Today, reviews are the new curb appeal. While the appearance of the outside of your physical building is still important, it’s probably not the first thing potential tenants will notice about your building. Instead, they’ll head to Yelp, Google or Facebook to check out your reviews and ratings. That’s where they learn whether or not they even want to visit your apartment or inquire about it.
Unfortunately, if you have some bad reviews or ratings on any online platform, your curb appeal automatically takes a tumble. It can be scary as an owner or manager to see the email notification letting you know a new review is up. What will it be this time? Did someone drop the ball on the work order to fix a toilet? Or, is the negative review completely unfounded, tarnishing your reputation without reason? Alternatively, it could even be an unfortunate miscommunication.
Luckily, you don’t have your hands tied when your property is faced with negative tenant reviews. In fact, there are many actions you can take. With some patience, you’ll soon find yourself and your property on better footing. Here are some steps to take if your apartment has negative reviews:
Don’t Take It Personally
The worst thing you can do is take a review personally. Once you make it personal, you’re likely to respond defensively, which isn’t productive and won’t help you improve your reviews. On the contrary, do your best to view the review objectively and make a list of the complaints. Then, determine which problems you need to look into and which aren’t legitimate.
Respond
At the very least, you need to respond to negative reviews, reaching out to the person to apologize where appropriate. Zero response will signal to other potential tenants that you’re not interested in improving or talking. The best reactions to reviews will also offer specific answers to the complaints and offer to follow up. Then, attempt to follow up with reviewers outside of the forum.
Attempt To Meet With Reviewers
Whenever possible, meet with reviewers in person to discuss their concerns. So often, people go straight to the internet to voice their complaints when they could easily be solved by talking to the right people. Take the chance to talk about your tenant’s concerns and make an effort to resolve the issue. Then, once you resolve things, ask them to update their review.
Implement Changes
Especially when several reviews touch on the same issue, it’s time to make changes. Whether that means changing a protocol, working on tenant communications with your staff or making plans for renovations, you can avoid future bad reviews by implementing changes. Improve your way to better reviews!
Request Positive Reviews
For every dissatisfied reviewer, you likely have a tenant who has enjoyed a more positive experience. When possible, encourage or remind your tenants to leave an online review. This will help dilute the presence of poor reviews and boost your rating.
No one enjoys getting poor reviews. However, with the right plan of action, you can make sure that they don’t define your property forever. A small amount of effort can go a long way in boosting your reputation which will keep your vacancy rates down and your rents up.
Need help? An experienced real estate management company can help you make sure that your response to negative reviews builds your reputation.
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