Yelp

Yelp is supposed to provide an accurate reflection of the average satisfaction rating of a company’s client base. A user can optionally spend time reading the individually posted reviews, but the company’s overall rating should be a fair and balanced representation of the opinions of their clients.

For certain types of businesses, in certain industries, Yelp does not provide a fair representation and tends to accumulate mainly negative reviews. Why is this?

The reason is logical and is based on human behavior. Few people find condominium management to be an entertaining or sexy topic. Writing about your experience with your condo management provider is far less exciting than sharing feedback about a new restaurant, bar or theater.

“I feel like writing a review about how much I value my Association’s management company”, is unfortunately not a thought that naturally occurs in the minds of most residents. A disgruntled resident, however, is much more likely to post a review. It is natural to vent frustrations and want to negatively impact a company when a person feels wronged. Yelp provides residents with a perfect outlet to do just that.

The result is that a disproportionate number of an affected company’s reviews will be biased towards negative feedback and may provide an inaccurate view of the company.

Many residents assume that as the “management company” we make all decisions that govern the Association. In fact, from both a legal and contractual perspective, each Association’s elected Board of Directors maintains complete authority over the governance of the community and the making of all key decisions. We provide the Board with ongoing guidance, recommendations and advice, but all decisions must be made by the Board of Directors as a matter of Illinois law.

Our team has no ability to hire/fire vendors or to incur any costs on behalf of the Association without the Board’s approval. We likewise have no ability to levy fines against a unit owner, waive late fees, or perform other related actions that may impact a unit owner without the Board’s explicit instructions.

The Board retaining decision making authority over the Association is a positive aspect of our service and is exactly what Board members want and need. The downside, however, is that misinformed residents often blame Connected if they disagree with a Board’s decisions (or lack thereof).

Only one of these “reputations” can represent the quality of the company. With all clients free to cancel at any time, a “2 Star” company would presumably be losing clients in a rapid fashion. You would also expect a poor rating with the Better Business Bureau and other indicators of a company in decline.

In fact, Connected Management continues to be one of the fastest growing management firms in Chicago with a 97% annual client retention. We have maintained the A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau since 2008. We are one of the most well regarded real estate firms in Chicago with a stellar reputation.

These two seemingly opposite reputations cannot both be accurate.