ONLINE REVIEWS
ONLINE REVIEWS WHERE TO RESPOND If you're not using RepPro
Where you manage reviews
Your community website (Entrata)
These sites require a paid account to access. These accounts are managed at the community level. Ask your DM if you're unsure if you have a community account. (1) If you do not have an account you can reply to these reviews as a general user but not as a verified business manager. If you do have an account, your response will show up as 'response from business/owner'.
If you are using
(2) If your community does have an account and you use RepPro, confirm RepPro's access at [email protected] so they can respond for us.
Rep. Pro
You
responds
Respond
RepPro replies to the following review sites - RepPro will generate a reply for all APARTMENTS.COM reviews but will have to be manually posted by site staff.
Your community website (Entrata)
Reputation Management – Ratings and Reviews In today’s world, ratings and reviews greatly influence prospective residents at Timberland Partners communities. With the ease of technology and social media, satisfied (or dissatisfied) customers write about their experiences and post to the internet for all the world to see. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs:
● ● ● ●
90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Customers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with “excellent” reviews. 86% of people will hesitate to do business with an organization that has negative online reviews.
There are several sites that invite reviews and ratings for apartments. The two most popular are www.apartmentratings.com and www.googlereviews.com. Most of the Internet Listing Sites (ILSs) also offer reviews on the properties they list. It is recommended that you review your community’s ratings and reviews at least weekly and respond to all of them. Be sure to thank those who wrote positive reviews. Respond to those who wrote negative reviews with an invitation to make an appointment with you to resolve their concerns. It is advantageous to seek out positive reviews, and negative reviews should be considered opportunities to do better. The following are suggestions on how to deal with negative reviews:
● Respond promptly
In today’s fast paced world, consumers expect quick responses. If you take too long to respond, reviewers can become even more frustrated which can lead them to leave negative reviews on other reviews sites, too. Respond to reviews –especially negative ones – within 48 hours to show you truly care about the concerns of your residents.
● Use empathy, compassion and be apologetic
Empathize with the renter’s frustration and offer an apology, even if there is nothing you can do. This demonstrates that you are listening to your reviewer’s concerns and no one is being ignored. And if you are doing something to address the reviewer’s concerns, be sure to let them know!
● Personalize the response When it comes to responding to reviews, one size doesn’t fit all – so avoid using a response template. People can tell when you have copied and pasted your response. Instead, be sincere by specifically addressing the points brought up in each review.
● Look into the complaint. Before you respond to any bad review, research the incident from your end. Is the review based off of a legitimate complaint, such as improperly charged fees, or is the reviewer simply upset about being charged for damage they caused? Some reviews will inevitably be based off of unfair criticisms, and that might influence how you go about responding to the review. It is dangerous to engage in a war of words - especially in a public forum - but many property managers will take a different tone when dealing with criticisms stemming from legitimate concerns. ● Honestly explain your plan to correct the problem. Honesty is always the best policy. You can quickly recover from a negative apartment review when you offer a plan to correct the issue. Give specific details about addressing the concerns in your response, and never write a canned response or use the same response to a previous review. ● Ask loyal customers to share their positive experiences and respond when they are posted. Many communities prefer to leave positive reviews untouched. A quick response thanking residents for their time and input will be just another reminder to them of why they love your community.
Sample responses to reviews: "We are so sorry to hear about your negative experience trying to get our team to help you with a neighbor complaint. If you wouldn't mind coming down to the leasing office, I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and talk about the situation and what we can do to be more effective in the future." "We want to apologize for the noise problems you experienced during your time with us. Please stop down to the management office so that we can further discuss your concerns and come up with a satisfactory solution. Once again, we’re sorry for this situation and appreciate the opportunity to resolve it." "We're really sorry you have been frustrated with our community's pet policy. We know how important pets are to people and we don't want anyone to feel excluded or as if we don't care about their pets. That being said, there are reasons for the pet policies we have in place. If you have additional questions about it, we'd love to talk. Just to explain our reasoning a bit more, we request that cats be de-clawed, for example, because claws can tear up carpet, wallpaper, furniture, and anything else the cat is around on a regular basis. In our experience this can also help the residents as the apartments are in better shape when they vacate, which means they get more of their deposit returned."
“We're so sorry to hear about your oven. We hate to think of you struggling to figure out meals while you waited for us to get to your home and fix such an important appliance in your kitchen. Unfortunately, we were training a new maintenance tech that week and he simply took more time to do his calls while he was learning the ropes. If you would come by the leasing office soon, we'd love to have the opportunity to apologize personally and try to make it right. We're so sorry for the delay and how it inconvenienced you.” “I'm really sorry to hear that you had problems with your move-in! We would appreciate the chance to talk more about this situation and discuss how we can make it right. If you come by our leasing office by the front entrance any time between 8 am and 4 pm this week, I will be there. I would love to have the chance to apologize and try to find a mutually beneficial solution.”
“Thank you very much for choosing _______ Apartments. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your comments and if you ever have a problem or need help with anything, I’m here to help. You can contact me at 555-555-555 any time!”
