20 Sep Standing Out With Online Reviews
The fact is that people have been relying on social proof since the beginning of time. Having a successful property management business is not immune to this human craving. People are more confident in taking any particular course of action if they can see that other people are also doing it.
Funny thing is sometimes people will decide to do something they hadn’t even planned on doing just because others are doing it.
Still have any doubts? Watch this video of an experiment showing how people will get in an arbitrary line that they have no idea what it’s even for, just because they see other people standing in it.
So in the context of this post, the kind of social proof we’re focusing on is in the form of online reviews. Online reviews have multiple benefits for your property management business in addition to providing social proof. They also help boost your SEO and make you stand out from other property management companies.
I’ve focused on building a solid online review presence for my PM company over the years and it is paying dividends. A staggering 80% of the new owner leads that reach out to us tell us that they read our online reviews and that is why they contacted us.
So let’s dive into these benefits and more…
Contents
Why online reviews are important and something you MUST focus on
Social Proof
As mentioned above, online reviews are critical to establish credibility for your company through social proof. People naturally feel more comfortable with your company if they know a lot of other people have used you and had a great experience with you. As more and more people become aware of online review sites, you can bet that they will be checking out your online reputation before considering your company.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Another benefit is the boost online reviews give to your SEO. Google monitors reviews about your company not only on it’s own review system, but other review sites around the web. Seeing routine reviews tells Google that you are an active business interacting with customers.
In addition to your standard search rankings, your Google Reviews play a huge role in Google Local SEO. Local SEO refers to your rankings in Google’s map feature showing businesses that serve a particular geographic area.
For example, if you do a search now for “Pizza companies near me”, Google will probably display a map at the top of the search results page and then list 3-4 companies in the map section. This is called the Google “Map Pack” or “3 Pack”. While there are probably a lot more than 3-4 pizza companies near your, Google will display the ones on this map that it thinks are most relevant to you.
One of the ways Google makes this determination is by considering the various company’s online reviews. If it’s a newer company with only a handful of Google reviews and there are multiple other companies with 50+ reviews, it’s going to show those other companies.
Here is my company, Integrity Realty & Management, listed when doing a search for “Castle Rock Property Management Companies”
If someone is searching for a property management company in my town, who do you think they’re going to select? Not only does my listing have the highest rating of the others, but it has 3 times the amount of reviews as the next highest reviewed company listed. Starting to see the importance?
Helps you stand out
I already indicated that having the most number of good reviews in the Google Map Pack is a huge advantage for your business. But it goes even further than that. Smart prospective owner clients will look at multiple review sites to do plenty of homework before contacting management companies. Having a high number of good reviews on these various review sites tells them that you are the authority on property management in your area.
Which Review Sites
While there are plenty more, there are 3 sites that I recommend focusing your efforts on initially to build reviews. You have to start somewhere so you might as well start with the most visible review sources.
Yelp.com
Yelp is a very popular site that consumers of all kinds visit when deciding on business to work with. They have a bad wrap in the property management world because reviews published on Yelp will commonly get demoted to the “not currently recommended” review section of the respective company’s Yelp page. These “not recommended” reviews do not factor into a company’s overall Yelp rating and are not prominently displayed. In fact, they’re darn right hard to find.
Many PM company owners believe Yelp intentionally only displays the negative reviews and puts all of the good reviews in the not recommended section. I can tell you that this is false. Yelp is not on some personal vendetta against property managers. They also do not all of a sudden start displaying your good reviews if you contract with them for advertising as I’ve heard some people accuse.
The fact is that Yelp has an algorithm that determines which reviews get displayed. They put more weight into reviews written by people who have written multiple other Yelp reviews and less weight on users who have only written one or two reviews.
The negative reviews seem to stick because if someone is apt to write a negative review about you, they are more likely to also write negative reviews about other companies. Having multiple reviews shows Yelp that they are an active user so Yelp gives more weight to these reviewers. Yelp doesn’t really care if the review is positive or negative.
