Bad community reviews, especially for apartment complexes, result from poor management of facilities, lack of security, and even the slow action towards tenant concerns, like a broken payphone and squeaky doors. These, however, do not automatically mean that landlords are inept at running a real property rental business; sometimes, they are just really having a hard time responding to negative issues surrounding their apartment community. Jake Meador, a social media consultant, provided some useful tips on how communities can recover from bad reviews in an article at Rentping Media:

“First, give prospects great content to find online.
… The main idea is that prospects want more than just reviews when researching your community online. So give them what they want. Give them attractive, engaging floorplan-specific content. It’ll make them happy because it makes it easier for them to shop online, and it makes you happy because it’s a new piece of content that can distract from those bad reviews.

Second, be proactive about your review situation.
… This means that you should respond to recent negative reviews and also be actively soliciting reviews from happy residents.

Regarding how best to respond to negative reviews, the main things you want to avoid are dismissing the concern, patronizing the reviewer, or creating conflict with the reviewer. Your goal in the reply is to apologize for whatever your team might have done wrong and try to resolve the problem in some way.”

Can apartment communities recover from bad reviews? Definitely, yes. But bad reviews have the potential to become gospel truth when landowners and property managers sit back and do nothing about them. One can get relief from knowing that online rental marketing companies, such as LeasingKC, use the tips Meador provided, along with other tools, to effectively counter the persistent problem of negative image.

PR or public relations helps Kansas City apartments for rent recover from bad reviews using a tactical communication process that ends in mutually beneficial relationships between the property owners and the tenants. Normally, PR practitioners and marketing officers proactively monitor social media and review sites to know what residents are saying about their experience. Some would even directly ask tenants for feedback as internal reviews ensure that issues can be addressed before they can come to public attention.

Landlords and property managers of Kansas City apartments for rent gain so much more when they take the initiative to gather resident sentiments and assure tenants that their worries are being addressed. But when the fire of negative reviews have already been ignited, owners and managers should strongly consider getting professional PR help to avert further damage and immediately execute a solid recovery plan.

(Source: Can apartment communities recover from bad reviews?, Jake Meador, April 23, 2014)