A panel of marketers shared their experiences with making the most from online resident reviews during a session at the 2016 NAA Education Conference & Exposition, moderated by Veronica Romney of Entrata.

“Today’s society represents the most opinionated group of consumers in the history of the planet,” Romney says. “Where there once was social media and review sites, those two entities are now combined. Reviews are everywhere. You can’t hide from them.”

Romney shared results from a recent national resident survey that showed 43 percent of respondents felt that a community with a “3” rating on a five-star scale was too low for them to consider it.

Romney’s survey revealed that Facebook was the most popular review platform. She adds that Instagram showed the greatest disparity between resident comments and property management responses. “Because Instagram is not yet accessible via a desktop, apartment professionals are less able to interact on it,” she says.

“You don’t just respond to reviews, you have to learn from them,” says WC Smith’s Holli Beckman. “You will get your crazy residents who will write crazy things, but you have to realize that technology (the ability to post a review instantly) will not affect their morality.”

Michelle Moriello of WinnResidential says resident reviews suggested street traffic through a military housing area was too dangerous. In response, it built a few speed bumps.

Sara Graham of Dolben says it’s important to equip and encourage staff to solicit reviews from residents “even if they are good, bad or ugly.”

For those not-so-flattering remarks, Graham says that it’s best to handle a delicate situation in person, meaning the review response can simply be a customer-friendly invitation to discuss the issue.

“Sometimes it’s best to take conversations offline and into the office,” she said. “Very seldom are you going to find a solution online, so you want to speak with the resident and uncover the root cause.”