Apartment online reputation management is a vital part of a multifamily marketer’s job.
However, many in the industry still tend to think of reputation management as game of defense rather than a game of offense.
This is the wrong approach.
Implementing proactive reputation strategies today ensures that your community is better positioned to withstand the potential crisis of tomorrow. With that in mind, we wanted to share a few tips for requesting reviews so that your property has the resources it needs to weather any storms.
Here’s a quick look at why reviews matter, how you can generate more, and ways you can simplify the process.
Why Apartment Reviews Matter
Apartment reviews heavily influence the way prospects view your community.
A recent study by Zillow discovered that 50 percent of Gen Z prospects find online reviews extremely important. Millennial prospects are not far behind, with 46 percent claiming to find reviews incredibly important when making a leasing decision.
These two cohorts, when combined, represent a huge portion of the rental market. Ignoring their online behavior would be a big mistake from a demographics standpoint alone.
But when you account for the fact that review consideration represents one of the final stages in the leasing funnel, that mistake is outright disastrous.
Prospects don’t usually look at reviews until after they’re sure a community has everything they need. In other words, the prospects who look at review sites are highly qualified leads. And if you don’t take your online reputation seriously, you can lose them in the blink of an eye.
How to Get More Reviews (And Good Ones, Too!)
Now that we’ve established why reviews are important for multifamily, let’s look at when it makes sense to generate them for your property.
Simply put, there’s no shortage of opportunities to get a review from a resident. All you have to do is ask politely, and at the right time. A few examples of when you might make such requests include:
- During Friendly Front-Desk or Event Interactions
- After the Fulfillment of a Maintenance Request
Let’s take a closer look at why these times make sense.
Opportunity #1: During Friendly Front-Desk or Event Interactions
Friendly is the key word here. When residents are in a good mood – and not rushing to get somewhere – they’ll be more likely to lend you a helping hand in the form of a positive review. So if you find yourself having a friendly conversation with a resident on a weekend morning or at a locally hosted event, don’t be afraid to sneak in a review request. Try not to be pushy or ingenuine about it though, as that might put some people off and could even backfire.
Opportunity #2: After the Fulfillment of a Maintenance Request
People like to repay favors. So if your community has just completed a maintenance request for one of your residents, it’s a perfect time to request a review. Consider sending an email to the resident notifying him/her that the request was fulfilled, with links to your review sites within the body of the email. Alternatively, you could simply slip a paper review request form under the door after the completion of the maintenance job.
How to Simplify the Process
Requesting a review in person is pretty straightforward. However, as most multifamily professionals know, residents occasionally need a little nudge to follow through on their reviews.
It was with this in mind that Respage created our Review Request Email Tool, which can be found within your Respage Dashboard. This tool was designed to help simplify the review request process, and comes with various request templates that fit many common scenarios. All you have to do is select an appropriate template for your needs, choose the recipient and where you want them to post, and let the tool do the rest. It’s that simple.
To learn more about the Review Request Email Tool and other online reputation management services for apartments, contact one of our representatives today!
