Agent-review sites gaining ground
More consumers going online to snoop agent reputations
By Mary Umberger, Wednesday, September 16, 2009.
Flickr photo by DavidHBolton.If they were looking for someone to handle the biggest financial transaction of their lives, you'd think that most people would ask for something more substantial than a thumbs-up from the guy down the block.
Not that neighbors aren't to be trusted -- friend-to-friend recommendations hold a time-honored place in the marketplace, and recent studies show them to be the most-often-used method of finding an agent.
But in this age of sliding property values, rampant mortgage fraud and widespread angst over that former sure-thing called real estate, there's plenty at stake here. Shouldn't you snoop that real estate agent a bit more before signing on any dotted lines?
After all, consumers these days routinely go online to scope out restaurants, hotels and even medical care. Real estate agent credentials and reputations are out there to be had, too, and the curious can go way beyond merely Googling a name.
The real estate industry has been slow to realize how much consumers now depend on the Internet to vet the professionals they work with, says Marilyn Wilson, an industry consultant with the WAV Group in Arroyo Grande, Calif., who has published research on the concept of "reputation sharing."
"There's transparency everywhere these days, but you can get more information about your book on Amazon.com than you can about your Realtor," she said.
"Doctors and lawyers are doing it, but (real estate) has resisted it significantly. They've been afraid of it."
Nonetheless, information is out there. Although recent research from the National Association of Realtors showed that only 3 percent of consumers actually found their agents through online searches, a far larger percentage seem not to be averse to poking around to check them out: A recent study by Yahoo.com found that nearly 40 percent of consumers are going online to learn about agent reputation. But as with everything else on the Web, some sources are more credible than others.
But where to begin? Set aside, for a minute, issues of market expertise, communication and other job skills. Does your agent actually possess a real estate license?
You might be surprised. In California alone, that state's Department of Real Estate between 1998 and 2008 issued more than 750 cease-and-desist orders to companies engaged in real estate sales that lacked licenses. ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by David Montgomery on September 16, 2009 - 4:37am.
Perhaps providing links to objective sources like the real estate commission for review of complaints and their formal resolutions would be more accurate and less likely to contain emotional outbursts. I have seen some on-line accusations where clients are venting on issues that are not the responsibility of the real estate agent. According to some sources, it takes a long time to recover from the damage of false accusations.
Transparency... Good! Misleading attacks... Bad! Let's refer the public to sources of higher reliability: Such as the Better Business Bureau and the state real estate commission. Agents don't need to be the source for 3rd parties to benefit from tabloid reporting.
Submitted by Doug Wolfe on September 16, 2009 - 6:08am.
A "thumbs up" from the guy down the block is more than some folks seek. I am surprised at the number of clients I have worked with who just call and work with the first agent who answers the phone. I have had a couple of nice sales that way. But it surprises me still.
Submitted by Lane Barnett on September 16, 2009 - 6:27am.
Independent service evaluation and transparency of results is the only way to build a lasting brand in our industry and provide meaningful differentiation. We are a Quality Service Certified company and we not only ask every client to grade us in detail but we post the results on our web site and the QSC national site. This not only builds our reputation for proven customer service it helps mitigate any negative feedback from the "whack jobs" that agents often use as an excuse for avoiding customer evaluation at all.
How real estate companies can profess to be a "service businesses" and not measure and enforce service standards is why agents and companies are held in such low regard.
Submitted by Marilyn Wilson on September 16, 2009 - 9:58am.
I know that many agents are fearful of sharing consumer feedback because they believe their clients may say negative things. The reality is that successful agents usually have extremely satisfied customers who are happy to share positive feedback.
I think about my own behavior for choosing everything from a digital camera to a school for my daughter. I seek out ratings from fellow customers so that I can learn about the true performance of a product or service, not just the advertising promise.
Agents work really hard for their reputations. They can use tools like the one Lane mentions above, QSC or the HAR service to take credit for their excellent customer service and profit from it. The great thing about this type of service is that it truly is objective - nobody except those that have actually completed a transaction can participate. You cannot buy your way into a strong rating, as it should be.
If you would like to read the report Mary mentions in the article called Reputation Marketing, you can download it at http://waves.wavgroup.com/attention-buyera-039-s-agents-do-not-give-away...
Submitted by Ray Wood on September 16, 2009 - 11:22am.
It's really difficult, maybe impossible, to get an accurate and fair on-line agent rating model.
The information about an agent will fall into one of two categories.
1. Objective, factual data... this information is event driven and includes things like number of transactions, listings, complaints, awards, education, market ranking, etc.
2. Subjective information.. this includes client opinions, endorsement, feedback, etc.
If the data are collected by an independent source,the most fair is the subjective category.
The reason?... It is the most difficult to skew or control the results.
The problem with objective data as a measurement is that it is very easy for the agent to skew and spin the data. Let me give you two examples.
Teams... most teams pass all of the transactions through the team's primary agent. So Sally Smith & Associates with three buyer's agents, a transaction coordinator a listing specialist might have three times the production of Mary Smith who is a top-producing single agent. If Mary sells $10M a year and Sally's team sells $30M the data will show that Sally is three times as productive as Mary. When in fact Mary is almost twice as productive as Sally's on a per-person basis.
Listings... an agent can take over-priced listings and drive listing numbers way up. Conversely, an agent can encourage sellers to under-price listings and drive DOM way down.
Neither tactic is in the best interest of sellers.
Ray Wood Assoc. Broker, ePro Prudential Jack White-Vista Real Estate Wasilla, AKRay Wood
Assoc. Broker, ePro
Prudential Jack White-Vista Real Estate
Wasilla, AK
Submitted by Michael Erdman on September 16, 2009 - 11:26am.
AgentsCompared.com, launched in July, helps prospective Chicagoland home buyers and sellers make more informed decisions when selecting an agent.
Knowing our limitations, we deliberately chose not to include any type of rating mechanism on the site. Too easy for anonymous reviewers (who may or may not be former clients) to defame an agent. Also too easy for an agent (however few might try it) to game the system. We also stayed away from selling broker advertising or preferred placements in search results.
Kudos to the folks Mary identified that are in a position to authenticate reviewer identity and that make such reviews publicly available (ZipRealty, Redfin & HAR).
Michael Erdman
President & Founder
AgentsCompared.com
Submitted by Scott Romito on September 16, 2009 - 12:08pm.
There may not be anything more compelling to a consumer than independently gathered data showing what your past customers think of your product or service.
At the same time, offering transparency and using customer feedback to manage your quality may be the two most important things you can do to ensure the growth of your business.
Scott Romito
CFO, QSC
www.qualityservice.org
Submitted by donald moore on September 16, 2009 - 12:56pm.
I've been allowing my clients to post their on-going experiences with my real estate services on my website for the past year by giving their home sale an unmoderated blog posting page available for everyone to see. They are the only ones who can post to their home sale page.
This gives the client some control over our relationship by giving them a place they can go to comment about my service if they have an issue rather than some third party site where who knows what is going on. I can try to head them off at the pass by working to satisfy their perceived grievances before it gets to that point.
So far so good. No complaints yet...
Donald J. Moore, MAI
Principal Broker
Houses100, LLC
Elm Grove, WI
Submitted by Bruno Skopinich on September 16, 2009 - 1:06pm.
It pays to tell your clients all you do for them.. don't assume they know or recognize all your work and efforts.
Explain and educate them.
But... it must be done in a non-bragging manner. Be diplomatic.
This has worked wonders for me... as 80 percent of my business is referral.