Online reviews are the golden ticket to gaining new consumers, but they can also be a real estate professional's worst nightmare because not every review is positive.
Negative reviews can lower your star rating, make potential leads reconsider utilizing you, and are often utterly unfair. They are, nevertheless, a necessary aspect of doing business and must be handled professionally.
According to Brightlocal's annual Local Consumer Review Survey, more customers are reading online reviews than ever before, with 77% saying they always check reviews when researching local businesses.
Reviews, whether you like them or not, are here to stay and may make or break your online conversions. You must cope with negative internet company evaluations; but, how should you respond? Here are some suggestions for responding to both negative and good ones.
1. Understand Your Brand Guidelines
Create standards for your personal real estate brand and follow them when responding to reviews. As a real estate agent, it may seem unusual to consider your name and firm to be a "brand." This approach, on the other hand, can help you maintain perspective when reacting to feedback from previous clients.
Consider what impressions you want your clients to have of your professionalism and personality. Define your driving motivation as a real estate agent. Then, keep these concepts in mind while you establish your company's internet presence.
2. Take Advice From Others
Every criticism is not an attack, but rather a chance to improve. Is there any truth in a mediocre review? You can improve your work by using negative criticism. This can be a difficult and humbling exercise, but adopting a growth-oriented mindset is one of the most effective methods to advance in any field.
Even if the final result was a successful sale or home purchase, there are a few service triggers that might generate rifts with clients. If your consumers accuse you of not listening or failing to return phone calls, it's a sign that your service needs to be improved to match your results.
Make an effort to become more organized. Take notes, return calls within a few hours, and work on improving your listening skills. Use negative feedback to help your business become more positive. After all, fresh positive feedback always outweighs previous negative feedback.
3. Recognize When To Respond
Engaging with a negative review isn't the most enjoyable activity, but it can demonstrate your dedication to your consumers and your own progress. If the review is mixed, thanking the client for their criticism and indicating how you can improve will help you make amends and strengthen your reputation with other online users.
Begin by thanking the reviewer for their input, then recognize the criticism and offer to rectify the situation. This does not have to be dramatic, but offering a phone call to your customer service number or a clear pledge to address this in the future will demonstrate that you are an active, responsive real estate agent.
4. Recognize When Not To Respond
You don't have to respond to every nasty review, especially if it's false. Many online users understand to take extreme reviews with a grain of salt and to gain a more complete picture by paying attention to overall patterns rather than isolated complaints.
Once in a blue moon, you may receive a nasty review that feels explosive for no apparent reason. Giving credibility to an unreasonable reviewer may bring greater problems in the long term. Researchers discovered that reacting to unfavorable TripAdvisor reviews made hotel companies appear worse to potential guests if the majority of their evaluations were positive.
The psychology behind the effect is a little murky, and it contradicts previous studies, but it does demonstrate that using some discretion when deciding which evaluations would benefit from a response is a good idea.
5. Remain Calm And Cool
You may be tempted to provide screenshots of the actual discussion or go point-by-point to demonstrate how the consumer is incorrect in publicly criticizing your company. This reaction feels satisfactory at the moment — "I'll show them what's really going on" — but it's doomed to fail.
Such a response will not endear you to your audience. After all, being calm under pressure is one of the keys to providing excellent real estate customer service. Demonstrate to potential consumers that you can manage interactions confidently and professionally.
Online Reviews Can Help You Grow Your Business
The old adage that "all press is good press" isn't quite accurate, but you'll get your name out there and have the option to reply in a way that benefits your business. Don't be scared to contact dissatisfied clients. Some may even rescind their statements or provide an update.
However, don't change mistakes merely for the sake of a review. Make things right since it demonstrates your brand's credibility and helps develop a customer-first pattern.