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Home Insider Blogs Elysa Rice's Blog If you can't say something nice ... Lessons in Social Media from Horizon Realty

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Jul 29
2009

If you can't say something nice ... Lessons in Social Media from Horizon Realty

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Posted by: Elysa Rice

Horizon RealtyEver heard the saying “if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all”? When was the last time you said this to one of your children? As an adult do you live by this rule?

In the event that you haven't heard – Horizon Group Management in Chicago is suing a former resident for $50,000 over a tweet complaining about mold.

After yesterday's chain of events, and the subsequent twitter uproar I find myself between a rock and hard place. A small part of me wanted to jump in all the drama, voice my opinions, as others have said “un-freaking believable”.

On the other hand, I felt like a deer in the headlights, thinking to myself “someone should do something! Why can't it be me?”. I'm fairly versed in the social media world. I've seen drama come and go, I've seen large brands like United Airlines get flamed and then publicly apologize. I wanted to jump in the fire and say, “come on people, stop being vultures and get back to your life. Imagine how you would feel if one person, as a representative of your company said one unforgivable sentence that sent your brand up in flames.”

On my lunch break, I went to my apartment to speak with my property manager about my impending move. I gave her a quick rundown of the story and her response was shock and empathy for Horizon. I didn't give her all of the social media details, nor is she a big social media participant. I found it interesting as one multifamily professional speaking of another she had empathy rather than blame.

So this makes me wonder, where was the multifamily industry on this issue? Could this (can it still?) have been the perfect opportunity to bring forth the issues of resident defamation of the apartment industry? I'm not saying we need an army behind Horizon saying, “we support your sue first, ask later policy.” But why not stand together as an industry in support of our multiFAMILY unit?

Horizon is receiving phone calls and hate mail in addition to the explosion of chatter on Twitter and various review sites. How can we use this as a teaching tool for all multifamily businesses to develop a social media plan both for marketing and also damage control in the event something else like this occurs again. How would you react if this was a sister property?

So what lessons have we learned:

  • “Being right in the court of law (which Horizon has yet to prove) will not protect a brand in the court of public opinion.” – Augie Ray
  • “When a reporter calls, defer an answer until the right person can make the right statement.” – Augie Ray
  • Listening and responding directly to a customer’s issues with care and attention is a whole lot easier and cheaper than lawsuits and PR crises.
  • Get to know and understand Social Media NOW! Staying out of the conversation does not mean you will not be the topic of conversation.
  • “The social web can't resist a juicy story. And the social web really can’t resist a juicy Twitter story.” – Sonia Simone
  • “You don’t get to play by the old rules any more, and it doesn’t matter what business you’re in. You don’t get the old privilege of anonymity. You don’t get to bury your story on page 47.” – Sonia Simone

My advice:

  • Horizon needs to make a very public, very transparent (leave the old, traditional press release) statement. I recommend investing in a webcam or a Flip and create a video of Jeffrey Michael and each “person of power” at Horizon. This is the opportunity to be real. The social media world is quick to leave out details and jump to the drama part of a story – this is their opportunity to be heard.
  • Horizon's response in the form of a press release on their homepage needs to more prominent and I'd recommend taking away the mocking words "Twitter Controversy."

Additional Resources:
Horizon Realty Responds to Lawsuit Twitter Controversy
What the Horizon Realty Fail Can Teach You About Social Media
Social PR Crisis and Response: How Horizon Group Management Might Yet Save the Day

______________________________________________________
Elysa is a marketing and social media consultant with Ellipse Group, based in Dallas, TX.  Ellipse Group proudly services the Multifamily Industry with cutting edge websites and the technology and expertise to turn your everyday chores into worry–free automated processes.


Comments (4)Add Comment
679
written by Jonathan Saar, July 29, 2009
Elysa, right no the money. I think from comments I have heard and read that overall, the industry is saddened by this kind of media attention. A comrade has been hurt. I hope they take your advice, which is excellent. Transparency is key. There is nothing wrong with apologizing for an approach. A reminder that even you are "right" your approach to proving that has to be carefully navigated. Great article Elysa
543
written by Darcey Forbes, July 29, 2009
Elysa, Thank you for your candid comments. The entire situation is shocking and I agree that we need to learn from this experience. I do not believe the industry can fully understand why this occurrence has happened. We can all agree (especially those who are engaged in Social Media) that transparency is key and engaging in a more public arena other than a cold press release would have served their efforts better.
The lesson I see is that all of us need to understand that comments we make are very much in the public eye no matter what company we are with. Quite honestly, I was completely unaware of Horizon before yesterday. That should prove to all of us that we are only one tweet away from becoming a trending topic for twitter to capture and end up on major television networks.

We can all agree that this situation could have been handled in a very different manner before it exploded. Everyone needs to be aware that the speed of the internet can spread like wildfire and bad publicity can easily cripple your reputation. As a Marketing and Communications Director, I understand that but each of us act as a representative of our company communications regardless of our positions. Each interaction we have with residents, prospects, vendors, internal employees or the world at large needs to be executed well. But more importantly at the senior level it needs to be precise.

I am saddened that this is a representation of our industry but again look at this as a learning opportunity. This situation does not define us but should allow us to have these kinds of honest discussions. Does it leave a mark on us? Slightly. We have come so far as an industry as we have moved away from being the landlord(poor stigma)to being a professional industry. Let this be a lesson to all of us.
1681
written by Sara Morrill, July 29, 2009
This is a really great article that has helped solidify my thoughts on the whole affair. Basically I think it boils down to realizing that even if you're not participating in social media, you can't escape its influence, and that every move you make as a company can boost or destroy the public's perception of you - and then acting accordingly. In this case, simply dealing with this ex-resident's complaint in a humane, compassionate way would have saved everyone a lot of head- and heartache.
1702
written by Elysa Rice, July 29, 2009
Darcy I do agree their cold press release is certainly not the best end communication on their part. I think they are hoping, by ignoring this, it may go away.

I think your statement "I understand that but each of us act as a representative of our company communications regardless of our positions" needs to be in big bold letters in everyone company break room.

Sara - I think the big piece Horizon has been missing so far is the act accordingly aspect. Compassion and customer service could certainly have had this situation pan out different.
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