Motivating Residents for Positive Ratings and Reviews

Virginia Love, Waterton Residential

Peggy Hale, Morgan Properties

Greg Benson, Greystar Real Estate Partners

Josh McDonald, Holland Partner Group

Why Write a Positive Review?

Satisfied x Happy Emotions = Dissatisfied x Negative Emotions

Look for recurrent themes. • Staffing related comments

• Office hours

• Amenity related

• Grounds keeping

• Maintenance comments

• Rent comments

Content Impacts Operations

• Be where your customers are • Roadmap to improvement • Celebrate and replicate the

positive • Include in sales presentation

Marketing Impact

Showing Appreciation

Once an NFL Cheerleader proving with a 4.0 GPA they are not all dumb

blondes.

Josh McDonald Holland Partner Group

Factoid- Josh opened the 2006 3-day Sasquatch Music Festival with renditions of the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada in none other than a Sasquatch Costume and Canucks Jersey.

FACTOID • Successful Actor / Comedian

• World-Renowned Commercial Photographer

• College Professors

• International Financial Executives

• Engineers

• Finance Directors

• Me

Greg Benson

Morgan Properties’ Strategy

• 2009 Started Social Media Communities • 2010 Positive Review Cards & Resident Email

Requests • 2011 Managing Online Reputation • 2013 Satisfacts InSite

– Pre-renewal – Move In – Work Order – Unclosed Prospects

Property Teams’ Training

• Every Review or Comment Receives:

– Thanks

– Apologize

– Fix The Facts

– State Commitment To Make It Right

– Reinforce Culture Of Excellent Service

– Know When To Take Conversation “Off-Line”

Partner With Satisfacts First Half of 2013: • Rollout 4 point survey program in March • YTD company wide

– Unclosed Prospect: 4.19 out of 5 = Superior National Average = 4.04

– Move-In: 4.27 out of 5 = Superior National Average = 4.26

– Work Order: 4.18 out of 5 = Superior National Average = 4.27

– Pre-Renewal: 3.64 out of 5 = Average National Average = 3.74

Partner With Satisfacts

Second Half of 2013:

• Identify successes and opportunities at community level

• Identify best practices for improvement

• Map out an action plan for improvement – October & November at Regional Level Meetings

• Verified Resident Surveys populate ApartmentRatings.com

First Six Months of Surveys

• Total survey request sent: 77,733 events; 207,202 actual emails

• Total surveys completed: 8,949

• Total apartment ratings reviews posted: 4,403

Early Ratings Results

• Postings Per Property vs. Prior 12 Months: • Up 1571% per month

• Recommend Score: Up 66% • (from 42% to 71%)

• Satisfaction Score: Up 21% • (from 2.52 to 3.10)

Inside The Renter’s Head

• Why do your residents take the time to write comments and reviews?

Inside The Renter’s Head

“Super Hero Experience”

Inside The Renter’s Head

“Short & Sweet”

Inside The Renter’s Head

“I Love You . . . BUT”

Inside The Renter’s Head

“Mildly Disappointed”

Inside The Renter’s Head

“Tragic Failures”

Inside The Renter’s Head

“Chronic Basher”

Make Sure You Can Handle The Truth

Holland Partner Group 20,000 + Units

Seattle

Portland

Denver San Francisco

San Jose

Los Angeles

San Diego

‐ Monthly survey of 5% of resident base

‐ The Ultimate Question NPS

HCSI Drives Rent Increases and Resident Retention ‐ Properties with HCSI of 8.1 or greater oAverage rent increases of 6.8% oResident renewal rates of 46.5%

‐ Properties with HCSI of 6.5 to 8.0 oAverage rent increases of 4.8% oResident renewal rates of 32.3%

Holland Customer Service Index (HCSI)

HCSI Blue Print

Reputation Management

HCSI vs. Apartment Ratings

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HCSI and Apartment Ratings Scores are Correlated (0.44) Average Score & Average Rating over Peak Leasing Season 2013

Apr 1, 2013 - Sep 30, 2013

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Net Conversion Average

Stronger Apartment Ratings Scores mean Stronger Net Leasing Conversion Six Month Average Apartment Ratings Score and average six month property

net leasing conversion Correlated: .38

Ratings and Returns

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Six Mo. Avg. Apartment Rating

Stronger Ratings Equate to More Visits to the Community's Website Ratings Score vs. Click Through Percent

Six Month Peak Leasing Season Average: Apr-Sep '13 Correlated: .63

Ratings and Traffic

The Blue Print

• Many customers need prompting

• Refute negative feedback about something they love

• Generally be helpful to others and provide balance

Targeting the Silent Observers

The Balancing Act

Respond to all reviews to engage customers and influence perceptions. Does the community deliver on the service promise?

Differences Between Properties

• In program < 9 months • New to program

(lease up, takeover, new participant)

AWESOME!

Variables: • Starting approval percent • Number of units • Demographic • Survey and VRP program in place

• Program veteran • Seen the success / committed

Differences Between Properties

Property A

150 Units - Tax Credit Way Outside Denver

2 Reviews YTD

Property B

200 Units - Tax Credit Just Outside Denver

11 Reviews YTD

Property C

800 Units Upscale Baltimore Suburb

33 Reviews YTD 375 Reviews Since 2007

Property D

800 Units Tertiary Phoenix Suburb

6 Reviews YTD 40 Reviews Since 2009

Challenges

• Reporting Data separation of same store sales versus new participants

• Training Managing training verification for onsite teams with staff and property turnover

• Focus Maintaining focus at high level and property level

Making Progress

Clients, Corporate Leaders, Regional Mangers and Onsite Teams care and think

about reviews differently now

It’s amazing how such a “basic” idea like this can have such an impact and I have no doubt it has positively influenced leasing.

- Clay, Regional Real Estate Leader -

“THANK YOU for not raising rent--it had really been giving me heartburn thinking I was going to have to find somewhere else when I’m so happy where I’m at. Also, kudos to you for responding. I’m a communications strategist and work a lot in social, and am impressed with your efforts to change CPW’s online reputation--you seem to be headed in the right direction.”

- Kate - (One resident who helped balance the resident blog dedicated to our broken fire alarms)

The Value of Positive Feedback