With sprawling high rise buildings, rushes of traffic breaking up nightly silence, and a seemingly endless array of businesses cropping up on every block, cities across the United States proudly showcase the hustle and bustle of their inhabitants. However, amongst the droves of endless action, city dwellers yearn for a trustworthy, robust, and positive hyper-local community experience. With over 30 years of experience within Chicago’s rental market, Beal Properties has seen the importance of maintaining a trustworthy local reputation, championing the hyper local community, and being a beacon of stability for thousands of tenants. The premier owners and operators of a vast portfolio of multi-family buildings have attributed the company’s successes to ongoing focus on maintaining positive community relationships, building a trustworthy reputation, and being involved in the local community.
Why Community Reputation Matters
Before the proverbial Golden Age of Technology connected individuals on a global scale in real-time, local businesses gained the trust of the community through the satisfaction of clients, tenants, or customers. Then, a company’s reputation was spread through the general communication between friends, family members, and neighbors alike, with enough clout to potentially impact the growth of a business. During Beal Properties’ inaugural years, fulfilled tenants acted as ambassadors for the fledgling company, sharing their tenant experiences with others, potentially influencing their own rental decisions in the upcoming future. By trusting the authenticity of experiences of their loved ones, friends, and family members, potential tenants considered these conversations when relocating. In essence, local community reputation impacted peoples’ decisions to patronize a particular establishment, company, or service.
As technology propelled communication, this traditional “word of mouth” method went digital, with online review forums becoming a generally trusted source of information regarding a company’s reliability, success, operations, and general focus on client satisfaction. Sites dedicated to giving voice to consumers suddenly expanded the “word of mouth” model on a global scale. This provided an opportunity to reach a broader audience, and to gain insight about a particular local business from a distance. For Beal Properties, the uprising of review sites provided a chance for satisfied tenants to share their experiences with the world, potentially lending comfort and confidence to out-of-town families relocating to Chicago. Beal Properties reviews on various sites provide information about the ways in which property managers expertly handle minor issues, provide excellent customer service, and create an overall positive living environment.
In addition to providing insight regarding the living experiences of tenants, reviews also provide personal knowledge about a company, highlighting the people who conduct daily operations, marrying personal responsibility and humanity in the ongoing interpersonal operations of a company. Beal Properties reviews often highlight the exceptional commitment of staff members, with statements like “my building guy Cornell and his wife take so much time and care that they even annually plant these incredible flowers by our entryway” prevalent throughout the company’s online presence. For readers, this translates to a caring, community-focused environment that will elevate the tenant experience with a company that selectively hires staff members who remain committed to excellence.
Through traditional “word of mouth”, digital review platforms, advertising, and other means of reputation building, companies are impacted by the opinion, experience, and satisfaction of the communities they serve. While the medium for community conversation continues to evolve, a company’s reputation continues to be impacted by the experiences of consumers, and remains a vital part in the overall growth of a company. For Beal Properties, who has always focused on building a positive tenant relationship, the growing reach of consumer based reputation methods is an excellent way to showcase the company’s commitment to the local Chicago neighborhoods they serve.
How to Build Community Trust
In any long-term business interaction, the presence of trust is maintained through the ongoing dedication of all involved parties to adhere to their previously discussed expectations and rules at minimum. If any of these expectations are broken, compromised, or otherwise ignored, trust can be broken between a consumer and a company, and lead to a generally negative reputation amongst the community. In the rental housing market, creating community trust starts with concisely outlining all expectations, rules, and commitments on behalf of the landlord to the prospective tenant. For the professionals at Beal Properties, this transparent practice allows tenants to confidently understand that their needs will be met at all times throughout their leasing experience, and certainly lends to the numbers of long-term tenants that are retained as a result of this ongoing trust.
Meeting the needs of tenants, or customers, can also be an evolving practice, especially for companies in operation for numerous decades. For Beal Properties, embracing evolving tenant needs means listening to tenants, maintaining awareness of changing local conditions, being sensitive to any unexpected changes, and naturally being immersed within local community culture. As technology changed professional interaction, Beal Properties remained committed to providing tenants with an array of innovative resources to meet their changing needs.
