Every now and again, you get an up close and personal example of various life events. Yesterday was one of those regarding Social Media and the Power is exudes. We have been yammering about the power that the Residents/Customer has today with all of the various means and methods to be heard, yet if it hasn’t happened to you, it seems like someone else’s problem. It won’t happen to You/Your Property/Your Company, No Dell Hell here, right,………………………., well in due time, it likely will. My old boss, turned mentor Jonathan Holtzman, Chairman of Village Green Companies had one of many sayings, but one that has stuck with me is “Do you have first hand information” and to him, if it wasn’t first hand information, it wasn’t credible. Well, my story here is First hand Information, so I hope you find it credible.
Perhaps some of you heard about the incident at the Obama Rally in Detroit a few days ago, and then what unfolded yesterday, within less than a few hours, the story had spread all over the country, regarding two Muslim females not being allowed to sit in camera view during the rally. The story here is not the point; the point is the person who created the original thread and the blog posts just before lunch yesterday was one of our residents. He is a quite sort, stops into our office to see us regularly, and is by no means a radical type person; However, he was outraged and was going to be heard regarding what had happen. And heard he was, by the end of the day yesterday his blog posts were picked by CNN, USA Today, Rush Limbaugh and the Today Show, along with being all over the internet and political blogs. Now, the topic here is certainly highly energized, however if you think that your Resident/Customer won’t follow a similar route if you aren’t listening to them and or their problem, you are in denial and folly. The collateral damage from not listening will be significant.
The real point here is this, Do not fear Problems, they are opportunities wrapped differently, BUT moreover, Do Not Avoid them, Residents/Customers/Consumers today will be heard, so Listen, Engage, Embrace this new media and what it offers. Become as transparent as you can, address the residents issues, and when you do, that energy is redirected and you can actually create Resident Evangelists,
6 Responses
GREAT post, Eric, and I totally agree. Anybody who has been in this industry long enough should have realized by now that a very upset resident can turn into a very happy resident in very little time if you take the time to listen and, if possible, act on their behalf. I have seen residents’ anger just melt away without me saying one word – just by listening to their problem. The only problem was that they didn’t always show me the anger directly – sometimes they just stewed on it and never bothered to tell us. Of course, those residents inevitably move out. Not every angry resident approaches the office, and if you don’t know the issues your residents are facing, it is virtually impossible to address those issues.
That is why social media gives new avenues to learn more about our residents – what they are happy with and what they aren’t so happy with. Having this knowledge gives us infinitely more options to give great service to our residents. Even though we may not be able to satisfy all their concerns, don’t you want the option to do so?
I think there is a statistic that says a person receiving bad service or who is outraged about something will on average tell 12 other people who will then each tell two more people. A person who is happy with something or who receives great service with only tell two people and each of those will maybe tell one more. This is a classic case of that. This is exactly why when I train my leasing consultants, I always tell them that they want to make sure that what people are saying about them is always good news, because you can’t ever stop that speeding train of bad PR.
Brent, Thanks for the comment,
I completely agree with you, in that the real tragedy occurs when the resident goes silent, and to your point, then move out and we all wonder why, what happened, and then to make matter worst, spend lots of resources looking for new residents as opposed to cultivating relationships with the existing residents we have
Heather, Thank you for taking the time to read the post and comment,
You are exactly right, and one thing that Social Media will help us with is the ability to go to various sites and “listen” to what people are saying. Although that is a whole other blog topic, there are companies spending huge resources to “listen” via twitter, technorotti, del.icio.us, etc to what their customers are saying about their product offering.
Too, I wanted to add that “Listening to your Residents Problem” doesn’t mean you always agree. I absolutely Do Not think or subscribe to the theory that the customer is always right. The whole point of Social Media, is, you have an opportunity to Engage, which is where the treasure lies for those brave enough to take the trek
Eric, the issue of “the customer is always right” would be a GREAT blog topic. I agree completely that this is a potentially harmful practice, which promotes undercutting your onsite team, creates resentment from the non-squeaky wheel residents who didn’t get the beneficial treatment because they didn’t complain, and a host of other issues.
Brent, Thank you for the comments and thoughts on the subject matter.
I agree that a blog post on the topic of The Customer isn’t Always Right is in order, as it gets confused with Social Media and Customer Listening. I think there are ways to properly train staff on what is right and what is not right what is OK and what is not OK. Southwest has done an outstanding job of training and empowering their employees about this topic. While a Southwest employee will go to great lengths to fix a problem, they also will cork a customer that is out of line.