What’s one of the first things you do before making an online purchase from a large retailer? You probably look for reviews, recommendations, and more information on the product before you commit to spending your hard-earned money. The real estate industry is no different. In 2020, 87% of consumers read online reviews for local real estate businesses, but many agents don’t realize just how important it is to get more positive reviews.
For people working in the real estate industry, advertising is essential. But advertising alone will not suffice. Whether you’re working with a professional cold calling company to contact new clients or running Facebook ads, positive reviews can help by reinforcing a potential client’s interest and good impression of you. After all, once people are familiar with your brand, the first thing they’ll do is conduct an online search to see if you’re worth the hype.
The Importance of Reviews and Word of Mouth
To thrive in the competitive world of the real estate industry, you’ll need people who can support you and vouch for the value of your services. The word of a satisfied client is as good as gold when it comes to sourcing new clients. In fact, word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools that real estate agents can use, given that 82% of all real estate transactions come from referrals.
In the same way, stellar reviews will reassure potential buyers that you’re someone they can trust to help them make the best investment possible while responding to their specific needs. Customers know to take any business’ promises with a grain of salt and are much more likely to believe nonbiased reviewers.
The average person reads about ten reviews before committing to a product or service. As such, good reviews have the power to drastically increase your business and solidify your image as a high-quality real estate agent. Even if some of your reviews are negative, responding to them politely and sincerely will help uphold your reputation. The only real downside is if you have no reviews at all. But if you don’t have too many online reviews to rely on yet, you can use a few tactics to get more testimonials and attract qualified leads.
Getting more reviews doesn’t need to be as challenging as you think. The strategies below will help you get more reviews, generate more sales, and grow your real estate business to new heights.
1. Offer Incentives
So you want to get more positive reviews from satisfied customers. Since your clients are doing something for you, why not give something back? Offer them a special reward for leaving a review. Of course, offering incentives may require a small investment on your part, but it’s worth it in the long run. As you gain more happy clients and a good base of positive reviews, you won’t need to offer incentives anymore. But when you’re just getting started with your online presence, rewarding your clients for leaving a review is arguably the most effective way to have testimonials rolling in.
The incentives you offer should align with your image as a real estate agent or company. Some incentives you could offer include:
- Charitable donation: Show your clients that you care about the community by offering a donation. Donate $10 to an approved charity chosen by the client.
- Thank you gift: Offer a small thank you gift. This is especially rewarding if you can make it personal. For example, perhaps your client mentioned they love coffee. If so, offer them a $5 gift card to Starbucks. Get creative and choose a gift that shows you’re grateful for their time.
- Free promotion: If you noticed that your client runs a business of their own, offer to promote their business in exchange for a review. In this scenario, everybody wins.
2. Ask for Reviews
It sounds too easy and obvious to be effective, but you can accomplish a lot by simply asking. And when it comes to testimonials, most clients are happy to leave a review if you ask. More often than not, clients are delighted to speak about their experience with you, especially when it’s been pleasant.
You don’t need to overthink the way that you ask for your reviews. To get started, add a link to a review site in your email signature. Get in touch with past clients on social media. When you hand out business cards, add a QR code that takes clients directly to the portion of the website where they can leave reviews.
For the best results, employ a little strategy in the way that you ask for reviews. Consider these tips to simplify the review process:
- Automate the ask: Asking for reviews manually takes an extreme amount of time and effort. Streamline the process of asking for reviews using pop-up forms and follow-up emails.
- Ask happy clients: Don’t ask everyone you conduct business with for a review. If you know for sure that you’ve done the best you possibly can when working with a client and they seem satisfied, go ahead and ask for a review.
- Personalize the ask: Go the extra mile, and past clients will leave a review. Send a personalized email or a text to your clients. You could even call or leave a voicemail asking for a review. If possible, use your insight to ask your clients for a review in their preferred communication style.
3. Use Software to Get More Reviews
You don’t always need to spend money or ask clients for reviews outright. Leverage the power of technology to expand your real estate business and use automation to get more reviews. With CRM software, you can streamline the process of asking clients for reviews. Consider sending out requests for reviews to any homebuyers you’ve recently worked with or sending a monthly request to your current clients. Since the process is automated, you can dedicate your time to attracting more qualified leads and closing sales.
Call Motivated Sellers
Getting homebuyers to leave reviews doesn’t need to be challenging. With the right knowledge and strategy, you can earn a higher volume of reviews. However, to get more positive reviews, you’ll also need a greater amount of clients.
If you’re looking to generate more qualified leads for your real estate business, consider recruiting a team of experienced cold callers. Call Motivated Sellers is an American-based real estate cold calling service, complete with a highly skilled sales staff. Leave the hard work of vetting your leads to us so that you can focus on closing deals and increasing profits. By partnering with Call Motivated Sellers, you can expand your reach without losing that human touch.
Ready to uncover new leads for your real estate business? Contact our team today!
Marketing by Joseph Studios