The ActiveRain Stuff You Won't Find Anywhere Else on the Web

It's been over a year since we launched Agent Ratings and Reviews. 

Today we are leading the way with more than 100,000 reviews of local real estate agents submitted by our users.  At launch, there were a few skeptics that felt that this could hurt an agent's business just as much as it could help, but, great service cultivates referral growth. Premier Agents with five or more reviews get more than twice as many contacts than agents with zero reviews.

Today, we're expanding Ratings and Reviews to all real estate professionals.  All you need is a profile on Zillow and you immediately can start requesting reviews.  Agents, lenders, title companies, stagers, inspectors etc., start taking advantage of this awesome opportunity to show off what it is that you do best!

Consumers typically write reviews to share their experiences about services, products, and people, but they're also reading reviews by others to assist them with real estate buying/selling decisions and in choosing their real estate team of professionals.  Many agents and lenders are increasing their contacts and business using client ratings and reviews.

During a "Rating and Review" webinars, ActiveRain members Peggy Lyn and Chris Speicher from the Speicher Team shared the below email. This contact became a closed transaction and their client for life.

This new client also took the time to write a glowing review for the Speicher Team.

Testimonials & Reviews

Check out the Speicher Team ActiveRain profile and see how they're using "reviews" on their page.
Here's another great sample of how they're using Ratings and Reviews on their website.
Look how Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy is using reviews: ReviewOurAgents.com
Erica Liodice from RealLiving.com shares how Ratings and Reviews are generating new business.

The Power of Consumer Reviews

Take a look at the screen shot below, it tells consumers a couple things:

1. The agent with reviews actually is working with clients selling and buying homes.

2. The agent's responses to the reviews are marketing opportunities to future viewers.

3. Agent's with large volumes of reviews translates as "many transactions" to prospects.

Check out these agents, many have more than 50 reviews.  Start requesting reviews from your past clients,  it's easy and the results will not only set you apart from the competition, the power of third-party referrals and endorsements are nearly as good as word-of-mouth referrals. Plus they stay online for others to see indefinitely.

Using the Facebook Apps/Tabs to populate your Facebook business pages with reviews is a great way to promote your five star service to social media channels.  Adding a co-branded reputation widget on your blog and website also will attract additional contacts and produce visitors looking for reputable professionals to represent them in their real estate transactions.

I know that you stand behind the services and experiences you provide to your clients.  I also know that consumers not only deserve this type of ratings and reviews service, they expect and even demand it.  I'm very excited and pleased that so many members are benefiting from this feature and service.

We recently launched our new agent reviews and endorsements feature on Zillow and many agents have come out of the gate fast and hard. Thousands of agents have already requested reviews from past and current clients. The result? Many  Hundreds of agents are getting 5-star ratings tacked onto their profiles.

Compare these two profiles on Zillow:

a. An agent with no reviews...

b. An agent with glowing reviews...

Get started now. Build your business and promote yourself in front of millions of home buyers and sellers on Zillow who use reviews and endorsements to find the brightest and best agents out there - YOU!  If you're not yet convinced about the power of online reviews, you can get more info by visiting our Agent Reviews FAQ page. 

Bottom line?  You give great service but are too humble to brag about it, so let others do it for you!!

> Start requesting your reviews <

Zillow’s New Agent Rating and Endorsement Tool

Today, Zillow launched the ability for consumers to review real estate agents they’ve worked with in the past. Millions of home shoppers visit Zillow every month, and many of them have not yet found a real estate agent to help them buy or sell their home. 

Access to reviews and endorsements of local agents can be an incredibly useful tool for consumers.

Reviews and endorsements by past clients are a powerful tool to grow business – they're the next best thing to a referral. Great agents will flourish with this addition.  With this launch, agents can solicit reviews from past or current clients, directly from their profile page on Zillow.

Zillow launched the first ever public feedback system for lenders with the launch of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace in April 2008.  On Zillow Mortgage Marketplace there are 6,500 ratings and reviews for lenders, and reviews have dramatically increased their customer contacts. Lenders with good reviews (4-5 stars) do even better - getting twice the contacts of those with lower ratings.

More than 12.5 million people visit Zillow each month.  Two-thirds of Zillow visitors are buying or selling now, or in the near future. 87% of consumers would recommend or use their agent again in the future, according to NAR’s 2010 survey of buyers/sellers.

Here's a post by Sara Bonert with some additional information.  You can get the jump on the new rating and reviews feature by going directly to http://www.zillow.com/reviews/request  since you're most likely very excited and motivated to get started and solicit some reviews immediately.  I'll also be hosting a training class over at ZillowAcademy.com with some additional Q&A soon. I hope you'll check the calendar and make some time in your schedule to join us.

Zillow’s goal has always been to help people make smarter real estate decisions by providing access to as much information as possible – be it home listings, home value information, comparable home sales or tools to find the best agent or mortgage lender.  This launch is another step in this direction of consumer empowerment.  It's also a great way to help the agents business by making their customers endorsements available.

Related Articles and posts:
Agent Reviews and Ratings FAQ  
Review Guidelines    
A Free On-line Agent Endorsement System