As real estate agents, we tend to get highly focused building up our social media profiles as part of our online marketing strategy. There are three spokes in the wheel that build our business brand.
- Lead Conversion
- Closing the Transaction
- Social Media Marketing
Most of us spend a great deal of time on these while often ignoring or downplaying the importance of another critical component.
Real estate agents offer a service-based business. When it comes to running a service-based business, online reviews are your bread and butter. Take a look at these numbers:
- 82% of consumers consult online reviews for local small businesses.
- Reviews are 2x more likely to be an important factor in choosing a local small business over loyalty, and 7x more important than traditional marketing.
- 87% of people say that quality of service is the most important detail when looking at online reviews for service-based businesses. 78% also say cost is equally as important.
- 96% of customers value online reviews when selecting a residential home services provider.
- For renters, 51% of potential residents expect management to respond to all online reviews.
Reputation Management
Every business, big or small, lives or dies based on its reputation. Close to 90% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This is why its imperative that you collect reviews from your customers.
Great reviews go a long way in squelching concerns a potential client may have about you and your business. Good social proof will promote your business like nothing else.
Although you may receive an unfair or negative review from time to time, as long as the overwhelming majority of your reviews are positive, the few negative reviews will have little impact. Everyone understands there is some folk who are never happy regardless of what you do to accommodate them.
Getting Found On Search Engines
As a service-based business, you must embrace reviews. This requires consistently asking your clients to leave a review, monitoring your online reputation, replying to new reviews, and then sharing the best reviews on your social media.
Your search engine ranks are also heavily influenced by your reviews. Google and Yelp reviews have a critical role in how google places your GMB on search engine results. The same holds true for searches on Facebook.
Your Street Cred
People who are willing to leave reviews have already experienced your services firsthand. They have nothing to lose or gain by leaving a review. They are simply willing to share their experience with others.
Guess what? Other people are willing to listen. Studies show that nearly 93% of people are heavily influenced by online reviews. Review sites such as Yelp,
First, let’s talk about why online reviews matter for your business. Check out these online reputation statistics that drive home just how important online reviews can be:
- 93% of people read online reviews before making a purchase.
- 84% of people weigh online reviews the same as they would a word-of-mouth recommendation from friends or family.
- People are willing to pay 22% more for a product or service if the company has a good online reputation.
Online reviews provide a lot of important information such as what your clients love about your business, and what they aren’t too crazy about. Paying attention to your reviews will show you where you need to improve. Are people having a hard time getting ahold of you? Are your business hours up to date? You can fix these issues early on before they become a bigger problem.
Reviews help build trust with potential new clients. A big advantage that you, as a small business owner, have is that you operate on a personal level. You’re part of the community in that you live and work there too.
Reviews give you another way to connect online with the local populace and build trust. If customers see that you engage with reviews and use them to improve your business, they will feel more confident that your business delivers on what they promise. Positive reviews that highlight your company’s mission statement and values can help prospective customers understand the type of business you operate.
Online Reputation Management
From third-party sites to Wikipedia, there are so many places on the internet where potential customers can search and learn about you, your services, and your overall business reputation.
Managing your online reputation is simply the process of generating more online reviews, replying to them, and monitoring. Monitoring is an important factor in making sure that you and your business are portrayed in the most positive light.
Getting bad reviews from time to time is inevitable for any business. However, bad reviews can sometimes be good for business.
When I search for a product on Amazon, I look at the best and the worst reviews first. In fact, 82% of people look for bad reviews specifically so that they may get a better look at the full picture of what to expect from your services.
Ranking On Google
By and large the vast majority of people will use broad terms like “real estate agents near me” when looking for a Realtor. Do you know how Google decides who deserves a top ranking? Positive reviews.
In fact, reviews are the most important aspect of your profile because they help consumers and Google understand your level of expertise and whether others would recommend your real estate services.
If many people supply you with positive, plentiful reviews, you will rank prominently in search results for a greater number of real estate-related queries because Google views you as a trusted local expert.
By comparison, an agent profile that has few or have any reviews or even too many negative reviews signals to Google that consumers are not willing to vouch for your services, so Google will not rank you competitively.
Generating favorable reviews is, therefore, a critical next step after you set up and verify your Google Business Profile.
But requesting reviews is time-consuming, and so is checking who has left you a review and following up with the individuals who haven’t. Real Leads Finder Pro solves this headache, by enabling you to efficiently gather positive reviews on autopilot.
Handling Reviews
It may surprise you that 97% of people reading your reviews will also read your responses to them. Your replies can be a huge determining factor to someone considering hiring you as their Realtor of choice.
Online reviews are at the heart of any small business growth strategy that aligns with other initiatives that your business is likely already pursuing, such as digital marketing or SEO.
Make sure your business profiles look professional and have accurate information on all your social media accounts.
Word of mouth generally happens over time once your brand name has been noticed and you’ve got people talking about you. The more chatter, the greater the chances of more word-of-mouth marketing and referrals coming your way.
When or if your business ever gets a wave of negative press on social media, it can come quickly and out of nowhere.
