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Oct 29
2009
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In the October 2009 issue of Units magazine, distributed by the NAA, there is an article about the online presence and rating apartment communities throughout the U.S.* In particular, the storyline focused on ApartmentRatings.com and the comments left by past and present residents. If you are not familiar with ApartmentRatings.com, the online forum is a database where residents and ex-residents rate their respective communities.
The site displays an average score based on reviewers' opinions on parking, maintenance, construction, noise, grounds, safety and office staff. If you have never been to the site, I highly recommend you do. Perhaps, your apartment is rated by your residents on ApartmentRatings.com. It's always good to know what your residents are saying about you.
Word of mouth advertising has always been a strong marketing tool in the multifamily industry. This article begs the question, how many of us actually know what our residents think about the job we are doing? Does your community issue satisfaction surveys and do you take these comments seriously? If not, you probably want to do all you can to stop losing residents and prospects. Go ahead and type in your apartment community's name in a search engine. You are almost sure to see ApartmentRatings.com appear on the search if you have comments on the forum.
When I read through the comments on ApartmentRatings.com, I wonder if the community staff is doing the same. If so, are these comments being research and answered? A good percentage of the comments tend to be negative. I wonder how many of those comments actually make it from the residents to the office staff. I guess residents prefer to be non-confrontational, so they write the comments so others can see instead of giving the office a chance to rectify to issue. Also, I understand that some residents tend to exaggerate the truth as well. I think it is in our best interest to respond to these comments. Prospective residents are looking at these comments as well and could be a reason for not renting. Everything may look good after one visit, but, the prospects are doing their research. Studies show that prospects make at least two visits before renting an apartment. Can you current or past tenants be the reason for a decrease in your traffic?
Some of the comments are very appalling. Residents complain about trash in the hallways that stay there for days, to rats running through the apartment, to illegal drugs distributed in the community. I applaud the communities that respond to the issues and make an effort to create a happy balance in the community.
Of course, not all the comments are negative. There are some highly appreciative comments made. Though, it seems the negative ones seem to outweigh the positive comments. We try our best to make sure our NOI is moving in the right direction. However, the information superhighway is proving to be the most effective way to search for a community, I think it is our duty to protect our reputation as much as we can.
How many of you have encountered and dealt with these issues? I am curious to know the outcome. I encourage you to consider what your residents are saying about your community. It could make a huge difference in your occupancy.
* Lee, Jeffrey. "Look Who's Talking: Managing Your Online Reputation" Units. Oct 2009: 32 - 40
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Residents may not want to confront the property staff, but they still want a place to vent ... and there are more places for them to vent than ever. Sites like Apartment Ratings are often our best opportunity to get real feedback about what we're doing well and what needs to be improved, and every response we leave to those comments - whether positive or negative - is an opportunity to influence the next prospect.