So if you have asked a client for a review on Yelp, there is a good chance it may be their very first Yelp review. They are only doing it to do you a favor and are probably now starting a Yelp account for the first time.
They will write you a fantastic review only for you to find it gets bumped into the “not recommended” section. However this review is not a waste. What I’ve found is that, while that may have been the client’s first review, they now are exposed to Yelp and will begin writing other Yelp reviews. When they go out to eat, they may review the restaurant. Then they review the auto mechanic that fixed their car.
As that customer writes more and more reviews, Yelp will all of a sudden give more weight to their review that they previously wrote for you, resulting in it coming out of the “not recommended” section and moving into the prominently displayed published review section.
So don’t be one of those companies that says “I’m boycotting Yelp”. Because other company’s won’t and they’ll out compete you with their Yelp company pages.
Google Reviews
I’ve already mentioned the importance of Google Reviews for Local SEO. While Google monitors your activity on all review sites, it would be foolish to think they don’t give considerable weight to reviews on their own platform.
Also, many people have Gmail email addresses which makes it very easy for them to write a Google Review. Instead of having to create an account to write you a review, they can just login with their existing Gmail address.
Lastly is Facebook. I’ll assume you’ve created a Facebook page for your business already. If you haven’t, you absolutely need to have one and should be posting to it regularly.
Facebook has the option for users to recommend and write reviews for businesses listed on their platform. This may be a site potential owners check when researching your company. Also if you are doing any advertising on Facebook to drive traffic to your page, having reviews here just shows those customers that you are an active company that other Facebook users have had happy experiences with.
How to acquire good online reviews
If you do nothing to promote your online reputations, don’t worry, you’ll still get reviews without trying. Problem is that they’ll be negative reviews. The only people that usually will write an unsolicited review about your company are people who are pissed off at you.
These are usually tenants who you claimed their security deposit and they love taking their frustrations out by writing bad reviews. Worst yet is an owner writing a bad review against you since they are your actual client and their bad review carries more weight.
The strategy to have a great online reputation isn’t to avoid bad reviews completely because it’s impossible to have a 100% 5-star record if you’re out there conducting business. The path to a great review rating is to dominate your review pages with good reviews.
For every 1 bed review you get, you want to have received 10-15 good reviews. This isn’t hard to do if you’re running a half-way decent to great property management company. I assume you probably have a lot of very happy owners and tenants. But they aren’t going to go write reviews without being asked.
So Ask!
You should make it a part of your standard operational processes to ask for online reviews routinely at certain times in the management cycle. Some of the best times to request these reviews are during phases when people are pleased with your service and you’ve just fulfilled a critical function. Some of examples include:
- New Owner: Ask a new owner client to write a review shortly after you’ve filled their vacancy. You wouldn’t want to request the review at the same time you sign the management agreement since they don’t have any experience with you yet. But after a month or two has gone by and you’ve placed a tenant in their property, you’re currently a hero in their eyes. This is the best time to request an online review.
- New Tenant: If you have a rock solid move-in process that consistently results in happy tenants as they start their lease, you should ask the new tenant to write a review. At this point, they’ve had experience with your company showing them the property, going through the application process, lease signing, and move-in. If everything has gone off without a hitch, you can probably get a good positive review out of them.
- Management Anniversary: Every year on the anniversary of the beginning of your management relationship with an owner client, ask them to write a review. They’ve now had a whole year of (hopefully) great experience with you to write about.
- Any time you have an owner or tenant randomly give you a compliment on the phone or email, ask them if they’d be willing to put it in an online review. I say something like, “Thank you so much for the positive feedback. There’s nothing we like to hear more than that we are exceeding the expectations of our customers. Would you mind possibly writing an online review so that other people can read about your experience about us? Many potential clients use online reviews to determine which property manager they are going to work with and your words will go a long way towards helping us grow our company.” Then provide them with a link to a review site to make it easy for them to do it (see below, “You must do some of the work for them”
- If you do something that goes way beyond the call of duty and the customer/client knows it, exchange that for an online review. For example, I once had a tenant lock themselves out of their unit and they called our emergency line at 11:30pm at night asking if we could let them in. Our lease clearly states that we DO NOT provide a lockout service and that they would need to call a locksmith. I could have said, “Sorry, not my job. Call a locksmith.” Instead I explained to them that that is not really a service we provide and that I’m supposed to suggest they call a locksmith, but instead I told them that I felt bad to make them have to pay a locksmith to get in and instead would happily drive across town to let them in. All I asked in return was that they take some time over the day or so to write us an online review about their experience with our company.
