There's an unexpected twist to a new website, www.bestprofessional.co.uk, which carries online reviews of agents' performances - because the reviews are all invited' rather than submitted independently.
The site, which has just launched, plays to the growing trend of vendors searching the internet to get an indication of which estate agents to instruct. It suggests to agents that if they have a significant and supportive online profile' on the website, this will improve the likelihood of them being contacted by would-be sellers.
It also says each office - rather than the branded agency in its entirety - should have its own profile, as service levels vary from branch to branch.
However, it states clearly on the website's How It Works page that No random reviews can be left for you, all reviews are by invitation.
The press release launching the service quotes founder Richard Rendell, described as a property entrepreneur, as saying: As with holidays, hotels and any number of items and services, it has now become the norm to read reviews before making a financial decision. We believe in the traditional agency and .... we aim to help agencies get their message across, that they offer a good service and good value for their clients.
The site also asks local agents to compete against each other to be one of three to offer a sales or rental valuation when a prospective vendor registers on the site.
Rendell is operating the service through Trust Pilot, a Danish-based global e-commerce firm which operates online review platforms.
Comments
Online agents generate business by displaying their customer reviews and this is the way forward for all products and services. High St agents are seeing the light and realising that a good review history can be used to gain instructions.
I know Trustpilot is used by loads of the online agents already and seems to be a good way for them to get reviews and build a reputation which is tricky for a new proposition without a high street presence. The rest seem to be ok with being on allagents. Would be interesting to see how many High Street agents see the value in it. They spoke to my agent comparison site [url="http://www.sellingup.com"]http://www.sellingup.com[/url] about being featured and it's something we are considering as other comparison sites like broadband choices seem to be using them effectively. The test of the credibility will be if they get leaned on by agents to edit/remove reviews.
Hi Oliver,
Yes we are a Trust Pilot agent. We are all selling! We've got a great deal for those who want to try the service and if you build up good reviews it will help you increase you instruction base.
All the best,
Richard
Hi Richard, so you are a reseller of Trustpilot then Nothing wrong with that, I just wanted to clarify.
Hi Oliver,
Richard Here www.bestprofessional.co.uk founder. Many apologies about the portal wording, we have changed this to be more generic. We don't want to enter the portal wars discussion. Yes we are a lead generation site but you choose to be involved in that or not. What the article didn't say is we are offering a 150pcm review package for 15pcm, a 90% discount. If you email us we can show you agents that are using their reviews to get instructions. There's no gimmic here, just a great offer.
That website appears to just white label Trustpilot as an afterthought, it is simply a lead generation service for agents based on a bidding system. Quote from How it Works page: "All estate agents advertise on either Zoopla and/ or Rightmove so who is willing to go the extra mile to secure your business...". Not the case any more!