A spike in online review sites such as RateMyAgent and ProductReview has consumers turning to the internet for guidance, and agents are worried. Your newsletter mailing campaign might be glossy, and your signage slick, but consumers are less likely than ever before to judge an agent by its cover.  With the most recent Roy Morgan poll showing that real estate agents are amongst the least trusted professions in the country (even Federal MPs rated higher!) the power of online review sites is even greater.

Across all industries, buyers are completing more and more research before contacting a supplier.  In fact, 57% of the purchase process is complete before you even hear from a potential vendor; they’ve done that part of the process by researching you, your competitors, their property value and expectations, and their findings will mean the difference between a phone call to you or to your arch-rival across the street.  What you say and do after they’ve made contact is hugely influential, but it’s not the main part of the sales task.

So if the majority of the purchasing process happens before you make contact, and consumers are increasingly placing their trust in online review sites, you need a new approach.  The good news is with a smart strategy in place, you can get out ahead of the pack and influence online spaces to drive more business to your door.

1. Be across your reviews.  Knowledge is power, and although you don’t want to leap in and respond to every scathing comment (more on that below), you do need to know what’s being said about you.   Google Alerts is a great tool to get notifications – set it up to email you if your name is mentioned, for example – but it can be spotty.  In the end there’s no substitute for time; bookmark the major players in the review space and check them at least twice a week.

2. Be responsive.  If there is a specific complaint online, respond to it politely.  That applies whether the disgruntled consumer is posting on ProductReview or Facebook; either way, you have an audience that is wider than that consumer, and if it appears that you’re ignoring the issue, it doesn’t reflect well.  Conversely, a quick and appropriate response is often even better for your reputation than if there had been no bad review in the first place; it shows that your reviews are genuine and that you are sincere.

3. Be brief and dignified.  The above certainly doesn’t mean that online is the place to air your own views at length!  Please, please don’t be one of those owners who posts a multi-paragraph rant in response to a customer complaint and finds themselves the centre of more attention than you’d wish.

4. Encourage satisfied customers to post reviews.  To be clear, we’re not encouraging you to solicit fake reviews or pay people to submit things they don’t believe.  But if your vendor has told you how thrilled they are with your services, why not ask them to post that opinion online?  It is a truism in customer service that disgruntled consumers are more likely to be vocal than satisfied ones; a simple request is often all it takes to right that balance.

All of this takes time, and if time is short, consider outsourcing the tasks as part of your overall social media strategy.  We at the Property Writers will monitor your online reviews and bring anything that needs personalised attention straight to you, all as part of the package! Contact us for quotes.