IMPORTANT: Never ask for or attempt to coerce someone into writing a 5-star review specifically. Just ask for a review. If you’re providing good service and are confident of that, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about someone writing anything other than a 5-star review. If they don’t, so what. You’ll still get the majority of your reviews to be stellar.
You must do some of the work for them
Most people live very busy lives and having to write an online review for you is just another thing to do. Sure, if they are extremely happy or extremely unhappy, they are more apt to jump on it. For everyone else, you have to try to help push them in the right direction.
One way to do this is to have a standard template email pre-written to request a review. In it, make it convenient for them. What you don’t want to do is just tell them to go to Yelp. Send them the actual link so all they have to do is click on it. Give them some basic instructions on what to do once they get to the review page.
If you notice that their email address ends in @gmail.com, send them the link to your Google Review page. As mentioned before, if they have a Gmail account, they can easily login with it to write a review. If they don’t have a Gmail account, they’ll be forced to create a Google account before it will let them write a review. If they have to do that, you just lost them.
Also make sure to let them know in advance how much you appreciate them taking time out of their busy schedule to do you this favor. Don’t be shy or afraid to let them know how important online reviews are to helping you grow your business and how much they can help you by writing an online review. This also helps increase the chance that it will be a 5-star review.
Reputation Management Tools
Another way to speed up getting online reviews is by signing up for and using a reputation management tool online. The one I like and use is Grade.Us. The reason I like this service is because it facilitates the, “If you’re happy with our service, tell everyone. If you’re unhappy with our service, tell me.”
I could write an entire article on this so I’ll just give the basics.
You add email addresses for people you want to request reviews from. Instead of having to worry about whether or not you think they’ll write a good review, you can send the review request to your entire tenant or owner list.
They’ll get an email requesting a review and it displays 5 stars underneath allowing them to select 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars. You then configure Grade.Us to do one of two things depending on how they click.
For example, you can set it up so that if they click 4 or 5 stars in the email, it takes them to a webpage giving them the option to write a review on Yelp, Google Reviews, or Facebook. They click any of them and it takes them exactly to the review page for your company. Super easy.
If they instead click 3 or less stars, it takes them to a feedback form so that they can respond about their experience. The wonderful thing is that when they’re done and click submit, it sends it to you in a private email; it doesn’t publish online for the world to see.
So if you have an unhappy tenant write a novel about how horrible their move-in experience was, it gives them a chance to take out their frustrations on the keyboards and feel like they’ve been heard, but no one sees it but you. This prevents your online reputation from being harmed with a nasty review. Sure, they could then still go to an online review site on their own and write a bad review, but I’ve found that they usually won’t do that after having the opportunity to submit their feedback and get it off their chest.
How to handle negative reviews
Unfortunately it is almost impossible to maintain a perfect review record. I would even go as far as saying that if you are not getting the occasional bad review, or you’re completely obsessed with avoiding any possibility of a negative review, you probably are not fulfilling your fiduciary responsibility to your owner clients.
If you’re working hard for your owners, you will occasionally piss off a tenant in the process and result in them writing a scathing review. The key is not to get upset about this or think the sky is falling. Anticipate it and follow these steps when the inevitable bad review gets posted.
Take time to cool off
If you’ve been in property management for a little while and ever gotten a bad review, this scenario will probably sound all too familiar.
You just got a negative review from a former tenant because you claimed $300 from their security deposit to have the place cleaned. They insist that the home was clean when they moved out. They proceed to tell the world how you are a slumlord who never fixed anything while they lived there. They will start the review with something like, “I only gave them 1-star because it wouldn’t let me give ZERO!”
