How Would You Handle This Facebook Update Disaster?

My apartment industry friend, Leigh Curry from Curry Conduit Services, Inc., posted this on Facebook this morning:

What would you have done if this were your community Facebook page?

Here’s what others had to say:

And now, this is what I would’ve advised, had the community been my client:

1. Thank the resident for their feedback and award he/she with the prize – they did win, after all!
2. Have the resident schedule a visit to the office and discuss their list of concerns – be calm, laugh it off if the situation warrants it, and be understanding.
3. Make all possible improvements – give a deadline for construction, see if you can start construction work at 8 am, fix the elevators, and provide window coverings if available or recommend reasonably priced window covering options.
4. Ask that the resident follow up on the update with positive comments once the issues were resolved to their satisfaction Perhaps something like “Thanks for fixing all of those issues!” and ask them to state why they love living at the community (only if they really do once these issues are fixed.)
5. Prepare a procedure for responding to future negative commentary.

On one of my favorite t.v. shows, the star always says ”Never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.” The same can be said for your Facebook status updates! The moral of the story is to A. ask easy-to-answer questions and B. respond politely and professionally to negative commentary online.

What would you do differently?

Stay tuned for Monday’s upcoming post for ideas on what to post on your community Facebook page: “How To Get More Facebook Comments, Likes and Shares.”

Tagged as: Facebook, status updates, unhappy resident

http://twitter.com/JasmineRBrooks Jasmine R. Brooks

Haha, wow! Although you can never satisfy EVERY resident, A property or not, I NEVER suggest that properties with challenges use Facebook. We have a property in the middle of renovations now. The manager wanted to use Facebook and I suggested that she wait until the renovations were done. Otherwise, people will probably complain about the noise, which is exactly what has happened here.

Well, well, well!

http://www.sociallyengagedmarketing.com CharityHisle

So true Jasmine. There is a right and a wrong time to post open-ended questions. Perhaps this community is using a 3rd party provider that didn’t know about the construction?

Kelle

Just the courtesy of the follow up from the management should gain significant respect. Likely, this resident posted as such “expecting” not to hear back – or to just have the comments deleted. I’d would be great to see if after the resolution, the resident posts a more positive comment….perhaps the management will have the nerve to ask for such a post considering the outcome of the solution.

http://www.sociallyengagedmarketing.com CharityHisle

I hope they handle it right! This is a real opportunity to shine.

http://www.markjuleen.com Mark Juleen

This is a tough one. Responding on fb can sometimes set off more issues or feedback. It’s best to address these things off of fb and direct people to email or face to face from my experience. A real conversation one to one can allow you to somewhat joke with the resident and be real with them. I’m sure there are good explanations for all of these things, and sometime the residents just want to be “in the know”. Thanks for sharing Charity.

How Would You Handle This Facebook Disaster?