Using Reviews When Comparing Property Management Softwares
Reviews of property management software aren’t like most product reviews.
Knowing where to look and what to look for can be a huge help in your search for the right property management tool for your business.
Choosing the right property management software takes time and a keen eye.
The ubiquitous nature of technology in today’s world means that there are a lot of options.
As you do your research, you want to understand the pros and cons of all the platforms you consider. You want to know about the core features and the secondary features.
Reviews help you understand what people who have experience with the tools, and organizations that have taken time with the tools, think about those tools.
When you find reliable reviews that paint an accurate picture of a platform, it empowers you in the decision-making process.
So, let’s look at how to properly use reviews when comparing property management software options.
Start Simple
Keep it simple in the beginning. Just go to Google and delve into the reviews your search yields.
You want to start by getting the lay of the land. What seems to be the general consensus? Are you seeing the same concerns over and over from different reviews regarding the platform? Do people find the platform easy to use and intuitive? Getting a general idea about a platform before diving in can help set the stage. You can get an immediate sense of what people think of the product and how useful it is.
Be sure to read negative and positive reviews if you can. Rarely is a product completely awful or one hundred percent perfect. By reading a variety of reviews, you can begin to get the full story on the platform and its features.
Find Reliable Sources
Finding reliable sources is the only way to make an informed decision on property management software.
Some sites will publish anything and lack quality control. Stay away from these sites. You cannot trust an organization that doesn’t vet information and demand quality.
A couple of signs that a website may lack quality control include incentives for placement or positioning, no identification verification, and copious amounts of poorly written reviews that don’t make sense. Keep an eye out for these signs and anything else that makes it difficult for you to trust the site.
Also, make sure to keep an eye out for bias. Make sure the sites you’re visiting don’t have a reason to cater to specific property management software. Avoid sites that are trying to sell to you. You want to find reviews that give a fair shake to every platform they review.
Sites like G2 and Capterra have great reputations because they take stringent measures to ensure only high-quality reviews get published. These are the kinds of sites you want to use for your research.
TrustPilot is less strict, but it is trusted by Google and therefore can be a good source for comparison as well.
Other sites may be helpful in your search as well. The key is to carefully examine every site and make sure they have measures in place to only share legitimate reviews.
Find Quality Comparison Reviews
Now that you have a general sense of peoples’ experiences and feelings toward different property management software platforms, you can dig further. By finding review sites that use scoring systems, you can directly compare competitors.
After you find a site, start by understanding the scoring system and how it measures platforms. Is it on a five-point scale? How are points awarded? Are different features weighted heavier than others?
Once you understand the scoring system, figure out the average score on the site. You may see a 4.6 out of 5 and think you’ve found your match. But if most of the platforms on the site get 4.7 out of 5, a 4.6 is below average.
Understanding the scoring system and figuring out the average score gives you a more accurate view of how competitors stack up.
As you go through different sites with scoring systems, you’ll quickly get a sense of what platforms are worth a second look and which ones to leave behind.
Keep Recency in Mind
The history of reviews matters when it comes to property management software. It’s a red flag if a platform hasn’t had a review in years. Platforms that are innovative and evolving should have reviews that span some time. If they don’t, you might want to research why that is the case. It could indicate the company behind the platform is unimaginative or stagnating.
Generally speaking, you should pay more attention to recent reviews than old reviews. You want to know what the platform is like now more than what it was five years ago. Furthermore, platforms can evolve over time. If you see a review claiming a feature was missing five years ago, the software may now include that feature.
Talk to Other Landlords
Don’t forget to ask other landlords about the property management software they use. Their experience with the platform can give you more insight into its plusses and minuses.
Of course, it’s important to keep in mind their opinion isn’t necessarily the gospel truth, but having a firsthand review is helpful.
The feedback landlords provide gives you information that it would be hard to get otherwise. These are the real consumers of the product and it directly impacts their day-to-day operations. Their views can help you compare platforms on a granular level.
Conclusion
Comparing property management software options can be a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of options out there. This is where property management software reviews can make a difference. People who have experience with property management tools can provide valuable insight and firsthand perspective.
It’s important to find high-quality, reliable feedback that provides insights on different property management software. This will help you compare platforms in a way that leads you to find the best fit for your business.