You feel enraged! How dare they make up such false accusations. You bent over backwards for these entitled, high maintenance, brats of tenants the entire time they lived there and this is how they repay you? You know the house was disgusting when they moved out and they have the gall to try and drag you through the mud as the bad guy when they clearly were in the wrong.
So what do you do? With temper raging and a hot head, you instantly hit the reply link (allowing you to post a public response) and systematically begin banging the keyboard. Your emotion and anger clearly comes through in your response. You think you’re proving them wrong and showing the world that you’re clearly in the right. Let me tell you… you’re not!
When you respond to reviews at a time of high emotion, you only come across as an unprofessional amateur who runs their business with emotion instead of professionalism. Prospective owners will see you as a child throwing a temper tantrum because another child took your toy. Don’t be that person.
Instead, take a deep breath, and wait! Wait a full 30 days and do not engage the review during this time. “But, that’s a whole month that potential clients will see this bad review without our rebuttal. What if we lose business?” You won’t. If you’re doing everything else advised in this post and getting routine positive reviews, this review will be one of a handful crowded out by 10, 50, or 100 5-star reviews. Any potential owner client with common sense will know that it’s impossible for you to make 100% of everyone happy.
Here is the reason for taking 30 days. When the reviewer posts the negative review, you can be certain that they then sit back and wait for your reply. They’ve just baited you and they hope you can’t resist responding. They check every 5 minutes. They have lunch, then check again. And BAM! There is the response they were hoping for. You bit and let your emotion come into the picture. And worse yet, your response has enraged them even more. Now you have a wonderful back and forth dialog for all of the internet to kick back and read.
Some review sites will let the reviewer respond to your response. So by responding in the moment, you’ve created a situation of airing your dirty laundry for all of the public to see. Worst yet, if the review site isn’t one that allows them to respond to your rebuttal, they will then seek out a different review site to slam you on. Hey, while they’re at it, they’ll file a complaint with the BBB and worst yet, with the real estate commission. Why not get their friends to write a few bad reviews too!
Now your single negative review has turned into 2-3 separate negative reviews and a consumer complaint you have to deal with.
So, hopefully you see the reasoning behind my 30-day rule. What happens during that 30 days is that the reviewer completely forgets that they even wrote the review. Life has moved on. They have other issues to deal with in their life; kids, job, car trouble, friend drama… whatever. They aren’t thinking about you anymore and how you wronged them. They’ve moved on!
And this is when you write your response. You may have even forgotten about it but you were smart enough to put a reminder on your calendar to respond. All of the emotion and rage you initially felt has subsided and you can respond in a professional manner that makes you look like the good guy.
Even if the reviewer is notified that there is a response to their review, they’ve moved on. I’ve found that rarely do they want to now spend more time rehashing the issue. This is because their emotion and rage has also subsided. It takes a lot of energy to be mad and it’s just not worth it to pause their life and get back in that mindset they were in 30 days ago.
How to respond
Respond in a professional manner. To envision what this looks like, you want to think of a picture of a toddler throwing themselves on the floor pitching a fit (the negative reviewer) and the calm, collected parent telling them in an adult-like way that that is not acceptable behavior (you responding to the review).
Here is a negative review my company received any my response to it:
“Based off all the great reviews I wish my family and I would have had the opportunity to utilize their services. Our application was declined- not because of our credit or payment history (because it’s flawless) or background (also spotless)…but because as a salesperson myself I wanted to negotiate just a little bit (on the non refundable application fees) for a home that had been on the market for 60 days. Which to me would have made sense and a good deal. Candleglow property owners you may want to reconsider who you do business with as a nice family perfect for your home was turned away. Disappointing.”
