Reviews earned the right way
When I started, the company had 24 Google reviews. I built an automated feedback loop around the moments when tenants and owners actually had something to say: a survey after every move-in and move-out, a regular owner survey, answers gathered in one place, and a review request that followed. Over seven years reviews grew to 215, and because we asked everyone, not just the happiest people, they reflect genuine experiences.
The problem
People choose a property manager, and a place to live, partly on what others say online. With 24 reviews the company had very little to show, and we had no regular way of hearing from tenants and owners before they decided to leave a review on their own.
Constraints
Reviews have to be genuine
Google's rules limit how you can ask, and anything that looks bought can hurt more than it helps.
A small team
Asking had to happen automatically, at the right moment, without someone remembering to do it.
Two audiences
Tenants and owners have different experiences and different moments worth asking about.
How the feedback loop works
Client happiness was part of my role, and I wanted it to run on its own rather than depend on someone remembering to ask. So I connected the moments that already happened in our systems to a survey, a place to read the answers, and a review request.
- Triggered by real events. When a tenant moved in or out, the survey email went out without anyone having to send it, and owners heard from us on a regular survey cycle.
- One place to listen. Every response from move-in, move-out and owner surveys landed in the same Airtable base, with a happiness dashboard I built so the team could see how people were feeling and where things went wrong.
- Private feedback first, public review second. People told us about their experience in the survey, and the review request came after, when they'd just thought it through.
- Measured, not guessed. Reviews were one of the KPIs I owned, and a daily Google Business sync brought the numbers in automatically.
Key decisions
Listen before asking for a review.
I set up regular feedback surveys for tenants and owners, so we heard about problems directly and could fix them.
Let the survey lead to the review.
The review request was built into the end of the feedback emails, so people were asked right after they'd thought about their experience.
Make people feel looked after, not marketed to.
Tenant welcome packages, owner holiday cards and handwritten welcome letters for new owners.
Give everyone the chance to share.
Everyone who completed a survey got the same simple invitation to share their experience publicly, in their own words, whatever they thought. More chances to give feedback meant more honest reviews, and a clearer picture for us.