Prospects Want Agent Ratings, Whether the Industry Likes It or Not

Contributor Suresh Srinivasan of ReachFactor says:

It’s still the same old story: Consumers like product ratings and reviews, and the industry doesn’t. Whether it’s manufacturers of products, writers of books, makers of movies or professionals wading into the world of online reputation marketing, everyone wants a good rating, but no one wants a bad one. But before you decide to throw the baby out with the bathwater and disallow clients or customers from rating your real estate services entirely, it’s important to remember that ratings — good or bad — can improve your business.

On October 7th in Tucson, Arizona, the CEO of ReachFactor and several other real estate industry leaders met at the 54th annual CMLS (Council of Multiple Listing Services) conference to discuss how social media builds trust between consumers and the real estate industry. On the topic of real estate agent reviews, moderator Marilyn Wilson said that her research has shown that buyers and sellers are demanding agent ratings. “So how come,” she asked, “does the industry combat implementation of ratings? Don’t you think consumers want ratings of agents, mechanics and every service they use?”

Eric Charbonneau, a Canadian MLS executive, added that public perception of real estate agents causes agents to fear publishing reviews and testimonials. But agent reviews, he believes, could help put real estate agents in more positive light.

Broker Jay Thompson said he built his own ratings site using Wordpress, handling all the technical aspects and promotions. While he’s happy to have only 5-star ratings, he wishes some would come in lower to make the reviews seem more credible. This raised an interesting point in general, that the integrity of online reviews needs to be maintained for people to trust them in the first place — another reason why allowing a negative review to be published could be in a real estate agent’s best interests.

Zillow encourages consumers to leave reviews of agents midstream during a transaction process and after. ReachFactor CEO Suresh Srinivasan was asked if his real estate marketing service allows mid-process reviews. “We don’t allow this,” he said, “because there’s no way to verify those people actually were in process with that agent. I think it’s important that the industry only promote verified reviews of real estate agents to consumers, and today there’s no good way to verify that someone who says they are mid-stream with an agent was actually ever using that agent.”

When asked, all participants on the panel agreed that agent reviews received from consumers are overwhelmingly positive, which surprised many in the audience.

Keeping the above in mind, it’s important to allow buyers and sellers to review your services at closing. It’s what the consumer wants, what new prospects want, and it can only improve your services by delivering feedback on your skills and personality during the transaction.

To view the original post, and for more great content from Suresh and his team, visit the ReachFactor blog.