The Challenge
When Frederick Fret started as Operations Manager at WPD Management in March of 2017, the company had 14 reviews and a 2.2 star rating. Before applying for the position, he assumed WPD Management didn’t care about their reputation. “The only thing I can do is assume you don’t take care of tenants, which wasn’t the truth.” said Frederick. After accepting the position and assuming responsibility for more than 3,000 units on the south side of Chicago, Frederick realized how poorly WPD’s online reputation reflected reality.
The Solution
Determined to update WPD Management’s online presence, Frederick looked to Podium. “I was working with another company that used Podium, and I saw how easy it was to use and to train people on it.” Frederick created a friendly competition between property managers to see who could get the most online reviews—taking full advantage Podium’s leaderboard. “I think in the first month we got 200 reviews.” he said. This skyrocketed WPD’s online reputation to accurately show just how much they care about their tenants and employees. “Podium allows you to give the people you service the opportunity to be your biggest marketing tool.”
The Result
Frederick came into his position at WPD understanding how important it is to show tenants you care. “If you’re a great people manager, then you’re going to be a great property manager. Podium allows us to do that because it gives us the one thing that everyone wants more of—communication.” While Frederick’s original challenge was low quantity and quality of reviews, he’s found numerous opportunities to show WPD cares through Podium’s messaging tool. “If we care about the tenants, that means we care about our employees,” said Frederick, “and Podium helps us set that standard.”
