Agent review sites ”“ they are sometimes maligned, feared, even hated by real estate agents.
Why, I’m not sure. Let’s face it, the public wants and uses them, the sites are out there, and they are not going away. Back in December I opined on agent review sites in, Real Estate Agent Review Sites. On Zillow, Gaming and Whining. I’ve also left five star reviews for competing real estate brokerages. I like agent/brokerage review sites.
A good real estate agent should, in my opinion, embrace review sites. They should even encourage their clients to use them. Collect a bushel (or even a couple) of good reviews from satisfied clients and you’re well on your way to building some testimonials that can make very powerful statements to potential clients.
A bad real estate agent should, well, consider another occupation.
I love seeing reviews of our agents. I know our agents are remarkable, but it’s always nice when that is validated by their clients. I want our agents to encourage people to review them ”“ publicly, where anyone with an Internet connection can see them.
To that end, there’s a new site on the interwebs ”“ ReviewOurAgents.com
It’s a pretty simple site. Links to places clients can leave reviews, a page to read existing reviews (incomplete at this point, I’m working on it), even a page where someone can leave a review directly on the site.
Aren’t you worried about bad reviews, or competitors slamming you?
That’s a question I’ve already been asked by some people that got a “sneak peek” at the site. Worried about bad reviews? Nope. We hire kick ass agents. Are they perfect? Of course not. And a review that points out some flaw in our service is a learning opportunity.We can’t fix it if we don’t know it’s broken.
Worried about competitors leaving bad reviews? Not really. I happen to think the vast majority of people that read reviews of services and products see right through those immature games. Will it happen? Maybe. And we’ll deal with it if/when it does. Worrying about stuff like this, and not embracing reviews because of that fear, is pointless. These sites are already out there, we’re just trying to make then easier to find by compiling them in one place with an easy to share URL. After all, it is far simpler to say, “Please consider reviewing me at ReviewOurAgents.com” than “Please consider leaving a review at yelp.com/biz/thompsons-realty-gilbert”.
The easier you make it for people to review you , the more likely they are to do it.
And if you’re doing your job ”“ providing world-class customer service ”“ then you should want clients to review you, not fear it.
Right?
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
We’ve been doing this on our site for a while. Love the transparency, and it is slowly replacing all of those silly testimonial pages in my listing presentation. Now, I can say, “Go here!”
What an excellent idea to put all the review options in one place for your clients. This will make it easier for them to make a review on one or more sites.
I actually like the fact that options like this are available for consumers. I encourage my clients, the majority who are tech savvy, to go leave an honest review. If you treat your clients well you don’t have much to worry about (IMHO).
very good information. thanks for sharing this with us.
I was thinking the other day that a really useful site would be one that aggregates agent reviews from all the top review sites (Yelp, Zillow, etc.) into one easily searchable database.
I don’t know if such a site exists, but I’ve never come across one and would love to see something like that implemented.
There is a new site, Facified, but it seems to be down right now. It allows you to pull in reviews from 3rd party websites. You do get to chose which reviews to have show up on your profile page, so it’s a way for you to show off your best reviews in one place. People can still go to all of the sites that are referenced to see all of your reviews if they want.
I’m using Facified too. I like it!
I am also embracing reviews. I think that shifting from calling them testimonials to reviews and linking to reviews on sites you don’t control is the key to having them meaningful.
I don’t normally put links into my comments, but I would love your opinion of what I’ve set up as a page on my site:
http://www.archcityhomes.com/client-reviews/
I’m highlighting video reviews. Of course, we do take them ourselves, but I think people trust real people talking. I don’t think they sound scripted since we ask they’ll do a video and then immediately shoot it.
I really like how you’ve provided links to all the places clients can leave reviews. I’ll be improving my review page thanks to this post and will be sending out an email to all clients after they close with a link to the page and a request to review.
What do you think of linking to a Facified profile as a one stop shop to see all of the reviews across the web?
Love that page Karen, and I really like video reviews. Definitely adds a genuine feel and quashes those that might accuse you of posting fake reviews.
As for Facified, it’s pretty cool — when it works. It’s had issues almost every time I’ve gone there.
This is a fantastic idea. Great job Jay!
Jay: Love the site that you’ve put together… Very well done. Simple and well, the domain reads nice: “wanna see what other people have to say about us? Go to reviewouragents.com.” <== I like that.
Anyway, well done.