Today we are talking about reputation management for property managers, a topic we have discussed before. However, this week we aren’t talking about the positive side of reputation management, where if you’ve got a good online rating, people will see it and you’ll get calls based on your great reputation. No. Today, we are concentrating on what happens if you don’t have a good online rating.
When Leads Aren’t Closing
Perhaps you are investing money on marketing; maybe you’re doing a Google Adwords campaign for your property management company. So, you’re spending money to attract new clients. If calls are coming in but your close rate isn’t there, maybe you should take a look at your online reputation. If your reputation is bad, there is an excellent chance that even after you’ve spent money and got a lead, when they do their due diligence and research your company online, they see your bad rating and go to your competition instead.
That’s not what you want. You want them to see your competitors’ bad rating and call you. A good online reputation is essential. You can complain about Yelp and Google+ and how it’s not fair when good reviews get filtered, but that happens to every property manager. It can’t be an excuse to avoid managing your reputation.
You’re Not a Restaurant
It’s really easy to get discouraged if you go on Yelp and start comparing yourself to restaurants and businesses in other industries. But remember – it’s easy to get a 5 star review when your entire job is making people happy. Your job as a property manager specifically includes making people unhappy. Part of your job is to weed out less qualified renters on behalf of your owners. That creates a lot of disappointed people. For every house you successfully rent out, there’s a group of people who didn’t get that house. Maybe they didn’t get there in time or maybe they didn’t get past your screening criteria. They will complain, and that’s just one example of the many unhappy things property managers have to do every day to protect their owners’ property. Just remember: unhappy people are doing the same thing to your competition. You don’t have to outrun the bear; you just have to outrun the other guy. That’s what you should be thinking about.
Ask for Reviews
Ask, ask, ask for those good reviews so you can boost your online reputation. Concentrate your efforts on the people who you know are happy. If you don’t have the time to request these positive reviews, you should hire people to do it. This is a service we provide at Fourandhalf, and Reputation.com also has a tool to help your company get a better rating. It has to be part of your strategy because when your leads look you up, your rating will be right there next to your name in Google’s results. You’ll gain and lose clients based on that reputation and there is nothing you can do about it except collect those good reviews!
If you have any questions about this facet of reputation management, or if we can help you get the best possible online rating, please contact us at Fourandhalf – Internet Marketing for Property Managers.
