The Review Game

Oftentimes, management companies are the bearer of bad news. A homeowner who is unhappy with the response they receive can then turn around and write a scathing online review, you’ve all probably seen them: “this management company charges egregious late fees and continually raises dues! 1 star!” So, what are you to do? Management companies can address administrative mistakes or internal personnel issues, but when someone else (the Association, the BOD, the Committee, the Vendor, etc.) is making decisions that an Owner or Resident doesn't like, the management company is often the messenger who gets shot.

Everything management companies do in Association management boils down to executing the decisions, policies, and procedures of the Association. Properly executing those directives should translate to 5-star reviews regardless if the directive is positive or negative. But that is not always the case within our industry where the Association and management company are often seen as the same entity to the homeowners. Furthermore, a disgruntled homeowner usually cannot or will not post a negative review of their Association.

So how can a management company differentiate itself from the Associations they manage and how can that difference be conveyed to Owners and Residents?

A good way to reinforce the difference between the Association and Management is to train staff to reiterate that the authority for decisionmaking, policy setting, and approvals/denials are typically up to the Board or Committee. For example, change “Thanks for your ACC Request. We’ll let you know once a decision has been made” to “Thanks for your ACC Request. While our company does not have the authority to approve requests, we have sent it on to the Committee for review and will let you know as soon as they have made a decision.”

One of the management company’s primary roles is to be a communication channel between homeowners and the Board and/or Committee. Everything else management companies do hinges upon that basic function. So prompt and clear communication should always be a top priority. Management companies can facilitate and document communication between homeowners and the Board, and that role should be clear to homeowners. When the management company’s role is properly defined and communicated to the homeowners and residents, there is usually an understanding that the management company is doing and has done everything within its power and authority to help them, which is what most Owners and Residents want at the end of the day.

But clear communication is not always enough, there are still people that leave their management company negative reviews. This can be particularly frustrating since those online reviews may be a big consideration for prospective clients researching management companies. So how can management companies combat this and prove that they do a great job? The answer is simpler than you’d think: just ask.

Frustrated customers (in any industry) are all too eager to jump online and vent about a bad experience anywhere they can. But the satisfied customers, the 99% of people you touch every single day, do not. So it just comes down to asking those satisfied customers to share their experience. To be clear, no one wants to be the company that pesters anyone who contacts their office to leave an online review. Work your staff to develop a system to request reviews from customers, vendors, etc. If you streamline the process with a review email or even text message, you can further increase your conversion on these good reviews and begin increasing your average rating.

So to summarize:

1) Clarify 2) Communicate 3) Ask

Adam Clark, CMCA®, AMS® Chief Operating Officer Excel Association Management, Inc. 972.881.7488 www.excelam.com