By modernizing services, including the creation of a digital tenant portal, ability to pay rent online, and ability to summon maintenance requests digitally 24/7, Beal Properties grew alongside tenants over time. This adaptability is an important facet of being able to provide unparalleled customer service for any company, and for property management companies, a crucial aspect for maintaining long-term satisfaction amongst tenants. Additionally, the willingness to evolve inadvertently imparts a sense of continued focus on betterment, growth, and service.
While streamlining and revolutionizing operations is a proactive method for engaging with the community, transparent and open dialogue must remain at the backbone of company messaging. Companies employing the most cutting edge technology may not benefit from this implementation of innovation if there is no poignant meaning, care, or commitment behind their operations. Beal Properties reviews showcase tenant confidence that the company marries technology and amenities, with basic principles of transparency and openness behind every move. By consistently maintaining an open dialogue with tenants, whether about the progression of renovations, or their basic safety, Beal Properties makes sure that tenants feel as though they are an integral part of the conversation, abreast of all “back end” issues that may affect them in any way.
As educated consumers demand increased transparency regarding the products they purchase, the services they utilize, and the amenities they rely on throughout their lives, companies can only gain the long-term trust of local communities through transparency, openness, and dialogue. For example, most Beal Properties reviews are swiftly answered by an administrator for the company, engaging reviewers in further dialogue. Committed to gaining the understanding of tenant experiences, Beal’s administrators work diligently to continue the conversations in a professional, proactive, and caring manner, providing an open forum for all parties. As evidenced by the positive outcomes of these conversations, a company’s response and engagement is a key feature of maintaining community trust.
Immersed in the Community
For any business serving a local community, being forward-facing within that community builds trust, faith, and confidence in potential consumers. From participating in local betterment campaigns that directly impact public infrastructure, to offering incentives for customers who engage in community events, forward thinking companies can successfully simultaneously raise brand awareness, and foster positive change within their community. Serving the Chicago community for three decades, Beal Properties has been vastly invested in the betterment of the lives of local residents since inception. Historically, the company has been involved in various organizations, engagements, and efforts to raise up the local communities surrounding their properties.
Recently, Beal Properties announced their creation of a bespoke Giving Team program. Aimed at supporting various organizations devoted to bettering the lives of local Chicago residents, the Giving Team program will centrally organize Beal’s ongoing commitment to local philanthropy. Already involved with various community organizations, including the Chicago Community Trust, and Lurie’s Children’s Hospital, the team will continue to assist the mission of these highly regarded organizations. Each month, the dedicated Beal leaders on the Giving Team will meet to nominate a chosen organization to donate funds to, aiming to create tangible change within Chicago’s many neighborhoods. Funded by Beal Properties, this monthly contribution will continue Beal’s long-standing tradition of philanthropy. The company has partnered with numerous philanthropic organizations since inception on an unwavering basis, including Autism Speaks, Chicago Hopes For Kids, Greater Chicago Food Depository, and the Lakeview Pantry. Through these continued acts of kindness, Beal continues to be invested in the success of the entire community.
From a city infrastructure perspective, Beal Properties has also served as a trailblazer in the real estate industry by deconverting condominiums into apartment buildings. This act not only saves the original architecture and character of Chicago’s buildings from demolition, but provides additional affordable housing options for local residents. Committed to preserving the integrity of Chicago’s historic buildings, while simultaneously providing housing options for a wide array of tenants, Beal Properties enacts practices that will resoundingly maintain the diversity of Chicago’s neighborhoods. This devotion to the city is a testament to the company’s mission statement, and certainly breeds confidence, community trust, and the unwavering notion that the goals of Beal Properties align with those of their tenants.
As local companies continue to evolve, and look to drive growth through innovation, technology, and services, they must focus on the importance of maintaining trust within their local communities. As the backbone of success for any company, garnering the attention, trust, and support of consumers is integral to growth. For companies like Beal Properties, who have evolved alongside their tenants for thirty years, maintaining this integral trust has been a priority since inception. Through proactive communication and transparent practices, evolution based on tenant feedback, commitment to fair housing, and immersion in Chicago, Beal Properties has become a trusted staple in the community.
