We all know the benefits of a good client testimonial – just like Yelp or TripAdvisor, having great client reviews on your website can really help drive business your way. But, how do agents successfully get good reviews and testimonials from past clients? Obviously, being a great agent and knowing your business is the first key to the puzzle. However, there are other ways of getting great testimonials, and we’ve laid them out below:
Simply, ask!
Clients are humans too – they understand building a business and they will understand how helpful positive reviews can be to you. However, many people need prompting at the end of their home-buying process and a friendly reminder email or call can be a great, low-effort way to get a good review on your website. And, since you know which clients you have made the happiest, you will know who to reach out to and how to ask them for a review in the most effective manner.
Encourage Clients to be Thorough
It doesn’t help much to say, “Joe is a great realtor” — but it does help to say “Joe is a great realtor because he helped address my concerns about the school districts to move into, while being mindful of selling our old home during the summer so we could move before school started in fall” The more information, the more the testimonial seems realistic, since it’s more detailed. Also, since readers can identify with the problem and see themselves in the reviewer’s shoes, extensive detail makes a more impactful testimonial and helps drive more business your way.
Posting is User-Friendly
If you are helping clients give you a good review, you have to make sure that it would be easy for them to share on their own, across multiple platforms and social sites. Put links in your emails of these review-outlets – so people can then post reviews on to Yelp, Facebook, Google, Zillow, and more. You can even include a little “Thank You” gift card for each positive review posted – a good way to incentivize clients at a low cost to you!
Utilize Your Testimonials
Use your testimonials in direct marketing campaigns. Make sure they are cross-posted to all your web pages, and don’t be shy to point them out to potential clients. People tend to follow the reviews of other people (even people they haven’t met), so you want to utilize this human trait and guide potential new clients to what your happy past clients have said. Plus, since almost everyone will be googling you before dealing with you, it’s important that Google provides a plentiful source of good reviews for them to read.
