As you probably already know, we have a real estate agent review website that gets a fair amount of traffic and a fair amount of reviews left by consumers (Incredible Real Estate Agents). This topic has stirred a lot of controversy and we are a part of it everyday. Many agents want to be taken off the site and don’t want to be reviewed at all. Many complain about the reviews that were left on their profile. Some actually threaten lawsuits and so far we have 1 death threat. Needless to say it’s a very hot topic.

At Incredible Agent we’re about helping agents become INCREDIBLE by using the power of the Internet to capture leads and ultimately sell more homes. One of the key components of this process is re-enforcing your marketing materials with “Third Party Credibility”. We don’t believe reviews are meant to be open complaint sessions for clients to critique their real estate agent. Sure, that can certainly be done, however we believe agents should be utilizing their positive client testimonials to gain even more clients. Agents can view this as a huge liability or they can view it as a huge asset. It’s up to them to decide how to use this.

I have an agent that I’ve been working with for years who hangs all his client testimonials up in his office. Every letter is framed and signed from the client. When working with relocation clients he literally mails them a booklet of the same testimonial letters that he has collected over the years he’s been in business. If you’re looking to nail down a potential clients committment, I assure you this is a great tactic.

Agents have used this same kind of tactic for years. We all know that one of the best ways to gain a client is to be referred by another client. That “Third Party Credibility” is very powerful in all types of sales. Word of mouth travels fast and we all need to embrace it to be successful. Just think how popular Myspace.com would have been if other people weren’t referred to it by their friends. It’s all about creating “Third Party Credibility” and that’s where Real Estate Agent reviews become highly useful.

The only difference between testimonials and reviews is that people can leave negative comments along side the positive comments. The fear of a few negative comments causes so many agents to freak out. The truth is that most comments are positive comments. Especially if the agents send their happy clients to their profile to leave a positive comment. There’s nothing wrong with pushing your clients to your profile for a few reviews.

Many agents understand this point, many don’t. However the agents who take advantage of and manage their online presence will be far ahead of the agents who don’t.

So my question to you is…”Are you for or against real estate agent reviews and why do you feel the way you do?” I’d love to hear some feedback on this issue as it is a daily topic around the Incredible Agent office.

BTW: Sorry for the delay in my posts. Just a little busy being Incredible elsewhere.

6 Responses to “For or Against Real Estate Agent Reviews” immobilienportale.com - Immobilien Blog » Vor- und Nachteile von Maklerbewertungen Says: […] Damon Pace von Incredible Agent, betreibt auf der Plattform Incredible Agents einen Dienst, bei dem Bewertungen und Kommentare zu Immobilienmaklern aus den USA abgegeben werden können. Die Makler werden nach den Kriterien Fachwissen, Höflichkeit, Informationsfluss, Website und Effektivität bewertet, woraus sich zusätzlich noch eine Gesamtwertung ergibt. Eigentlich ist das eine tolle Sache. Für den Kunden, der sich vorher schon informieren kann und auch für den Makler, der potenziellen Kunden die hoffentlich möglichst zahlreichen positiven Bewertungen ehemaliger Kunden zeigen kann. Leider sind nicht alle Immobilienmakler begeistert von diesem System, wie man in Damons Blog lesen kann. Diesen Artikel bookmarken Diese Icons verzweigen auf soziale Netzwerke bei denen Nutzer neue Inhalte finden und mit anderen teilen können. […] May 9th, 2007 at 12:12 am Bobb Says: It is a shame that people have requested to be taken off the site and it is utterly ridiculous that someone has even sent you a death threat. But by all means…you should NOT get rid of your real estate agent reviews. It is a great resource for people and if agents are unhappy with their reviews, well then they need to work on becoming a better agent. FOR the reviews all the way. Since there are people heavily involved in the real estate industry I wanted to ask if anyone has seen the show Bought & Sold on HGTV? Its about 12 agents in the Northern Jersey market and follows them around showing houses and closing deals. Very interesting show. Its on Sundays at 10pm e/p time if you’re interested. I know all of this because I work with them. I was just curious if anybody who frequents this site has seen it and if so, what they think of it. May 9th, 2007 at 10:14 am DER|FROGBLOG Says: […] Alles in allem ist „Incredible Agents” eine super Möglichkeit für Immobilienkunden, sich vorab über Makler zu informieren. Unter Immobilienmaklern allerdings wird das Thema sehr kontrovers diskutiert. Viele haben Angst vor öffentlichen Negativ-Bewertungen und möchten nicht in der Maklerliste der Seite geführt werden, berichtet Damon Pace, CEO von Incredible Agent, in seinem Blog. Angeblich erhielt er sogar schon eine Todesdrohung… Tststs…  […] May 12th, 2007 at 10:19 am Agent Scoreboard Says: Good post… Did you really get a death threat? Stupid. Its like teaching someone to write with their left hand. You just have to keep at it. Credibility Marketing will probably be the most important new phenomena over the next 5 years. June 7th, 2007 at 9:05 pm Mary Beth Hurtado & Elliott Lewis Says: Referrals are the “back bone” of our business June 22nd, 2007 at 8:03 pm Cheryl Austin Says: I think Agent Reviews are Great. I am a new realtor trying to merge my way into a very competitive market. I hear a lot of feedback from people who think their agents are absolutely horrible, no showings, won’t return calls, no feedback, no advertising, etc. I think this is a great place to do some research and try to be a terrific realtor. October 16th, 2007 at 12:46 pm Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website