1. BEST PRACTICES IN
RENTAL
MARKETING ISSUE 02.07
HOW TO MANAGE YOUR ONLINE
RENTAL REAL ESTATE REPUTATION
Your reputation is fragile. A positive reputation can business. Renters want trustworthy and honest brokers
take months or years to establish, but can be tainted that are looking out for the best interest of the renter. One
overnight if you don’t consistently monitor your online negative comment about your services can cost you their
presences and the buzz around your name. If you’re not business.
careful, a negative reputation can cause you to lose You can lose thousands of dollars. A poor
thousands of dollars. reputation can cause you to lose thousands of dollars in
Reputations directly affect a professional’s success. It commissions. Let’s assume an agent gains $800 in
could be the single factor that determines whether or not a commission per lease. Deterring one renter per month for
renter signs a lease. You need to be concerned about how a year could cost you up to $9,600 dollars in lost
you’re portrayed in the online rental community because
your reputation is permanent, encourages renters to work
with you, and lets you learn what you need to improve on.
However, your reputation isn’t only under your control;
it’s also in the hands of renters. Renters are talking about
your business, sharing experiences, and influencing other
renters both online and offline. While negative criticism
Your
can’t be erased, you can still salvage your image and
convey a respectable, considerate professional.
Renters are looking to work with the most honest and
Reputation
credible people in the rental industry. In this guide, you’ll
learn how to build, protect, maintain, and monitor your
reputation. A poor reputation can make or break your
career, so it’s worth every ounce of your effort.
What is your reputation worth?
A reputation is more than how you’re recognized and
judged by renters – it’s your crux to receiving more
Photo: GuySie (Flickr)
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2. business. Unless you’re willing to risk thousands in
potential profit, reputation management is a must.
Renters want honest brokers. Renters don’t want “When working with a
to give their business to dishonest rental professionals.
According to a RentJuice study of renter preferences,
rental professional, the
40 percent of renters said that honesty is the most trait I value most is their...”
important quality they look for in a rental professional.
This means that if a prospective renter feels any level of
dishonesty with a rental professional, they’ll move on to
find someone they will trust. Honesty 40%
A trusting renter is worth a future sale. Renters Access To Apartments 19.2%
who work with you could also be your next home sale.
“Over 90 percent of my sales come from rentals,” said Local Knowledge 10%
Robert Scott, a Boston real estate broker. “If you
Inventory Knowledge 14.2%
nurture that client, they’re going to come back to you
and keep coming back. They’ll look to a realtor to guide Commission 16.7%
them when they need to eventually buy a house.” A
trusting renter will have confidence in you managing
their future housing transactions. Letting your Research conducted by RentJuice, 2011.
reputation fall by the wayside could risk you losing a
future sale.
professional one if you want to generate business.
Jumpstarting your reputation. LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. If
renters try to find you on LinkedIn and you’re not there,
they may question your credibility. Add authority to your
Whatever your reputation may be, it’s never too late to
profile by including your company, associations, and work
give your image a boost. Use the internet to start a
experience. This will qualify you as an authoritative source
positive buzz or conversation around your name. “Word-
when renters seek a professional with expertise and
of-mouth is now a public conversation, carried
experience in rentals.
on in blog comments and customer
Start a Yelp business account. Renters are
reviews,” said Chris Anderson, editor-in- If you nurture
influenced by the experiences their peers had
chief of Wired magazine. To get that client, they’re
with rental professionals. Yelp is a great place
conversation started about you, become going to come back
for consumers to read reviews to help make
active in the online rental community. to you and keep
decisions on where to give their business. Start
Launch a blog. A blog establishes coming back.
or “claim” your business Yelp account to monitor
you as an experienced professional in
what people are saying. Once launched, direct
rentals and real estate. Posting frequently adds
renters to the page to share their positive experiences
to your personality, making you personable and relatable.
with you.
Your blog will not only make you a thought leader in the
Be part of the community. Be a helpful local rental
industry, but it will also move your blog up in page rank in
professional. Offer your advice to renters asking questions
Google’s search results, increasing the chances of a renter
about rentals on websites, public forums, and social
finding your business in their online search.
media. Responding to people in your local community
Create your LinkedIn profile. If you’re going to start
about rentals will boost your credibility and portray you as
any social media presence online, it better be a
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3. a good, helpful rental professional. Prospective renters rentals and the local community on the website,
who see your responses will feel that you’re a trustworthy, establishing yourself as a credible resource for renters.
knowledgeable professional. Shape how you want renters to see you by creating an
“about” page on your business, including your
qualifications and experience. Renter testimonials on your
Protect your reputation.
website also serves as social proof that renters enjoy
working with you. Your successful rental website will rank
Not all renters will have glowing comments and high, causing any negative information to appear lower in
reviews about you. Don’t worry, all isn’t lost. While your Google’s search results.
first inclination is to try to remove their comments from the Positively respond to negative reviews. Use public
internet, chances are, you’re not going to be able to. You relations to repair a tainted image. When you find negative
can, however, make these reviews less likely to be seen by online reviews on a place like Yelp or a message thread,
future renters. respond to it. Building a positive reputation must be
Push down negative information. The only way to earned and is dependent on how you engage with renters’
remove negative online information is to create more feedback Chris Anderson argued. “It’s the way your values
positive online content to overtake it. Use your blog and are transmitted,” he said. Responding to a renter’s
website frequently, and generate new content on a regular criticism well presents you as a positive and personable
basis. For example, writing on your blog everyday will professional. Respond to negative comments by using
cause your posts to appear higher in search engine results four essential components: listen, empathy, resolution, and
over time. Consistently publishing new content online will an open line of communication.
