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Consequences of Not Having a Reputation Management Solution for Property Managers

 

As a property management company, reputation management is essential to success. Eighty percent of consumers consider reviews necessary to their property search. Similarly, 70 percent of prospective residents decided to visit a property with a higher online reputation. While you may already understand the importance of reputation management, what are the consequences of not having an effective reputation management solution? What will happen if your property management company fails to prioritize reputation management? You’re about to find out. 

 

Lose Potential Residents 

 

One of the most significant ways that a lack of a reputation management solution can hurt your business is by losing prospective residents. As mentioned above, your property’s online reputation is something prospective residents consider when choosing where to live – it’s arguably one of the most important factors. 

 

For instance, if a potential resident goes to your local Facebook page and sees that you’re not interacting with residents or responding to comments, that could be a red flag. Similarly, if you’re only posting generic corporate content on local social, you could be doing yourself a disservice. Localized content receives 12x the engagement rate of more general or “non-localized” content. If your property management company isn’t localizing your content on social media and engaging with residents, that’s a huge missed opportunity.

 

 

The same can be said for local search. If your local properties aren’t managing and maintaining their online ratings and reviews, it could negatively impact your chances of setting up an apartment tour or winning more leases. Our 2021 Localized Marketing Benchmark Report found that, on average, 51 percent of property management companies are responding to reviews on Facebook, and 69 percent are responding on Google My Business (GMB). Property management companies also receive two new reviews per month on GMB and less than one recent review a month on Facebook. If your property management company isn’t meeting these industry standards, you could be losing potential residents to the competition. 

 

 

Lower Retention Rates for Current Residents 

 

Similar to losing potential residents, an ineffective reputation management strategy could lead to a higher turnover rate for current residents. For instance, if residents are consistently leaving reviews about the amount of time it takes your maintenance crew to make minor repairs, this is something your local property should be aware of and address. Similarly, if residents leave negative reviews about the cleanliness of the amenities or comments about your property’s lack of communication, this can lead to lower tenant retention rates.

 

If a resident doesn’t feel like your property cares enough to address an issue they might have or take the time to personalize responses to feedback, it will hurt your property’s chances to retain a current resident. The same goes for positive feedback as well. If an existing resident leaves your property a glowing review and your property doesn’t acknowledge it, this could negatively impact your reputation. A lower tenant retention rate can affect your overall income stream and lead to less consistent rental income. 

 

More Catch-Up Work for Local Property Managers

 

While not having a reputation management solution for your property management company can impact both acquiring and retaining  residents, it can also hurt your local employees. The longer your local properties don’t focus on reputation management, the more catch-up work will have to be done later down the line. An excellent reputation means that potential residents already have a favorable opinion about your property. Without reputation management, this isn’t the case. 

 

Your local properties will have to work harder to correct any negative perception that may be out there due to a lack of a proactive reputation management strategy. The longer you wait to invest in a reputation management solution, the more difficult it will be to fix problems that occur without it. For instance, if your average star rating falls or your local properties rack up a large number of negative reviews, the damage control will be time-consuming. As a property manager, you understand that more time spent on repairing your property’s online reputation means less time spent on other important endeavors, so being proactive with reputation management is a must. 

 

Hurt Your Local Property’s Reputation 

 

While this seems like an obvious consequence, it’s still worth noting. Without a reputation management solution, your property management company can do some severe damage to your property’s overall online reputation. As previously mentioned, negative reviews can bring down your property’s average star rating, and in turn, hurt your sales funnel. Without a tool to help you monitor what is being said about your property or how many reviews it’s receiving, it can be challenging to keep up with and manage your local reputation. 

 

Your Property’s Online Reputation Is Damaged, Now What?

 

Although a lack of reputation management tools can hurt your property management company, there’s still hope. When looking for areas to improve, your property management company should focus on: 

• Increasing the number of reviews received per location 
• Shorten review response time 
• Include personalized responses to all reviews (especially negative ones!) 
• Post localized content across local social channels 
• Drive more high-valued engagements (comments and shares) on local social content 

 

For more information on improving your property’s reputation management strategy, check out our blog on the topic. 

Maintaining a solid reputation can be complicated with so many other things to prioritize, but it’s critical. For help managing your individual properties’ online reputations, turn to SOCi! SOCi’s streamlined reputation management software allows property managers and corporate teams to view every action taken on reviews and monitor every activity on social media. Now, your local, regional, and corporate teams will always know which reviews and social engagements are addressed and which ones still require attention to ensure the prompt responses residents expect. With SOCi Reviews, you can increase customer satisfaction and attract new residents. By empowering your local properties with a tool to efficiently create personalized responses, you are improving relations with every resident through a positive engagement and significantly increasing your property’s search visibility with every review and response.

 

 

SOCi can also help your property management company on the social side. SOCi’s Social solution enables property management companies to manage and deploy localized content at scale while maintaining brand consistency at both the corporate and local levels. With this tool, your property management company can publish to all major networks to amplify audience engagement with localized shareable content and ensure meaningful conversations with potential residents. For more insight into how SOCi can give your property management company the reputation management solution it needs, request a demo today!