Tips to Improve Your Management Company's Reputation Online

Residents may oftentimes be unhappy with the community ongoings or their interaction with other residents and managers, and will take that dissatisfaction to an online platform. With the rise of digital platforms from social media to review sites where people receive up to the minute information and interact with one another, the impact of a negative review is amplified. Thus, developing a plan to proactively mitigate negative comments shows proactiveness, openness to consider feedback, and make positive changes. In this blog post, we discuss five important tips to effectively improve online reputation.

1) Know what your clients are saying about your company

Constantly monitoring what your clients (residents and board members) are saying online about you is the foremost important step to improving your management company's reputation online. First, assign someone in the management company to lead this new effort. They will need to take stock of the platforms your residents use for sharing complaints. These platforms may include review sites such as Yelp, search engine reviews such as Google, or social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Here's how your company can stay on top of online monitoring efforts:

- Set up Google Alerts - Enter the name of your company and/or relevant keywords.  Google will then send daily emails of articles/mentions you specified straight to your inbox.  Check Google's help article to learn more about how to set up these alerts. 

- Check mentions on social media regularly.  These include direct replies to your posts and indirect mentions of your company.

- According to Forbes, 91% of individuals use a search engine to learn more about a company before they buy from them.  Thus, it's important to research search engines to see what is being said.  Simply type your company name into a search engine and navigate to the news tab.  

- Don't rule out personal communication.  When residents walk into the office or they send an email, ask them if they are happy with the services they're receiving.  This is a great way to better understand how residents feel about your services and if they are likely to share their complaints on an online platform.  

2) Remain calm in your response (and refrain from arguing)

Words used in reviews are oftentimes rude nad one's natural tendency might be to defend their stance. However, if not handled appropriately, the online encounter can quickly escalate into an argument, resulting in the risk of legal tussles and worsened reputation. It's absolutely essential that the employee responding remains calm while being clear and assertive in their response. Here are a few tips to respond to negative comments:

- Respond to the issue quickly, preferably within a few days.

- Be sympathetic in your response to the resident and show you understand their concern.

- Let them know you are looking into the issue.   Continue the discussion offline via phone or email.

- Once the issue has been resolved, respond within the same review with a short description of the resolution and thank the resident for their patience.  

3) Don't simply use "copy-paste" responses

It's important to make your responses to comments thoughtful and personalized so that residents will appreciate that you took the time and valued their opinion. If you notice a pattern in your responses that include repeated text, build a template with that content in it so you can reuse. That being said, be sure to leave enough room to address the specific problem stated in the review.

4) Generate more positive reviews on the platforms that matter

A library of testimonials on different platforms helps spread word of mouth about the quality of your services and can become a great form of social proof for your business. The question is, how do you generate positive reviews for the hard work your client service team puts in?

- Conduct a survey regularly requesting resident feedback and if they are willing to post that feedback on a review platform. You can provide a link to this survey in customer response emails and within your signature.

- Reputation management software helps monitor reviews on multiple platforms and separate the negative reviews from positive ones before reviews go live on public platforms. This allows managers to address negative reviews offline.

5) Continue your efforts in creating a stellar customer service (and take feedback in your stride)

The best way to invest in the welfare of your company's reputation, in the long run, is to continue delivering excellent customer service to your residents. This effort improves resident satisfaction (and with it, generate more positive reviews), boosts client retention efforts, and better operations (less chaos in the office dealing with issues). With these long-term benefits in mind, how can you support ongoing customer service?

- Engage in transparent communications with your residents and keep them informed. Miscommunication or lack of it can result in resident dissatisfaction. Know the best ways to reach them - through emails, phone calls, text message, newsletters, direct mailers/letters, social media, and/or website updates.

- Provide an easy way for residents to connect with you and retrieve information. A property management system allows residents to view all important community/building information, pay their bills, submit maintenance requests, and more.

- Take any feedback you receive from clients, whether positive or negative, in your stride and consider it for future improvements.

An investment in reputation management is an investment in your management company's success in retaining satisfied residents and establishing new relationships. Identifying online platforms where your customers interact is important in understanding what they say about our company. Then, you can develop a strategy to effectively handle any complaints, respond with transparency, and incorporate feedback into customer service and operational improvements.