Why You Need To Ask for Online Reviews

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2 Why You Need To Ask for Online Reviews Think back to a time when you bought something online. It s likely that, during your research, you encountered a typical online review: star ratings, personal anecdotes, and feedback about a business or product written by total strangers. Did these reviews impact your purchasing decision? How much so? If you said that online reviews had some impact on you, then you re not alone. Check out these stats: According to a 2015 survey on online consumer behavior 92% of all consumers read online reviews 97% of consumers aged read online reviews to judge a local business Positive reviews help to inspire trust in 7 out of 10 consumers 80% will trust reviews as much as personal recommendations According to the most recent Google Consumer Survey Half of house hunters begin their formal home search 6 12 months in advance Two in three people researched prospective agents extensively online prior to working with them

3 Why You Need To Ask for Online Reviews Reviews are an fundamental component of your online identity, which nowadays is a truly pivotal factor in whether or not your potential client will even pick up the phone to call you. If you haven t yet put in the effort to earn and collect 5-star reviews online, then this guide is perfect for you. This guide will take you through our 3-Step Process for Getting Online Reviews. You ll learn: On which websites you should collect your clients reviews How to set your customers expectations in order to get the maximum number of 5-star reviews The scripts and templates we use at GoodLife Realty to ask for reviews Shhh. As a bonus, we also cover what to do if you don t have any reviews yet, and how to handle negative reviews!

4 Why Why You You Need Need To Ask To Ask for for Online Online Reviews Before we go further, there s a fundamental distinction between reviews and testimonials that is important to define. Reviews are written by your clients, and you ultimately have very little control over who puts what about your business where. You can encourage 5-star reviews as much as possible, but you re inevitably going to get some sour grapes in the bunch. Testimonials, however, offer you much more control. Traditionally, testimonials are found on your website. They re static, and everyone who visits there knows that they are the most favorable quotes from your biggest fans, cherry-picked by you. And that s not a bad thing! The fact that you even have someone who is willing to put their name behind you lends your business a ton of credibility. But your website isn t the only place people are going to look for information about your reliability as a businessperson. LinkedIn is a particularly compelling place to have online testimonials, and if you d like help asking your favorite clients for a recommendation on the site, just us at support@thepaperlessagent.com.

5 Where to Collect Online Reviews But let s get back to reviews. Where should you collect your online reviews? There are so many online review sites nowadays, and no matter how much your clients love you, they probably don t want to spend their time visiting each and every one to sing your praises. Instead, you should concentrate your review-collecting efforts in just a few places. We recommend that you send the majority of your review writers to Google. Google is far and away the largest search engine on the internet today, which means that when your potential clients get the inclination to look you up online, they are most likely going to start there. Therefore, Google is arguably the most powerful place to collect reviews of your business.

6 Where Where to Collect to Collect Online Online Reviews In order to start collecting reviews on Google, you will need to set up your Google My Business page. You can do this from your Google Plus profile, but please reach out to us if you d like more specific instructions! Careful while you re setting up your page, agent: the business type question can get a bit confusing. We recommend that you chose Storefront as your business type. Many of you reading this will be individual agents at brokerages, and you might not think you qualify as a Storefront. However, brand pages do not currently include the ability to collect reviews, and the service area option is more for businesses whose services are limited geographically, such as pizza delivery and taxis. That being said, if you are not currently attached to a brokerage or are thinking about moving brokerages in the near future, then you might consider choosing Service Area." Again, we highly recommend that Google be the main repository for your online reviews, but it s a great idea to diversify your efforts. The important thing is to choose carefully which platforms you use.

7 Where Where to Collect to Collect Online Online Reviews Zillow and Trulia are popular venues for real estate agents to gather reviews, but we at GoodLife Realty and The Paperless Agent strongly discourage their use. The reason is because of how Zillow and Trulia portray your reviews. For example, at the bottom of the page, Zillow gives links to your recent listings (assuming that you still syndicate your listings to the portals). If your potential clients, who are going to be the ones most likely to be influenced by your online reviews, were to click on one of those links, they would be directed to a page with a list of random other agents on the side. How confusing! Instead of potentially handing over your leads to your competition, we suggest your review alternative be Yelp, which is a widely-used and trusted platform for user reviews. And it s an incredibly lucrative venue: according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, the average annual incremental revenue generated by a business claiming its free Yelp Business Page is $8,000.

