5 Ways Real Estate Agents Can Get More Client Reviews

dotloop

September 17, 2018 | comments

What Clients Say About Their Real Estate Agents

Make yourself the subject of conversation and earn bragging rights by tapping into the topics clients rave about most in their reviews.

 
There’s no question that online reviews are important for real estate agents. More than 80% of homebuyers and sellers begin their research for an agent online, and reviews can heavily influence that selection process.

Some clients start their search with online reviews, whereas others use them as further confirmation for friend and family referrals to gain additional perspective.

So how can real estate agents generate that kind of personal recommendation that drives people to share on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or Zillow’s Premier Agent profiles?

Truth is, there’s no single trick to making a customer a fan, but there are several key topics and tips that drive people to rave about their favorite agents in online reviews.
 

1. Become the Local Market Expert

 
According to Zillow’s Housing Market Trends Report research, agents who know their area have a big edge over their competition. In fact, 62% of all buyers say that a real estate agent’s local market knowledge is the primary factor they consider when evaluating agents.

One Denver-based client who gave his Zillow Premier Agent 5 stars across the board felt particularly compelled to note, “We are very impressed with Lisa’s knowledge of the Denver neighborhoods and her specific knowledge on the neighborhood we decided to narrow our search.”
 

2. Increase Your Client Response Time

 
How quickly an agent responds to a prospective buyer in the pre-contract stages, as well as throughout the transaction, can also largely influence both the agent selection as well as the final review the client posts once the deal is done.

A home buyer in Atlanta noted, “I had some concerns going in about Joel being accessible with the large number of clients/transactions he handles. My concern were eased, because he was very responsive and has a great team supporting him. Thanks Joel! Highly recommend.”

Zillow research notes that 78% of clients expect a response within a day. Older clients (65+) prefer meeting in person, whereas their younger counterparts prefer a phone call as the first point of contact.

However, once the transaction opens, texting is taking over as a preferred means of communication. The results are not surprising, given that texts have earned a 98% average open rate versus email’s 20% (Mobile Marketing Watch) and a 90-second response time versus email’s 90 minutes (CTIA). Learn more about how text messaging is impacting communications in real estate by downloading this infographic.

Dotloop’s new text Messenger can help expedite your client response times by offering features such as instant notifications when a contract has been signed or edited and date and time read receipts that tell you when the client received your message.
 

3. Optimize Your Home Tours

 
Even as online resources become increasingly available, agents will always play a significant role in the client relationship — just in newly defined ways. Many clients, particularly millennials, are self-searching listings and then relying on their agents for home tours, making an offer and finalizing the contract. Therefore, a smart strategy might be to spend more time researching and identifying what your buyers are really looking for in a house to help inform the search and the showing.
 

4. Leverage Third-Party Referrals

 
In addition to home tours and new home alerts, clients say they highly value agents who can make referrals to third-party vendors, including mortgage lenders and home inspectors. In other words, clients want your professional expertise and insight and rely on your trusted referrals to complete the transaction.

Consider a Phoenix-based agent who won the rave reviews of a happy buyer for going “above and beyond coordinating the repair and negotiating a deal where everyone left comfortable. He wore all the hats during the process and his network of contractors provided a very useful service to us.”

Here again, dotloop can help by giving real estate agents and admins the ability to connect clients with third-party referrals, such as title companies, home warranty providers and home inspectors, using the Trusted Service Providers feature on the paperless transaction management platform.
 

5. Create a VIP Experience

 
Highly referred agents often have a unique system to give home-buyers an advantage in a competitive market. This may be a systemized approach to alert the client when the exact type of house they’re looking for comes on the market or a set of criteria for determining if they should do a walk-through.

Or, it may simply be the way the agent makes every client feel like she’s the most important client, whether she’s spending $3 million or $300,000 on a home.

Exceeding expectations — the kind that get raving reviews — requires a mindset and a process that takes time, but will also make working in real estate that much more rewarding.

Remember the old adage: People may not remember everything you say or do, but they will remember how you made them feel.