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The EAT and LAT sites have been full of stories recently about online review sites being set up where customers can rate or slate their agents.

In the lettings world, the statutory consumer watchdog Consumer Focus wants the industry itself to set up just such a ‘tripadvisor’ site.

And not long ago, EAT covered the launch of my own new site, Agent Tracker.

My firm belief is that agents who do not embrace customer reviews will be left behind.

The culture of customer reviews is now firmly entrenched in our society and it is undoubtedly here to stay. Almost any product or service available online now comes with a list of reviews left by previous customers, whether it’s plumbers, hotels, restaurants, films, toys, beauty products or clothes. 

Customers of estate agents can now review the service they receive on Agent Tracker, which many agents have been extremely sceptical about, but in fact this revolution in customer feedback is already taking place, whether you like it or not.  

For some time, customers have been reviewing agents on local neighbourhood sites and on social networking forums such as Twitter and Facebook. Increasingly, customers expect to read reviews before they commit to any product or service, and it won’t be long before this becomes the norm in our industry and customers will simply only consider instructing an estate agent who has accessible reviews from other customers.

This represents a new challenge for agents, and those who refuse to acknowledge and accept the new landscape will lose valuable business. 

So, how should estate agents approach the review culture? While the first reaction of many is to ignore it, I believe it is essential that agents are part of the debate taking place about their own service.  

The only credible response is to embrace it – if you can’t beat them, join them.

If people will be commenting on your service come what may, then it clearly pays to be part of the debate, highlighting good customer care, confronting and resolving any negative feedback and publicising positive reviews, rather than crossing fingers and hoping nobody says anything bad.

A good customer experience will lead to positive reviews and those can help generate new instructions.  

Yes, there will inevitably be the odd negative comment, but the customer review culture is already ensuring that those customers can make their voices heard, and you can’t stop them.

It is preferable to manage negative feedback within the environment of a review site, where you will be instantly aware of it and can respond as you see fit. More importantly, by ensuring that the service you provide delivers a far higher volume of good reviews than bad and a strong overall star rating, customers will be given a positive overall impression of your business. 

Highlighting high standards in the industry might also finally do away with estate agents’ undeserved bad reputation and instead demonstrate how essential you are to the home buying and selling process.
 

Martin Reynolds is the founder of

Comments

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    I have no axe to grind - one way or the other.

    That Agent Tracker web site has very inaccurate data.

    The most successful (by a mile) agent in my local high street is not listed. The one next door - which shut down at least 2 years ago - is listed. Two more that have shut in the last few years (both a good couple of years ago) are still listed.

    Others are listed twice - Fred Bloggs and Fred Bloggs and Co - same address - software so useless it can't determine it is the same company.

    The problem with review sites is that they generally only attract people that are not happy for one reason or another and - of course - there is the potential for everyone to go on there and leave negative reviews about their competition.

    • 29 March 2011 11:52 AM
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    I just looked at Agent Tracker for my town, and, with four active agents on the high street, AT shows none registered with AT, and two as 'not registered' - however, only one of these is currently trading - the other shut up shop over a year ago!

    • 16 March 2011 11:11 AM
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    Sorry website is allagents, not alltheagents

    • 15 March 2011 16:47 PM
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    Sorry Martin, said it last time, and will say it again, this is nothing new and not gonna we a winner in my eyes.

    The biggest comparison site 'all the agent' been running a few years now and its FREE, where has it got, nowhere. It is majorly floored, as is yours because

    1) Nobody knows about it
    2) It compares hardly any agents as no body is registered there.
    3) It seems to be a battlefield of neagtive people with vendettas against agents.

    I will not be spending my hard earned ££'s when it could be spent on other more effective things.

    Also its horrible seeing a website live with horribly inaccurate data, searched my local areas, agents been closed for years, wrong numbers, emails, some agents have never ever traded in town.

    If there is one sure thing I can tell you about the agents the post here (your target market) they hate inaccurate data.

    • 15 March 2011 15:17 PM
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    Rick: Unfortunately, Mr Reynolds has NOT, as we describe, raised his head above the parapets ANY MORE!

    On the first breaking of this news story some weeks ago, he was quite vocal. In fairness, he took it pretty much like a man, which is why I am surprised he has not stepped up to the plate on this occasion. perhaps, a la Mr Realising Reality, he does not feel me worthy of response (or at least a response answering the questions I pose the man...).

    Maybe now, with someone of YOUR standing posing questions, he may take the Blackadder stance once more and push over the lip of the trench...

    • 15 March 2011 15:14 PM
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    Oh Im glad you have raised your head above the parapet on this site.

    Ive been meaning to ask you where you got hold of your database of estate agents that are on your super duper ratemyagent website?

    The reason for asking is that you seem to have agents on thier that shut up shop over three years ago.

    I think agents have a hard enough time in the present market without unprofressional websites proliferated with dubious data - what a sham

    • 15 March 2011 14:53 PM
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    Martin: You're either a brave man to raise your own head above the parapet here... or one with an agenda.

    Speaking as a non-Agent (although I WAS one for over a dozen years...) in essence there is nothing wrong with the concept of a rating site for Agents. Quite a few currently exist - so one has to wonder why you decided to join in the party at this stage.

    YOUR problem is an age-old one - that of chicken and egg. If you don't let people know that you are there, then they will never find out and you won't get any business. On the other hand, if you come out all guns blazing, as you did, with the new bestest thing since knife and bread were introduced on a chopping board, but without any evidence of the said business you needed, then you look a monkey. Unfortunately, your site fell into the second category.

    And here we are, several weeks later - you come out for the bell of Round 2, barely recognisable from the beating you took in the first flurry of blows. AND YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED A THING!! STILL no movement on your site (in fact, a backward step as the map seems to have given up the ghost and deserted you...), so I would suggest that you are going to get another towsing!

    I would have expected that you would have taken on board the relevant (and highly pertinent) comments that the initial story brought to the surface. After all, Agents are your paying customers - so THEIR thoughts surely count far more than the reviewers or the readers, do they not?

    Your site has also received poor reception on other websites such as LinkedIn in the past few days, I see.

    For your own benefit, I respectfully suggest that you read and digest what those who KNOW the industry are telling you - have ALREADY TOLD YOU, but you seem to have chosen to ignore. Otherwise, your business will fall flat, and you will become the Mr Hendry of the Ratings world...

    I have no gain to make from what I say. I am not a stakeholder; not a competitor; I shouldn't even give a shizzle. But mark my words, there are many on here who ARE your intended customers, and they will take pleasure in punching some sense into you.

    Mainly because you didn't 'listen' the first time...

    • 14 March 2011 09:51 AM
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