8 Where Where to Collect to Collect Online Online Reviews To get started claiming your Yelp Business page, simply visit Yelp online and fill out the informational fields as accurately as possible. Many of you reading this will be individual agents at brokerages, and that will influence how you complete this form. For example, you should use the brokerage street address as your street address, but you do not need to put your brokerage phone here. Instead, input a personal line. However, we highly recommend that you refrain from using your cell phone number since scammers often crawl these business pages, and you ll likely get an increase in spam calls. You can sign up for a free Google Voice number, or get a ton more features specifically for real estate usage with BetterVoice. Both of these options provide you with a new number that redirects to your regular phone.

9 Setting Clients Expectations Now that you have a online review site accounts up and running, you need to start collecting reviews! Asking for reviews from your client can be a tricky endeavor, but we find that much hassle and awkwardness can be avoided by simply setting the right expectations from the beginning. Part of your value proposition as a real estate professional is that you can make smooth the often stressful process of buying or selling a home. Providing your clients a 5-star experience is a promise you should make and intend to uphold if you want to receive a 5-star review. In order to be able to provide such a high level of service, you need to be absolutely clear on your clients desires and expectations. Therefore, the first step to setting expectations for a review is in the initial client consultation. In these phone consultations, we spend a lot of time asking questions to make sure we know exactly what a 5-star experience means for each individual client. To make sure you ask the right questions every time, consider using a template. We have a created an initial phone consultation template using a platform called Evernote, for example.

10 Setting Setting Clients Clients Expectations For home sellers, the first time you introduce the expectation that they will write a review for you is after you set the listing appointment. According to our 5-Step Listing Appointment process, right after you set a time to meet your clients, you should send them a packet of information, which serves to engage and intrigue your clients, increasing the likelihood that they will keep the appointment and ultimately choose you to list their home. You can learn more about the process of creating and sending a pre-listing packet in our Coaching Club. To the right is the part of the that matters for this discussion, however. This sets your clients expectations in two ways: it suggests that they are going to give a review, and it proves that other people have given reviews, which creates a sense of social proof that will make them more likely to follow suit. Last but not least! It s our goal at [company name] to deliver a 5- Star Experience. If, at any point during our relationship, anything happens that jeopardizes you giving us a 5-Star Review, please let me know right away! You can check out our reviews on Google [link] and Yelp [link].

11 Setting Setting Clients Clients Expectations For both home buyers and sellers, the next place you will set the expectation for a 5-Star review is during the listing appointment or buyer consultation. Our agents at GoodLife Realty use a digital presentation for these appointments, and that template has a particular slide that is designed to introduce the reviews topic once again. Garry Wise, co-founder of The Paperless Agent and incredibly successful luxury agent in his own right, likes to start off the conversation by asking the potential client about a 5-Star experience they ve had in the past. Then, he uses the following script: So, let me ask you this. Can you tell me a little bit about what would make this experience in working with [company name] a 5-Star experience?"

12 Setting Setting Clients Clients Expectations This tactic works really well because it commits your clients to concrete criteria and helps to prevent the trap of them assuming that you know what s best and then being disappointed when you don t meet their unspoken expectations. It s important to remember that the 5-Star experience is not only your responsibility: it s also the duty of your client to let you know when and if you do anything to jeopardize their opinion of your work as their agent. After they set out some fine details of what they want from you, try this script: If at any time your expectations of me change or if you feel like my work is not up to snuff, will you promise to tell me?

13 Setting Setting Clients Clients Expectations The client will naturally say yes, and you will have established something that will be very important at the end of the transaction. When you ask them to write you a review after their closing, you ll subtly remind them of this verbal agreement, which will prompt them to feel more obligated to hold up their end of the bargain. This is due to a principle called commitment to consistency. We encourage you to do regular temperature checks with your clients during your work with them so you all remain on the same page in terms of their expectations of your service. This can be very informal, depending on your relationship with your client. Just make sure they re still happy!

14 You should ask for a review immediately after you close the transaction with your clients. At GoodLife Realty, our agents mention at the closing table that they will be sending an with instructions on how to write a review, and then they send the following template: Asking for the Review

15 Asking Asking for for the the Review Review Hi [Name], Congratulations on the sale/purchase of your home! You really made the difference in helping me achieve my goals of giving you a 5-star experience. Without your help in letting me know what you wanted during the entire process, it would not have been possible. But there s one more step necessary to confirm the 5-star experience I strive to provide you with... your review of us working together! By authoring this review, you re doing me a HUGE favor, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you for it. You can rate your 5-star experience and write your quick review here (it should only take a few moments). [link here] Thanks again! [Signature] P.S. If there s anything I can do to help you get situated, please let me know. P.P.S. If you feel as though I fell short of a 5-star experience, please tell me now by simply replying to this .

