Apartmentratings.com: Update

Just a quick update from yesterday's post about apartmentratings.com.

Jeremy, the GM from apartmentratings.com took the time to comment on the post and I really want to thank him for that. I think it really speaks well of leadership when they take the time to do so.

For those that might have missed his comment, here it is:

Hi Mike, I'm the GM of ApartmentRatings.com and I can address this. We monitor blog comments strictly for link spam. Our blog, owing to the fact it went live in 2005, is on a very old platform and we get hundreds of spam comments each week for pharmaceuticals and worse. To keep the comments clear of link spam, we have to manually cull everything before allowing the regular comments to go live. Thankfully, we do not have this problem on our main site's reviews engine, which is why automatic posting works there.

As you can imagine, this is an annoying (and expensive) problem and we're currently in the midst of moving the blog to a platform which has an automated spam filter like Askimet which will hopefully allow us to turn on automatic posting.

Thanks,
Jeremy

I applaud the response and look forward to the day we can give unadulterated and seamless feedback.

I am still curious as to why an owner/operator need pay to participate. Forgive me but it does seem a little disingenuous. That being said, I recognize the platform must be monetized somehow. I wonder if there is a way to create a replacement income stream as to open up the ability of owners/operators to participate. As it is now many people choose to game the system by posting under alternative names with false feedback. I would never advocate that and in the same respect I think it happens. 

Jeremey, thanks again for taking the time.

Comments

[Eric Brown]

Mike and Jememey,
Great post and Great Topic,
I suggest that we should all be looking at this a bit differently. While I am not debating if apartment operators should or shouldn't pay, irrespective of that, whatever it is it is a small price to pay to be able to participate in the conversation that your residents ARE having about you.

The entire Social Media craze can be boiled down to Participating in the Conversation, and one of many places residents today are hanging out are on Rating Sites. It would well benefit property management executives to make Rating Sites their new best friend.

One way to Break From Apartment Commodity is to embrace and engage rating sites, because most to no other property management companies are. At Urbane, we have made this part of our Social Media Strategy and are starting to get to now our new best friend.

[Mike]

I agree that we should all embrace participation and frankly find a way to incorporate it, not unlike you have done with Yelp, Eric.

True transparent participation should be simple and the only cost should be enhanced or diminished loyalty. It's the only point that detracts from Jeremy's site. Without it, I can envision a wide open and free ranging and productive conversation.

[Jeremy]

Mike, Eric, thanks for the feedback!

Just a quick clarification-- it's free for any manager to post a response to any review on ApartmentRatings.com. Just scroll to the bottom of the post and add a response.

The Manager Center is an optional service that enables managers to post responses as the "verified manager" (along with a brief community description, email address, and website link). There is a cost to use the service ($180/yr) and we also require that managers file a notarized affidavit with us before we allow them to post as the "verified manager." But to also clarify, Manager Center is not our business model-- it accounts for less than 5% of our business; we actually don't even promote it. But it's available for communities who wish to distinguish their comments and have more presence on ApartmentRatings.com.

[Eric Brown]

Jeremy,
Great conversation going, thank you for your input. How would you recommend that property management companies embrace Apartment Ratings, not to control the message, but participate.

[Jeremy]

One thing I've noticed that the most effective owners and managers do is use the medium to simply acknowledge the comments and make themselves available. Even if they are responding to what seems like an off-the-wall complaint, just saying, "Hi, this is Mike, the Manager. We're looking into the problem and working on a resolution. Feel free to contact me directly at xxx-xxx-xxxx if you have any questions or I can help in any way," sends a hugely positive message to prospective renters. The manager comes off professional, positive, engaged, available... everything prospective renters hope to see.

Just getting involved shows you care, which is a big positive for your brand.

One thing to note, when a manager signs up for Manager Center (regardless of whether they pay), they'll be notified whenever there is a new review or response posted for their apartment community. This is a good way to monitor what's being said so you can jump in quickly.

[Eric Brown]

Jeremy and Mike, Thanks so much for the conversation here. I think there is much to be learned as to how to interact with residents and customers on rating sites to not come across as defensive or augmentative, even if the resident happens to have off the wall comments. It cannot and should not be a battleground, but a place for conversation.

On the flip of that, property management companies need to get used to the idea of publicly saying they are sorry when they drop the ball.