No client reviews... No real estate clients

Most people regularly consult companies’ customer reviews to obtain information on their services, and some of them also sift through them during their searches. It’s just normal for prospects to get an idea of who they are dealing with when looking for a real estate partner, given the financial stakes!

Customer reviews have therefore become a real driver for marketing growth for all companies, including your business. In fact, they are a magnet for sellers and buyers.

Customer reviews enhance your real estate know-how and expertise by conveying trustworthiness to prospects while distinguishing you from the competition. Key steps towards new mandates.

• 51% to stand out from the competition
• 52% to advertising expertise
• 56% +7% vs 2019 to increase the trust that prospective clients have

The impact of customer reviews:

• 97% find it an essential guarantee of transparency toward customers
• 96% think it creates an additional bond of trust between you and your customers
• 93% find it an effective business case
• 81% say it motivates them in their daily professional activities

A seller is, first and foremost, a consumer. They want to ensure that you are the best choice to sell their property quickly and at the desired price. And how do they do it? They carry out research to confirm that they have made the best choice.

Top 3 ways to make a decision

• The Internet: social networks, the company’s website
• Word of mouth (family, friends, experts)
• Customer reviews posted online on Google and specialized platforms such as Se Loger or Meilleur Agents (French Real Estate portal)

You suspected it, but now it’s confirmed. Customer reviews are the holy grail for any consumer! A person shares their experience as a customer during a real estate sale. They give a score, state their opinion, and express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your professionalism, the quality of services (estimation, visit report, etc.), availability, follow-up, etc.

Here, expression is free, without filters or management. This is real life. Their testimony is credible. Take the prospect’s side in search of the right real estate partner: and save time! The influence of this transfer of information from one client to another is more important than advertising and boosts mandates.

Undoubtedly, customer testimonies are nothing less than digital word of mouth. Previously, we used to express our opinions over a coffee, or we would ask the pharmacist what they thought of the estate agent around the corner. Today, we share this information with as many people as possible and on any medium: google pages, google reviews, real estate platforms, or even social networks.

66% of individuals prefer to choose an agency with customer reviews rather than one without any. And 70% of them trust customer reviews in the real estate industry. These are figures that increase year on year, meaning this is a fundamental trend that you should not miss. A study on the perception & attitude towards customer reviews carried out with three targets: a representative sample of French people aged 25 to 75 who have used the services of a real estate agent in the last 5 years, a sample of 1108 customers of Opinion System members, a sample of 285 real estate professionals, Opinion System members (Ifop-Opinion system, 2020).

For 1 out of 2 individuals, the absence of customer reviews for an agency is simply not reassuring (Ifop-Opinion system, 2020).

Customers need hard evidence to find their bearings. Viewing the latest published reviews lets them form a first opinion on the agency’s seriousness.

And the good news, they trust agencies with many reviews, even if the overall score is not the highest possible. For Romain Cartier, “100% positive reviews do not exist. Negative opinions are not the end of the world. It happens to the best!” (Isn’t that so, Romain?!) In fact, negative ratings make the prospect more secure… provided that they have a majority of positive opinions.

2 rules to keep in mind:

1. No customer reviews: your phone and email will remain silent, and customers will not cross the threshold of your agency.
2. Many customer reviews: many customers have already put their trust in you! Evidence by example.

The positive scores posted online are good. But some go further to find out more. 50% of prospects compare reputations (Ifop-Opinion system, 2020) to ensure the information on other sites is true. In journalistic or police language, this is called “cross-referencing information”. So they’re real detectives, actually. It must be said that fake customer reviews on the web are common.

To make sure you have top customer reviews, it is important to do a few things First of all, be aware of the consistency of reviews on the different platforms you are on (Google My Business, social networks, etc.). Secondly, make sure that the average score is about the same on all the platforms. Then, you must always respond to the opinions by identifying yourself: be courteous and professional during the conversation. Respond to negative reviews by trying to understand what has been misperceived to remedy it. According to a study by Reevo, the conversion rate increases by 67% when the company responds to a negative comment. Finally, you need to have a large review volume (10 on average), unless you are new, of course.

Why verify reviews? This is all about further boosting the trust of Internet users still worried about false reviews.

The 3 milestones of trust - What three things contribute most to you relying on real estate customer reviews (Ifop-Opinion system, 2020)?

• 38% – reviews being collected by an independent body
• 40% – reviews being checked and verified by a certifying body
• 50% – the presence of neutral or negative opinions and not only positive ones

You can quickly and easily build good habits to collect reviews. We agree that this will take a little time and energy initially. But the time spent will quickly pay off.

Let your customer know that their opinion is important and you need their help. Ask them for a personalised review or testimonial at the end of the sale. By then, they will have been able to verify the effectiveness of your actions from start to finish. This is a good way to add value but also to show the customer that you are listening to their remarks.

Put them front and center on your site and on social networks, and add images. You can present them on your site, on a dedicated page, without forgetting the overall rating. On Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram, select and present the best customer reviews, as this is a particularly powerful recommendation. Facilitating and communicating customer reviews inevitably attracts prospects and encourages other customers to post their comments.

• Your best ambassador is the seller or buyer who leaves a review. They become a tester for others.
• This content is golden. So, optimize your visibility and not just your digital presence. Distribute these reviews via all your traditional media: flyers, local newspapers, and window displays.

Customer reviews can be collected directly in person, by email, text messages, telephone reminders, etc. You know your customers a little bit. Adapt your communication channel to each customer’s mode of operation!

Obtaining mandates while sellers are waiting and researching, while competition between professionals is exacerbated, is far from easy. Customer testimonials will provide a real audience for your narrative and give your business a headstart. The best to the worst; share them all!