It’s 5:00 am and I am thinking about open conversation with prospects, residents and vendors. Just this week, to speak to the point, we had some great dialog with Jeremy, the GM from apartmentratings.com. It’s this conversation that got me thinking about the next feedback medium.
The sites like Yelp.com and apartmentratings.com and blogs in general are great places for starting and carrying on conversation. Would it not be even more engaging to carry that conversation to a real time platform like Twitter? You think company heads are scared of social media just wait until that conversation goes live. It’s one thing to do customer service over the telephone or even in person. What happens when a resident, prospect or vendor prefers to have that conversation over Twitter for the whole world to see? It’s not like you can say no. If you do they will start the conversation without you. And, the conversation will likely be an adverse one. Talk about game changing. It will require a whole new level of professionalism and tact. It jazzes me to think about it.
If marketing really is a conversation and expectations are rising all the time then suffice it to say Twitter or something like it is the next avenue. Maybe there is a day where apartmentratings.com or a site like it employees a real time conversation platform. What do you think?
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Who will be expected to communicate with the residents? Are we creating new positions in our industry? Will the companies that create these positions and maximize the online communications set the benchmark? All questions that have me overwhelmed. I can hardly keep up with Twitter for myself personally.
Mark,
Thank you, as always, for the feedback. Your questions are great ones. I think, as with all things new, it will be a process. I think that the companies who embrace it early and are okay with failing often will get a leg up on the comps.
I think the whole process in and of itself is a perfect opportunity to grow some loyal fans. If PM leaders are transparent and authentic, especially in the building phase, then they will by default create a great WOM opportunity.
To speak to the point of time, I think it will be incumbent upon leaders to start an internal conversation now. Get some resident, prospects and vendors involved in that conversation. I do think it will require a brand manager with a team of call center like talent. I don’t use the word talent lightly either. This is a whole new caliber of customer service agent. They must be conversation specialist. Sharp in wit and charming of tongue. That is not to suggest they are manipulators but trust and rapport builders.
It is sure to be very interesting.
Mark and Mike,
I have a little different opinion. No additional positions are required and no additional procedures are required. the conversation must included EVERYONE in the organization. We do not go around now wondering who is supposed to communicate to the resident when the phone rings, just answer the phone. On line and Social Media platforms should be no different. Executives, business owners and the like need to get past the fear of controlling the message, and this need not be all that complicated.
I agree to a point. To borrow a phrase from Malcolm Gladwell, we will reach a tipping point where we have to many mediums going at the same time. I think that is Mark’s main point. I would not disagree that from top to bottom it is everyone’s job to respond. It will just become information overload.
Think about it like this:
We have phones
We have fax machines
We have IMs
We have real time availabilty
We have email
We have residents
We have vendors
We have prospects
We have text messaging
We have Twitter
We have Myspace
We have Facebook
We have blogs
We have RSS feeds
The list goes on but the point is that every one of these mediums going at the same time pours a ton of information in our face. And all of it is important. At some point, quality, authenticity, transparency, acknowledgement, apologies and actions become dulled by the roar of quantity.
I agree with you, to a point. Twitter has inherent problems, mainly the 140 character limit. I think that while Twitter helps with sending out informational ‘soundbites’ (which is what Twitter has somewhat morphed into) it would be a bit too limiting for a real-time conversation between a resident and a management company representative.
As for ApartmentRatings.com, I am not a real fan of that site. Sadly, that site has always been more of a ‘b-I’ve got an – itch’ center for residents and not really a ratings platform. Let’s face it – most residents who go to ApartmentRatings have very little to say that is positive. And clearly, there are many happy residents out there. To call ApartmentRatings even close to a marketing conversation is to do a disservice to social media in general.
Perhaps a better way would be to have a monthly chat forum for residents and staff to discuss issues of importance. Yes, you’ll get those who just want to complain, but at least the management will have an opportunity in an open forum to present their side of the story. And it will not be a limited conversational venue, such as Twitter.
Again, I see your point, Mike. And I appreciate you starting the conversation.
Just my two cents.
LT
Here’s a quick update to my post. Ratings sites need honesty and transparency. ApartmentRatings simply doesn’t have that. As I stated earlier, the vast majority of their ratings are negative. It’s estimated at well over 80% of their ratings are NOT positive. Let’s compare this to Yelp, another ratings site. Here is how their ratings break down:
5 Star: 32%
4 Star: 35%
3 Star: 18%
2 Star: 8%
1 Star: 7%
I think this is more in line with what true ‘marketing conversation’ sites are designed to be.
I guess that now means I have contributed my three cents.
LT
LT – First, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to comment not once but twice. Moreover, thank you for taking the time to research the numbers as they demonstrate a valuable point with regard to authenticity and transparency.
I think our industry is ripe for open conversation and I look forward to participating in it.
Hey, what can I say? I believe in fast, professional follow up and I’ve got to put my money where my mouth is, right?
LT
Follow up IS everything 🙂
As to apartment ratings I have found a good use for it in what I do. I always tell my people to check them out before I send them to a site. You have to take the thing with a whole shaker full of salt, BUT it does give them some ideas of possible complaints that could come in, leasing objections to overcome and sometimes it tells them that there’s someone difficult in that office they might want to lay low from.
It doesn’t always work, but I’ve had pretty decent success from it. Clients say our people are more well prepared than some others they’ve seen.
As far as the pinnacle of property management social media goes though…yes, highly laughable
Mike-
Yes, you hit it right on the head with “Tipping Point.” We really have to evaluate which forms of communication are most relevant to maximizing productivity of the leasing agent or community managers. Do I want our leasing teams strapped to their computers waiting for the next tweet? No way!
While each organization is different in size and may not be able to create specific positions to handle new media, we may need to reevaluate the job descriptions and responsibilities of our teams. The other challenge we come across at the site level is expertise. We all understand that our site teams are not cookie cutter imitations of each other. Some individuals may catch on to new technology faster than others, while some may not embrace it entirely. This doesn’t mean that some are no longer useful to your team, but each site will need individuals that “champion” new technology.
For example, we have a manager that has been in the industry for nearly 30 years and with J.C. Hart for 15 of those 30. She has told me that some of the social media, software upgrades, etc. have been a bit overwhelming at times. Just 4 years ago this same lady won the Manager of the Year award for the Indiana Apartment Association. She is great at her job and loves what she does, but for me as her manager I have to help her lead with her strengths for the best productivity. Her “tipping point” for technology is different than some of the younger managers we have, and that is fine. We’ve matched her with an assistant that embraces the social media sites and it works for them.
These are just new challenges for spreading the work load. I’m not suggesting that every company go out and hire a social media specialist, but as organizations grow and as online conversations grow it is something we need to keep our eye on and insure someone is constantly monitoring.