16 Asking Asking for for the the Review Review We wrote this template to be applicable for any reviewing platform, but please feel free to include additional instructions after the short link. It would be a good idea, for example, to remind your clients of a particular memorable moment of your time together for them to include in their review. You can also include links to multiple review platforms to encourage your clients to spread the good word! Note the very important postscript at the end of this "If you feel as though I fell short of a 5-star experience, please tell me now by simply replying to this . If you ve done regular temperature checks throughout the transaction, you should have a pretty good feel for if the client is satisfied or not. However, sometimes people can be tricky. This PS is carefully worded to give you the opportunity to root out those last lingering issues and potentially save yourself a few stars online.

17 BONUS: What to Do If You Don t Have Any Reviews There s two reasons you might not yet have any online reviews: 1. You ve been practicing real estate for a while, but have just not solicited any reviews from your past or current clients yet. 2. You re a new agent with little to no experience. If you are a part of the first group, then the solution your online review deficit is easy. You ve sold real estate before, which means that you have past clients. Simply reach out to those people and ask them to review you honestly. Consider this an opportunity to connect with your network! A subset of this first group is those of you who have reviews on other platforms but not Google. In this case, reach out specifically to those past clients who have given you 5-star reviews elsewhere, and say this: I m currently working on building my online presence on Google. Would you be so kind as to duplicate your past review on Google?

18 BONUS: What What to Do to Do If You If You Don t Don t Have Have Any Any Reviews New agents will need a different plan of attack. Initially, your biggest resource for online credibility is your family, friends, and colleagues. While they cannot speak to your work from a client s perspective, they can attest to your work ethic, personality, trustworthiness, and other such qualities. In their review, have them talk about such things as how they know you and for how long. If they can recount any anecdotes that demonstrate your character, have them include those as well. Remember, getting reviews takes time. Build your book of business and focus on providing each client with a 5-star experience. Reviews of your performance will come as long as you do everything we ve outlined in this guide!

19 BONUS: How to Respond to Negative Reviews Online reviews have a major impact on how you are perceived professionally. To prevent your online presence from becoming the product of a one-sided conversation, you must make it a priority to respond to the reviews you receive especially the negative ones. But what do you say when you receive a negative review? The first thing to remember is that bad reviews are inevitable. Mistakes happen, and people who are upset will naturally be more aggressive and vocal about their displeasure. The second thing to remember is for whose benefit you are responding to the negative review. Certainly, a hopeful outcome would be that you mitigate the damaged relationship between you and the negative reviewer, and a proven process for that is discussed in more detail below. But you re really aiming to please your future clients. Think about it: everyone knows that upset people are prone to overreacting. If your potential clients look up your reviews online and see that you ve apologized and attempted to resolve the issue had by a negative reviewer, they will be more likely to disregard the opinion of that reviewer.

20 BONUS: How How to Respond to to Negative to Reviews Therefore, as you reply to a negative review, follow the steps below: 1. Respond publicly so that future clients and reviewers can see your responsiveness and attitude to serve all customers. 2. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to review your service. 3. Theoretically, the reviewer will be a past client, so you will most likely have their phone number. Use whatever contact information you have on that person to reach out to him or her privately to get more feedback and to potentially resolve conflict. 4. Ask the reviewer to consider updating their review to show the follow-up steps taken. 5. Follow up publicly on the review to let future readers know the outcome.

21 BONUS: How How to Respond to to Negative to Reviews Therefore, as you reply to a negative review, follow the steps below: 1. Respond publicly so that future clients and reviewers can see your responsiveness and attitude to serve all customers. 2. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to review your service. 3. Theoretically, the reviewer will be a past client, so you will most likely have their phone number. Use whatever contact information you have on that person to reach out to him or her privately to get more feedback and to potentially resolve conflict. 4. Ask the reviewer to consider updating their review to show the follow-up steps taken. 5. Follow up publicly on the review to let future readers know the outcome.

22 BONUS: How How to Respond to to Negative to Reviews When responding to a negative review publicly, try this template: Hi [Name], Thank you so much for providing your review. Your review is especially important to me because whenever someone has a bad experience (or a less than 5-star one), I like learn as much as possible to prevent it from happening again. If you re open to it, I d like to have a quick chat to see if there s anything I can do to right the situation for you. Thanks! Your Name Phone and

23 Conclusion Online reviews, according to a recent study, are trusted just as much as or even more than a personal recommendation. This means that each and every review has a lot of weight in how your business appears to prospective clients. Following the information in this guide will help you cultivate a favorable online presence that will keep your business growing for years to come. The Paperless Agent specializes in easy-to-learn training for developing your real estate career. If you found this guide useful, then please reach out to us and see how else we can help you!