By Salvatore J. Friscia, San Diego Premier Property Management, San Diego, CA

The landlord won’t make timely repairs, the common area laundry room is a mess, or the management company never answers their phones. Three very common complaints found online from renters regarding their experience with property management companies across the country. In the past, potential applicants would only discover these complaints by either word of mouth, knowing someone in the complex, or worse, once it’s too late and they were already experiencing issues first hand. Well, social media has certainly changed that, and with a click of a mouse (or should I say the pressing of a finger against the touch screen), past and present tenants can now comment on their rental experience. Power sites such as Yelp, Kudzu, Angie’s List, and of course Facebook and Twitter, are open forums respected by many that allow reviews, dialogue, and comments that in some cases can have lasting and serious consequences whether good or bad to the property management company against which they are levied. This form of feedback and review seems fair and useful in helping determine which property management companies have built better tenant relations. But should tenants beware when posting something less flattering or even downright negative regarding their experience with a property management company?

Just recently a woman, Helen Maslona of Chicago, was sued over her posting of a negative online review about a contractor on a leading online review website. These types of lawsuits are becoming more common and are referred to as SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). As many as 27 states have Anti-SLAPP laws, but many don’t and leave unsuspecting reviewers vulnerable to backlash from their comment or review. If you plan on making comments or reviews, it is suggested that you take a few things into consideration to protect yourself and also offer the best online review to the public.

1) Tell the truth about the experience.
2) Comment with the intent to help others benefit from your review.
3) Stay clear of vulgarities, heavy opinions, and accusations.

If you do find yourself posting a negative review, allow the property management company to respond and hopefully clear up the misunderstanding. Most reputable companies will try to accommodate their tenants and preserve their online reputation. In kind, make sure you follow up that negative comment with an update showing the resolution. Just remember that reviews on social media sites are both necessary and important but can have consequences, so be careful what you post out there.

We know, we know…you’re busy. But, nonetheless, if you haven’t already harnessed the power of online customer reviews, it’s critical that you do so. Here are some time-saving links to the most useful pages for your property management business.

• Still not sure how Yelp can help differentiate your property management business from your competitors’? Here’s an example.
• Don’t take our word for it–Time Magazine agrees that Yelp is an essential site.
• Check out this video for a quick tour of what Angie’s List can do for your business.
• Ok, ok … you’re finally sold on Angie’s List. Good news! A membership is less expensive than you might think.

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Sure, your mom always told you that it isn’t nice to judge. But the truth of the matter is that in the professional world, we’re all judged. Don’t fret, though—being judged can actually be a good thing.

In this day and age customer service reviews move at the speed of light—or at least at the speed of the average internet connection. As if you need any more reason to improve customer service, here’s another one: Good customer service may very well work as a powerful PR and marketing tool for your business.

Online sites like Yelp and Angie’s List are quickly becoming some of the go-to-sources upon which the public bases its selection of service providers. On these open forums past customers rate and review your business, allowing potential customers to see how you rank against your competitors. Here’s how you can make the jury of public opinion work on your behalf.

Yelp
Since its inception in 2004, Yelp has grown exponentially — the site now gets up to 31 million visits per month (as of March 2010). In other words, Yelp reviews are serious business. Over the course of the past few years, Yelp has come to be regarded as a reliable, accurate source for business and service referals. Don’t underestimate the power of Yelp reviews or their importance to the success of your business.

While you can’t control content on Yelp, you can encourage happy customers to rate and review your business. It’s also important that you monitor your Yelp business page. If you see an unhappy customer post a review, turn it into a positive. Contact that person to address their issue and improve their experience with your company. Many Yelpers are quite conscientious about updating  and editing reviews to document such resolutions. Also remember that Yelp’s rating system works on averages. In other words, if one or two disgruntled customers give you an unfair low rating, rest assured that more even-keeled ratings will average this out.

Business owners can get in on the Yelp scene too. Special business accounts can be set up for free. Once this account is initiated, you can post things like special offers and discounts to Yelpers, which will appear under your business listing. From here you can also update basic business information, track traffic to your Yelp business page, interact with reviewers, and receive notifications when your business is reviewed.

Angie’s List
In business since 1995, Angie’s List is a bit more targeted than Yelp. You won’t find listings for things like restaurants and shops here—it’s limited to service providers and is especially targeted to homeowners and home repair issues. More than one million consumers actually pay a subscription fee to join Angie’s List and, for that fee, they rely on the customer-generated reports and reviews provided by the web site. Along with ratings (which appear as a “grade”) and reviews, customers also receive information on service providers’ prices, professionalism, and timeliness.

Business owners can click here to add their company information to the Angie’s List directory. This free account will also allow you to monitor and respond to your customer reports. As with Yelp, property managers can offer Angie’s List members discounts and special offers, but cannot affect their own business’ rating. On the Angie’s List Company Connect page you can actually find a link to a form specifically designed for business owners to distribute to customers so that you can encourage satisfied customers to share their experience.

Customer review sites like Angie’s List and Yelp can be your best friend. Not only do they spread the good word about your business, but they also provide your property management company with a very visible online presence, word-of-mouth referrals, potentially good marketing, and that extra little nudge to keep your customer service as satisfactory as possible.

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Having a go-to list of contractors is imperative. Trust us, you never want to find yourself up to your knees in water with no one to turn to … literally. The following links will help you compile that ever-important  list of emergency contractors.

• Yelp.com was mentioned in in our latest post about contractors, but it bears mentioning again. Sure, 100 percent of the reviews may not be accurate, but if a contractor has 20 reviews or more, chances are the overall score is reliable.
• Contractors.com is your one-stop-shop for contractor reviews.
• Even if you don’t keep a bulky hard copy on hand any more, the YellowPages.com website is a great place to find local contractors.
• Although many contractors advertise on Craigslist, use this resource with caution. The lack of consumer reviews means that it’s often difficult to tell the good ones from the bad.
• AngiesList.com is recognized as one of the most reliable cyber-destinations for accurate consumer reviews of contractors.

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