How to Manage Your Online Reputation as a Real Estate Agent

26 Aug 2019 Posted at 10:00h by Galiorjan 1 Comment

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With the modern technologies and social media transforming every aspect of our lives, the change of the business sphere seems inevitable. More and more businesses, including the real estate market, create websites & applications to stay in tune and manage communication and their real estate agent reputation with the customers. 

How Important is a Real Estate Agent’s Online Reputation?

If you ask millennial homebuyer what is the main criterion he or she chooses to buy a house or use a real estate agent service, they will tell you, of course, they look it up online first.  What they refer to looking up online contains several actions: visiting a bunch of websites, mostly listed on the first page of Google, scrolling down through various links, but most importantly reading reviews.

Yes, modern Homo sapiens even before they read the information listed on the website, go straight to reviews. Back in the days, all you needed was to ask your friend or closest neighbor and they would’ve referred you to the best real estate agents in your area. 

Nowadays, reviews play the role of the old school word of mouth marketing. Before customers make a purchase from you, they need to be able to trust you. They need to trust that your product is accurate, that what you’re selling matches up to the description you give them. Reviews help them evaluate whether what you say your product is, meets the expectations.

It can be safely said, with digitizing your business comes a whole deal of managing your reputation online. Here are five strategies to manage your reputation online, so you will stay on top and the clients’ favorite.

 1.Good Online Reviews Equals Trust and Loyalty.

Why do online reviews matter so much? And why should you add online reviews feature on your website? Because they are powerful tools that can affect how new users or customers perceive your business. 

The reviews on the website are a visual representation of the quality of your work. You want to attract new customers, and what is a better way than showing them that your work matters and is valued by other users? You want to gain trust and loyalty to your brand? Add online reviews so people would see that your product or service is the best in the market.

2.Want to Improve Your SEO? Work on Your Online Reviews.

Not only do online reviews show the quality of your product, but they also help to improve your SEO. Real estate agents can boost their reputation and benefit from good online reviews because they can increase the website’s ranking in search results. It’s a good way to establish your brand and boost your SEO. And, let’s admit it, there is no such thing as “too much” SEO.

 3. Feel Free to Ask Your Customers to Give You a Review.

Yes, asking your clients to estimate your service is okay. Even better it’s great. Firstly, you are showing them that their opinion matters. Second, you humanize your interaction, it stops being so formal which in result can gain you points in your customer’s eyes. Here is the thing, people want to work with someone they trust and trust can be achieved if we engage customers like real people.

 4. Great Online Reviews Guarantee New Leads.

Buying or selling a house is a huge risk, financially and legally. Before taking such a high-stakes decision most of the people will do research online before choosing an agent and evaluate their services through reviews. If the work that real estate agent provides them is good and helpful enough, they’ll not only leave a great review but recommend your company through social media and, maybe, most definitely you will get the call when the time came.

 5. Take Time to Answer Reviews.

Here is the thing, you won’t always get great reviews. Even the most experienced real estate agents from time to time receive bad reviews. It’s a common thing. But the most important thing is how you react. Do you ignore them in a naïve hope that they will go away? No. We react accordingly. 

The first step is to evaluate why you received such awful reviews. Is it because your product isn’t good enough or it’s just someone with a fake account who tries to harm you. Yes, there are plenty of trolls who write for the sake of entertainment. In that case, there are not many things you can do. Maybe post it on your social media account so your customers can judge themselves is your product worth of such review. 

Such action shows them that you’re open about your reputation; you’re not trying to hide anything. If your product wasn’t helpful enough, you can answer the angered customer and offer help or ask for more details. Ignoring bad reviews won’t do well for your company’s good name.

P. S  Still have a question about reputation management. Check out this article What Is Social Proof and Why Is It Important for a Real Estate Website?