make it more difficult for your negative content to rank in Listen to your renters. You can’t properly address a
online search results. renter’s problem or situation if you don’t hear out their
Start a rental website. Owning a website with lots of concerns. You’d never know if more than one renter could
traffic gives you an authoritative, professional image and feel the same way about you. Listening to renter’s
appears higher in search results. Share your expertise in
How to Respond to
Negative Criticism from Renters
Step 1: Listen to your renters.
Step 2: Show empathy.
Step 3: Offer a resolution.
Step 4: Open up communication lines.
Graphic by: secretlondon
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4. concerns will help you better assess your business and with previously by e-mail. Ask them how their move-in was
how to resolve issues with frustrated renters. and how they’re enjoying their new apartment. A couple of
Show empathy. Frustrated renters don’t want to be months before the lease ends, ask them if you could help
argued with. Your perspective doesn’t matter as much as them find a new property. In fact, according to our study of
frustrations. Renters posting negative comments online renters, 55.8 percent want rental professionals to check up
about you are looking to vent and share their issues. on them when the lease expires. This method shows you
Empathize by showing them understanding. Tell them, “I care about their well-being and keeps renters working with
understand why you would be upset with this issue, you.
because if I were in your shoes, I would, Ask for referrals. Positive referrals from previous
too.” This shows you see their side, and renters are great for creating a positive buzz around
you understand their pains. your name. Dr. Vince Nowinski, researcher and
When customer
Offer a resolution. It’s expert in customer satisfaction and loyalty at
experiences are
important to let renters know you eBay, said, “When customer experiences are
positive - and loyalty is
hear their problems, value their high - we expect customers positive—and loyalty is high—we expect
input, and are proactive in to spend more on average customers to spend more on average and to
resolving the issues. Offer and to generate new generate new business via positive word-of-
frustrated renters a solution or business via positive mouth.” Encourage renters who had a great
compensation for their troubles. For word-of mouth. experience with you to share your information
example, offer a discount on your with friends and family. If renters have good things
broker fees the next time the renter is to say about you, you’re more likely to generate more
apartment searching. Renters will appreciate the gesture business from their network.
and will remember you on a warmer note.
Open up communication lines. Sometimes, you have
to leave the door open for someone to approach you.
Clearly state that you’re open to talk about the matter, and
tackle any more unresolved issues. For instance, you can “After I move into my new
say, “I’m more than happy to talk about this and resolve it apartment, I'd like my
as soon as possible. I truly value your opinion and always
welcome feedback. E-mail me at brenda@realestate.com.” rental professional
Encouraging them to talk to you shows you’re proactive in to check up on me...”
renter satisfaction.
Maintain your positive image. Every Month 1.7%
Once your reputation takes the high road, continually
Every 3 Months 13.3%
work to keep it positive. The stronger your presence is, the
Every 6 Months 29.2%
harder it is to take down. When working with renters, make
their renting experience less daunting, and they’ll be sure
When Lease Expires 55.8%
to spread the word on who’s the best to work with in
rentals.
Check in on your renters. Renters know you’re only Research conducted by RentJuice, 2011.
getting them to sign a lease for their money if they never
hear from you again. Follow up with renters you worked
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5. from having to manually search your name regularly.
Search for positive and negative words. To find out
what renters are saying about you, Google positive and
negative words with your name. For example, search for
“Daniel Matthews at Amazing Realty sucks” and “Daniel
Matthews at Amazing Realty rocks.” If the search results
show favor to one attitude over the other, you’ll know
how most renters feel about you.
Analyze the sentiments of your company. Your
company’s reputation is just as important as yours.
Renters won’t only be searching for information on you,
but they’re also looking for information about your
company. Renters that come across unflattering
information about your company won’t work with you
based on association. If this is the case, your company
needs to take the time to repair its image just as you’ve
taken the time to monitor your own online reputation.
Screenshot taken from Google.com.
Monitor what people are saying.
Get your rental marketing
One negative comment online could influence up to speed.
hundreds of potential renters, so you need to keep
reputation on your radar. Constantly track of what people • Start using social media in 4-weeks.
are saying about you so that you can quickly stop any
negative perceptions of you from spreading. • Launch a successful rental division in 7 steps.
Set up Google Alerts. Google Alerts allow you to • Learn what’s most important to renters.
receive e-mails every time there’s new content on a topic.
• Gain more leads from your online listings.
Create a Google Alert for your full name and company,
and choose how frequently you want to be sent e-mails. Get these free guides and more at:
Any new information on you that’s published on the RentJuice.com/resources
internet will go straight to your inbox, saving you time
About RentJuice
RentJuice is a platform that helps you market
and lease your rental availabilities.
Thousands of leasing agents use RentJuice
daily to track and market their vacancies to 130 Battery St. - 6th Floor
prospective tenants. San Francisco, CA 94111
(877) 21-JUICE
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