Glowing reviews have the ability to propel your business’s growth. They are a valuable commodity in the real estate industry, and should be treated as such. You can count on almost every potential client looking into your reviews before reaching out to you. Are they going to be impressed with what they find? If you put the time in to get as many quality reviews as possible, you will make an impression on every potential client they will not soon forget.
How to Get More Positive Reviews
Take the time and effort needed to cultivate an environment where people want to review you, and you will undoubtedly see a positive effect on your business. To begin creating that environment, start with the steps below.
Outright ask for reviews.
Being direct and asking for a review from a client is the first step in accumulating more reviews. If you target your clients that you know were very satisfied with your service, you will see even more results from simply asking. You can send them an email, give them a card with a QR code taking them to a page to leave a review, or reach out to them on social media. The bottom line is there are a variety of ways to make this request. So mix it up and see which method gives you the best results.
Make writing the review as simple as possible.
It should come at no surprise that when something is easy to do, more people will be inclined to do it. So, make it as simple and easy as possible for your client’s to leave reviews for you. To go about this try implementing one, or more, or these strategies:
- Provide sample, or prewritten reviews. These will be a big hit with clients, and they let you drive the narrative of some of your reviews. To do this you can provide your client with a few bullet points of the highlights you had working together for them to use as inspiration. You could also write up a generic review you feel captures your experience together and let your client edit it, or approve it as is. Basically you just do a majority of the leg work and thinking that goes into writing a review, so your clients don’t have anything to stress over.
- Provide a direct link to a write-a-review box. People don’t want to have to search around (or really put any effort forth) in order to leave a review. So, attach the direct link they will need to leave a review. Then all they have to do is write in the box and click submit.
- Make it mobile friendly. A person’s phone is usually an extension of their body. So, making it mobile friendly to leave a review is a convenience factor that should not be underestimated.
Provide strong incentives.
Right next to simplicity, incentives are a great way to encourage positive reviews from clients. Yes, a majority of incentives will cost you money, but you don’t have to use this tactic long term. You can always phase it in and out as it suites the conditions of your business. If you want more reviews fast though, this is definitely the way to go. People love being rewarded, so tapping into that is an excellent way to drive reviews.
Get creative with your incentives to find one that truly fits your business. Here are a few ideas to help you start brainstorming:
- Free promotion. If your client has a business of any sort offer to promote their business on your social media accounts if they leave a review.
- Charitable donation. Donate $10 to any approved charity of a client’s choosing.
- Personalized thank you gift. This could be anything from a $5 Starbucks gift card, to succulent plants for your clients new home. Anything personalized that shows you are thankful for their time and consideration will do.
Follow-up all your requests.
People get busy and distracted very easily. Someone may have had every intention of leaving you a review, even told you they would, and then never did. This is bound to happen, and there is no harm in sending them one follow-up email about leaving a review. Of course you don’t want to annoy them by sending them tons of emails, but a simple and polite follow-up email giving a short explanation of why reviews are so important to your business can go a long way. It’s a reminder to your clients that they can have a big impact on your business, and most will take kindly to that.
Ensuring Your Reviews Benefit Your Business
Simply by your reviews existing on the internet your business will be benefited, but there are ways to maximize that benefit. When you intentionally promote your reviews, you are taking the initiative instead of relying on potential clients to seek the reviews out themselves. So, do not hesitate to take advantage of your client’s kind words in order to spark up more business.
Use them in promotional content.
You can utilize your reviews in a large variety of promotional content you create. Reviews could be featured in materials given out when prospecting, online ads, content given to clients you do listing presentations for, flyers posted around town, and much more. Overall reviews are an excellent way to build trust with potential clients, so including them in any written or virtual promotional content you produce is always something worth considering.
Feature them on social media.
Social media provides you with a massive audience, so putting your stunning reviews there is never a bad idea. Dress up your reviews by making them into a fun graphic, gif, or short video. Vibrant pictures or interesting animation will catch the attention of any viewer for at least a second. Which will help prevent everyone from simply just scrolling by all your positive reviews.
Not only will featuring your reviews on social media spark the interest of potential clients, it will also encourage more of your previous clients to leave a review themselves. So, you really can’t go wrong with this tactic.
Above All Else Provide Excellent Service
Truly in order to encourage more positive reviews you need to ensure that you are providing the best possible service to your clients. Without you going above and beyond for them, they will not feel the need to do the same for you. So, do everything you can for your clients, and be the strong presence they need while going through their real estate journey. If you are able to do that for them, your reviews will reflect that commitment, and potential clients will take notice.
Madison Clifton has been a part of the marketing team at Transactly for one year, in addition to being in the pursuit of her bachelor’s degree. She spends her days working with social media, and writing blog posts for Transactly, as well as continuing her education. In her free time she loves to dance, read, and go exploring.
