!

Join us May 7, 2013 for the Southern California Income Property Management Expo at the Ontario Convention Center!
Click here to Pre-Register Online!
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Southern California Attendee Information:

  • Apartment Owners
  • Property Managers
  • HOA
  • Commercial Property Management Companies
  • Service & Maintenance Staff
  • Industry Partners & Vendors

This expo will host FREE seminars throughout the day addressing CA Energy Efficiency Programs, Landlord Legal Updates, Tax Code & 1031 Exchanges, Property Maintenance and more!  The goal of the Expo is to provide attendees with the opportunity to network with other industry professionals while enjoying fine food tastings, the PGA Experience, Luxury Car Display & Test Drives, raffles & giveaways and the expo floor which will have over 100 exhibitors!

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To learn more about the Income Property Management Expo, how to attend for FREE, or learn how to reserve a booth for the Expo Floor, visit IncomePropertyExpo.com!

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Gotcha! Yelp Cracking Down on Paid Reviews, Making Review Management Critical

Written by Apartment Management Magazine on . Posted in Blog

Submitted by www.Chatmeter.com

Review based websites, like Yelp and TripAdvisor, have always been popular with customers when it comes to picking products and service. They give the customer the opportunity to read what people just like them think of something. They aren’t hearing the bias reviews of the company; they are hearing it from the people who actually use the product/service. 84% of Americans say online reviews have an influence on their decision to purchase a product or service. This statistic makes review management that much more important.

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Although most companies do not like these types of review sites, they are necessary and are not going away, so they need to respond in an appropriate manner to negative reviews. Instead of investing in legitimate brand management companies, like chatmeter, some places like to cheat the system and buy reviews, which ultimately is deceitful and deceiving for the consumer. People will read the fake reviews, thinking that they are from real customers, and may make their decision whether to buy or not. These tactics are not only unfair to the consumer but they are also unfair to the competition. This is a form of “black hat” review management and Yelp is taking a stand against it.

Yelp has always had review filters, which weeds out fake reviews through an algorithmic process. Unfortunately, real reviews are sometimes picked out by this process and tagged as fake reviews. This can be incredibly frustrating for businesses because the filter deletes their hard earned reviews and makes review management even harder. Yelp’s first priority is ensuring that the customer gets the most legitimate information so sometimes it’s the business that loses out.

In an effort to stop these fake reviews, Yelp will start posting a “consumer alert” that will say, “We caught someone red-handed trying to buy reviews for this business.” The alert will be posted on the offender’s page for all to see. It will have a link showing the consumer exactly which reviews are fake, as well as the company’s emails trying to hire reviewers. Yelp says the alerts will be posted for 90 days (longer of the company continues to post fake reviews).

Businesses need to know that buying positive reviews is not the only way to improve your online reputation. Although they may think it will help them, being caught will hurt them even more.  Consumers will remember that they were a deceitful company and take that into consideration when looking for that product/service again. Ignoring the negative comments and trying to bury them with positive ones is only a quick fix to their online reputation and there ultimately a bigger problem with in the company. Companies need to understand that they can’t sweep their problems under the rug and pretend that everything is perfect. Companies need to respond to negative reviews and let the unhappy customer know that their comments will be taken into consideration in the future to help improve whatever needs to be fixed. By responding, it shows that you care about their feedback and that you are actually going to do something about it. This is what managing you online reputation and a business is all about.

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As the first Local Brand Management (LBM) platform, we help large franchises and agencies with hundreds of locations measure and improve their marketing effectiveness. This is actionable local intelligence that has never been available before. With the fragmentation of local search marketing today, it’s become impossible for agencies and national retailers to properly manage the brand at the local level. The chatmeter service measures the online marketing effectiveness for each location by analyzing its online visibility and reputation, benchmarks its performance against other local competitors, and provides personalized recommendations for improvement via a simple dashboard and daily email alerts. Armed with this information, marketers can understand which locations and channels to focus their efforts. By taking ownership of online visibility and the customer experience, marketers can have can have a significant positive impact on reaching new customers.