Tricks or Treats...What is your community known for?

Reputations...we all have one. Our communities have one. So what is yours? Do you even know? What do your residents, community neighbors and competitors really think of your community? If you don't know, then it's time to figure it out!

Reputation is huge in such a competitve industry. The word around town can certainly sway a potential renter to one direction or another. So how do you get them to sway your way? First off, you need to find out what people really think of your community and get a really good handle on where you stand. Here are some great ways you can do this...

• Create a resident survey. Make it anonymous to get the most accurate results. Encourage your residents to be honest about their likes and dislikes and give them an opportunity to offer suggestions for improvement.
• Create an exit survey and send it along with your deposit refunds when a resident moves out. Again, ask for their likes, dislikes and suggestions.
• Browse the internet. Look to sites like Apartment Ratings to see what people are saying about your community. A quick Google search will lead you to sech reviews.
• Look into local websites like City-Data.com. Do a forum search to see if there are any conversations started about your community. If not, feel free to start one, but be careful not to set the tone for the responses. Just a simple "What do you think of XYZ Apartments" will do.
• Mystery shop your competitors to see what they're saying about you. Mention to the leasing agent that you're also looking at XYZ Apartments and see what they have to say about your community.
• Visit your neighbors. Stop into businesses, catch neighborhood residents when they're outside...introduce yourself and see what kind of reaction you'll get. Get a feel for how well known your community is. Ask them if they have any questions. Some people will be pretty straightforward and share concerns if they have them.

Once you've established what your reputation is, you need a plan of attack. Look at all of your research and find the trends. Obviously, you want your reputation to be good, so the key is to play up your strengths and try to correct your weeknesses. For example, if people love your beautiful grounds and friendly staff, really make it a point to include those things as a part of all of your advertising and sales pitches. If people think you raise rates too much or have issues with parking, then find a way to work on those things to make them less of an issue.

The bottom line is that you want to be known as the community with the beautiful grounds and friendly staff when people talk about you, not the community that raises rates and where you can't find a parking space. Make your "treats" stand out and keep your "tricks" to a minimum! Taking the time to be aware of how your community is perceived can go a long way to keep your community occupied and your owners happy!

Morgan Oney, CAM

http://www.mynewsletterconnection.com/

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