The good news is that the ability of social chatter to impact your brand reputation is usually overstated. Social media algorithms have strong recency signals, so after a few days, the negative comments that mention your business will often fade away and be replaced by recent news, posts, and other comments. Make sure to respond to negative social comments quickly and in a transparent manner. Most people are willing to give you a fair shake.
Opportunities for reviews, referrals, and chatter are everywhere and word of mouth about you and your business is not new. In fact, for your small business, it is likely your most effective marketing tool. The great thing about the internet is that all of the talks about you can be tracked.
Google Business Profile
Online reviews actually matter and can be the deciding factor between you and your competitor. So, don’t be afraid of reviews. Embrace them and their power! Get on Google My Business and on social media and give your customers and audience the chance to talk and learn about your business. You’ll find that you learn a lot, too!
Setting up your Google My Business (GMB) profile is a quick and easy freeway for your small business to get discovered. Funneling reviews to your profile is a great way to build up your online reputation. Not sure if you really need one? Here are some GMB statistics to consider:
- About 64% of people are most likely to check Google Business Profiles for online reviews first before visiting a business.
- If you have over four negative reviews in your Google Business Profile, you can lose up to 70% of your potential customers.
- 56% of actions on Google Business listings are website visits.
- 16% of businesses receive more than 100 calls each month from Google Business Profiles.
- Customers care the most about ratings when viewing a Google Business listing.
- Google Business listings with photos are 2x as likely to be viewed as reputable and pull in 35% more clicks.
- When it comes to local search ranking factors, online reviews weigh in about 10% of how high up Google will display your business.
- Google accounts for 58% of all reviews worldwide.
GMB has some great features you should definitely take some time to utilize. Each one is designed to help you build up your reputation and thereby build up consumer confidence in your brand and services.
GMB features include:
- Chat where people can contact you directly right from your GMB profile. Using Real Leads Finder Pro, you can instantly integrate with your GMB profile. Doing so will funnel any questions that come in through your GMB chat into your dashboard, and alert you instantly so you can quickly reply and connect to a potential lead.
- GMB will also display the location of your business through their Google Maps directory. When someone clicks on the directions tab, your business is prominently displayed on the map.
- GMB posts, let you share upcoming events, such as open houses, and generate more traffic. You can also put up videos, links to your blogs, and listings as well.
Monitoring and updating your GMB profile regularly will help with your SEO as well because Google will see that you are an active business. This can be a big advantage over your competitors when you consider that the large majority of real estate agents either don’t have a GMB profile or are not actively monitoring it.
GMB also lets you create a Q&A section where you can easily post the most frequently asked questions and answers that homebuyers and sellers ask.
Take A Pro-Active Approach
When it comes to your small business, third-party review sites like Google My Business and others have a major impact on your reputation. A Pew Research Survey shows that over 82% of adults claim they sometimes or always read reviews.
Building your online reputation requires three things:
- Ask for reviews
- Respond to each review
- Monitor your reviews consistently
Luckily, Real Leads Finder Pro platform makes asking for, collecting, managing and replying to Google reviews super easy.
Our system is easily customized so you can set up an automation that will send out a review request to your contacts each time you tag them as "closed" in your pipeline. Let your current clients help your future clients by inviting them to leave you online reviews.
I think I’ve made it pretty clear that reputation management should be at the center of small business marketing strategy. Getting set up on review sites like Google is free.
When you’re confident that your client had a positive experience, ask them for a review and make it super easy for them to leave one. Real Leads Finder Pro generates a link straight to your Google profile you can easily share.
It’s easy to remind your customers to leave a review using Real Leads Finder Pro system. With just a single click you can send a review request to each of your past and current clients. The request will include a link they can use and leave you a review.
The best time to ask for a review is while the transaction is pending but after all inspection items have been satisfied and cleared. During the time that a buyer is waiting on the clear to close and the closing is imminent is the ideal time to send your client a review request. Everyone’s excitement is high with anticipation for the close and there are positive feelings all around.
Real Leads Finder Pro is integrated with your Google listing profile so all of your contacts and reviews are accessible in one place. After a review request is sent, the system keeps track of who has left you a review and sends up to three follow-up messages to those who haven’t. You have easy access to all of your reviews from your account dashboard where you can track, manage and reply to new reviews easily from all of your devices using our free mobile app.
This ensures you get the maximum amount of positive reviews without taking your attention away from more pressing matters, like helping your clients find and purchase their dream home, or sell their existing home at a competitive price.
As you build a strong collection of positive reviews over time, Google will start to recognize you as a trusted local expert and reward you with prominent placement in search results.
Another way to ask for reviews is by including a review request in the Real Leads Finder Pro automation workflows.
Once a purchase is complete or a service is rendered, you can set your automated workflow to send out a review request via SMS and/or email. Just set it and it’s done. You can easily see and reply to reviews right from your dashboard as well without ever leaving the site to reply.
Learn how Real Leads Finder Pro helps you leverage Google as your most powerful referral network and win more business. Grow your organic reach, establish Google as your premier referral network, and win more business through Real Leads Finder Pro. Schedule a free consult today!
