With over 60% of home buyers choosing a real estate agent based on online reviews, it’s important that real estate agents use reputation management, ideally reputation management software, to generate word-of-mouth recommendations.
Real estate agent reviews provide consumers with the social proof they’re looking for when choosing the right agent. They want someone they feel comfortable with, as this is the most important purchase they’ll likely make in their lifetime. A home is personal, and consumers want a real estate agent who understands that.
Customer comments in reviews are like recommendations, and these recommendations help consumers make decisions not only about choosing a real estate agent, but about almost everything else. A large part of a customer’s experience will determine their ability to receive more reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations.
While this may not come as a surprise to many, it’s cyclical. Good customer service increases the likelihood that customers will respond to your review requests, and those reviews generate more referrals, which can lead to your next customers.
Realtor Reviews on Google My Business
Excluding review sites like Zillow, when the average consumer searches online, more than half of the searches are related to local products or services. While some of these sites may appear in local searches, the top results are known as the “3-pack,” and these results typically receive a significant number of clicks.
To sign up for Google My Business (GMB), you’ll need to register your business, verify your profile, and add your information. If you’re new to the industry, GMB is a great place to start.
Realtor Reviews on Facebook
Facebook is another important place for real estate agents to be if they want to make the most of recommendations. When it comes to real estate agent reviews on Facebook, make sure you have this tab enabled in your settings. Otherwise, your page visitors won’t have the opportunity to leave reviews.
Realtor Reviews on Zillow
As the largest real estate website, having a presence on Zillow is practically mandatory. When it comes to real estate agent review sites, Zillow is a giant and can be a significant source of lead generation.
In our “Rating Review Sites” study, we analyzed the top performers. While it’s important to be listed on sites like Google My Business and Facebook, there are other things to consider. When it comes to real estate review sites, Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia stood out.
Real estate agents should consider a few aspects when reading online reviews: it’s not just the overall rating or volume, which are both important, but also the freshness of the reviews. For many consumers, if reviews are more than three months old, more than 70% consider them irrelevant.
Moreover, this is not only due to the recentness of the reviews, but also because having more reviews is a way to maintain your reputation. When you receive a negative review, which is usually inevitable, a profile with more reviews will be less affected by it than one with fewer reviews, because it is based on averages.
While online reviews are an integral part of marketing, real estate agents can explore opportunities to attract more leads.