Where you manage reviews
Your community website (Entrata)
These sites require a paid account to access. These accounts are managed at the community level. Ask your DM if you're unsure if you have a community account. (1) If you do not have an account you can reply to these reviews as a general user but not as a verified business manager. If you do have an account, your response will show up as 'response from business/owner'.
If you are using
(2) If your community does have an account and you use RepPro, confirm RepPro's access at [email protected] so they can respond for us.
Rep. Pro
You
responds
Respond
RepPro replies to the following review sites - RepPro will generate a reply for all APARTMENTS.COM reviews but will have to be manually posted by site staff.
Your community website (Entrata)
Reputation Management – Ratings and Reviews In today’s world, ratings and reviews greatly influence prospective residents at Timberland Partners communities. With the ease of technology and social media, satisfied (or dissatisfied) customers write about their experiences and post to the internet for all the world to see. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs:
● ● ● ●
90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Customers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with “excellent” reviews. 86% of people will hesitate to do business with an organization that has negative online reviews.
There are several sites that invite reviews and ratings for apartments. The two most popular are www.apartmentratings.com and www.googlereviews.com. Most of the Internet Listing Sites (ILSs) also offer reviews on the properties they list. It is recommended that you review your community’s ratings and reviews at least weekly and respond to all of them. Be sure to thank those who wrote positive reviews. Respond to those who wrote negative reviews with an invitation to make an appointment with you to resolve their concerns. It is advantageous to seek out positive reviews, and negative reviews should be considered opportunities to do better. The following are suggestions on how to deal with negative reviews:
● Respond promptly
In today’s fast paced world, consumers expect quick responses. If you take too long to respond, reviewers can become even more frustrated which can lead them to leave negative reviews on other reviews sites, too. Respond to reviews –especially negative ones – within 48 hours to show you truly care about the concerns of your residents.
● Use empathy, compassion and be apologetic
Empathize with the renter’s frustration and offer an apology, even if there is nothing you can do. This demonstrates that you are listening to your reviewer’s concerns and no one is being ignored. And if you are doing something to address the reviewer’s concerns, be sure to let them know!
● Personalize the response When it comes to responding to reviews, one size doesn’t fit all – so avoid using a response template. People can tell when you have copied and pasted your response. Instead, be sincere by specifically addressing the points brought up in each review.
● Look into the complaint. Before you respond to any bad review, research the incident from your end. Is the review based off of a legitimate complaint, such as improperly charged fees, or is the reviewer simply upset about being charged for damage they caused? Some reviews will inevitably be based off of unfair criticisms, and that might influence how you go about responding to the review. It is dangerous to engage in a war of words - especially in a public forum - but many property managers will take a different tone when dealing with criticisms stemming from legitimate concerns. ● Honestly explain your plan to correct the problem. Honesty is always the best policy. You can quickly recover from a negative apartment review when you offer a plan to correct the issue. Give specific details about addressing the concerns in your response, and never write a canned response or use the same response to a previous review. ● Ask loyal customers to share their positive experiences and respond when they are posted. Many communities prefer to leave positive reviews untouched. A quick response thanking residents for their time and input will be just another reminder to them of why they love your community.
Sample responses to reviews: "We are so sorry to hear about your negative experience trying to get our team to help you with a neighbor complaint. If you wouldn't mind coming down to the leasing office, I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and talk about the situation and what we can do to be more effective in the future." "We want to apologize for the noise problems you experienced during your time with us. Please stop down to the management office so that we can further discuss your concerns and come up with a satisfactory solution. Once again, we’re sorry for this situation and appreciate the opportunity to resolve it." "We're really sorry you have been frustrated with our community's pet policy. We know how important pets are to people and we don't want anyone to feel excluded or as if we don't care about their pets. That being said, there are reasons for the pet policies we have in place. If you have additional questions about it, we'd love to talk. Just to explain our reasoning a bit more, we request that cats be de-clawed, for example, because claws can tear up carpet, wallpaper, furniture, and anything else the cat is around on a regular basis. In our experience this can also help the residents as the apartments are in better shape when they vacate, which means they get more of their deposit returned."
“We're so sorry to hear about your oven. We hate to think of you struggling to figure out meals while you waited for us to get to your home and fix such an important appliance in your kitchen. Unfortunately, we were training a new maintenance tech that week and he simply took more time to do his calls while he was learning the ropes. If you would come by the leasing office soon, we'd love to have the opportunity to apologize personally and try to make it right. We're so sorry for the delay and how it inconvenienced you.” “I'm really sorry to hear that you had problems with your move-in! We would appreciate the chance to talk more about this situation and discuss how we can make it right. If you come by our leasing office by the front entrance any time between 8 am and 4 pm this week, I will be there. I would love to have the chance to apologize and try to find a mutually beneficial solution.”
“Thank you very much for choosing _______ Apartments. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your comments and if you ever have a problem or need help with anything, I’m here to help. You can contact me at 555-555-555 any time!”