My response:
“Hello Amanda. Thank you for taking the time to write a review, even if it was to inform us of your displeasure. Just to clarify your accusation, you were not declined because you wanted to negotiate. You were declined because the additional adult occupants in your household did not submit applications, and you displayed alarming concern over the minimal cost of application fees. I understand that you are upset that we require all of the adult occupants in your household to apply and submit to background screening which requires payment of additional application fees. However, we publicly disclose this requirement on our website. Specifically, it says, ‘Co-applicants and any other person(s) age eighteen (18) or older must complete the application process and sign onto the lease to be an authorized occupant in the rental.’ This was once again disclosed on the first step of the application before allowing you to proceed to the next step. Then disclosed a 3rd time on the application you submitted, where you answered ‘Yes’ to the question, ‘Do you understand that all adults over 18 must fill out separate applications and pay separate application fees?’ When none of the other occupants in your household submitted their applications, two separate associates in our company informed you that we needed the other 3 adults to apply. While you may assert in your review that all of your credit histories are flawless, we were unable to verify this since they did not submit to the screening process and we simply cannot take your word for it.
Up until now, you seemed very pleasant in your interactions with us. To be fair in our screening process however, we must treat all parties applying for our properties the same and adhere to the exact same screening process regardless of how pleasant or unpleasant an applicant is. Regardless of how long a property has been on the market, there is no exception to this policy and this was communicated to you multiple times before ultimately declining you.
I appreciate you bringing this issue to a public forum though so that we can exemplify to potential clients that we do not compromise on our policies. It is because of our unwillingness to compromise that we have a zero eviction record on tenants we have screened and placed in our rental properties. While we may have missed out on renting to you thereby extending the vacancy time some, we consider that a much lower risk than allowing un-screened occupants in the front door to one of our properties… properties of which the landlords have placed their trust in us to handle responsibly.
I wish you luck in your continued home search and congratulations on your relocation to the wonderful Denver area.”
Now, who do you think came out looking like the unreasonable party in that situation? Clearly the reviewer. I am actually so glad that she wrote this 1-star review because I have had at least 5 separate owner prospects (who then signed up with us) specifically mention this review and that it is the reason why they called us. They wanted a property manager that was going to look out for their interests.
Show evidence that defends you
I believe that if someone writes a negative review about my company that is false or misleading, we have every right to publish our defense and supporting evidence. If the reviewer doesn’t like the world seeing them for who they are, then they shouldn’t have opened the door via a negative review.
Remember that you have to ensure that anything you state or show in a response is backed by fact otherwise it could be considered libelous.
Here is an example of a negative review we received any my response containing a link to photograph that completely discredit the reviewer:
“Integrity management, Haa, yeah right. They lack every bit of integrity. They charged us for things they said they would fix and never did. The sink drained at an incline which caused clogs, they also refused to fix this issue. They even charged us 90$ for a soap dispenser. A dispenser that dispensed a black gunk even when you put clean soap in. I could write this post for pages. I may leave another bad review or two still because a 3.7 star rating is far from what these lying, scammers deserve.”
My response:
“Hi Matt. It is unfortunate that you believe you are in a position to make the claims against us that you have in this review. It is not uncommon for a tenant to take jabs at us and become quarrelsome, as you have, when we retain their security deposit to correct damages or lack of cleaning. However, those communications between us are usually conducted privately and allow for a more professional and productive dialog. Since you have chosen to bring this discussion into a public forum thereby putting us in a position to defend ourselves to the world, we will happily respond here. Considering the amount of text that I would have to write in order to properly describe the condition you left the property in would be quite lengthy, I will instead post a link to the photos showing the condition you left the property in and those viewing them can make their own determination on whether or not our company ‘lacks every bit of integrity’ as you put it. https://photos.app.goo.gl/vrafJHCADCadh1zi1”
A picture is worth a thousand words. And guess what… no response from the tenant who wrote the review. Because I showed the world who they really were. Anyone who leaves a home in a condition like that obviously isn’t in a position to lecture anyone on integrity.
Remember, be professional in your responses. But that doesn’t mean be weak. As long as you know you are in the right, be confident and appropriately aggressive in your response to defend the image of your company.
So as you’ve hopefully gathered by this point, online reviews are a critical component of growing your property management company in today’s internet world. Not only are having a large number of positive reviews essential, but responding well to the negative reviews are critical to have a well rounded reputation management practice in place.
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