Consumers are much more empowered now than ever before and have access to more than one avenue for investigating a business before making a decision.
The world has changed and on-line reviews for many consumers are equally as important as personal recommendations, particularly for the younger generation who have been brought up with, and trust, social media.
However, this trust isn’t automatic. One positive review just doesn’t cut it, likewise, consumers will not generally put too much faith into the odd bad review. If you can combine on-line review a personal recommendation from a trusted family member or friend, they can provide more detail about specific issues and a more balanced perspective, than an on-line review written in a few words.
Remember also, that disgruntled customers will often make the time to vent their grievances on an on-line platform, as opposed to the happy customer who often doesn’t have quite the incentive to provide a good review. After all, they got what they wanted and can now sit back and relax. Also be aware that the business does not have the ability to remove the negative review, even if they have not actually done business with the person posting the negative review.
Furthermore, there could be fake reviews generated by the business owners themselves or its employees. There are also companies that offer services to increase ratings.
There are 3 on-line platforms that customers can use to rate a real estate agent. These are Local Agent, Open Agent and Rate my Agent. Rate my Agent is the only one where which doesn’t require you to enter your details and risk being slammed or harassed by unwanted calls. At Rate my Agent all you do is enter the Agent’s name to see their reviews.
