What’s the hook that convinces someone to select YOU as their agent?
The social influence of testimonials can be that powerful hook. Now is the time to learn how to acquire effective real estate testimonials that help influence potential buyers and sellers to choose YOU.
One recent study found that customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating in content marketing at 89%. – Boast.com
Real Estate professionals know first-hand the power of client referrals in drawing in new clients. But, how do you make the sell from your website? You might attract many website visitors via your social media posts and blog content, but how do you secure their trust so they choose you to sell or buy their home? The answer is with real estate testimonials. Authentic, credible testimonials help set you apart. Real estate testimonials give website visitors a clear picture of you as a trustworthy agent that can do the job right. This article is your “How To Guide” on generating excellent feedback from your clients. With the proper tools and techniques, it is a lot easier that you might think.
Using Canva.com you can create great graphical quotes to post on social media.
STEP 1: Ask the Right Questions
Most clients are ready and willing to give you feedback on their real estate experience, but you have to reach out to them first. Asking the right questions and prompts will get them talking and generating a powerful marketing tool for your business. You will want first-hand accounts attesting to your effectiveness, qualifications, personality, character, background, plus specific client experiences that will give visitors something to relate to. Don’t shy away from asking clients straight out if they would refer your services, and be sure to get the details of why.
Here are some specific questions that you may want to ask:
- What made you choose me as your real estate agent?
- How impressed were you with…(name something specific to the client)?
- What was the best thing I did to help you buy/sell your home?
- How was I able to help you overcome…(name a specific challenge the client had)?
- What could I have done differently to better serve your needs?
- How did I meet your need for…(name something specific)?
- Would you recommend my real estate services to friends, family, neighbors or coworkers? What would you tell them?
You probably won’t include every answer to every question, just be creative and get that key information that will become the focal point of each testimonial. The more diverse your testimonials are, the more chance you have to presenting a testimonials page that speaks to each potential buyer and seller that visits your website.
One of the best ways to win business is through previous customers. If you can connect your prospects with people you’ve done a good job for in the past, that sort of personal recommendation is the best form of credibility. – Dave Chaffey, Smart Insights
STEP 2: Choose the Right Tools
There are tons of online tools, services and apps that you can use to create powerful testimonials. These tools will make it easy for clients to answer questions without it being an inconvenience. First, think about how you want to present the testimonial for each client, i.e., a video, written review, or in a Q&A format. The answer to this may change with each client, as some are more willing to appear on video, while others may just want to take a short survey. Second, choose the tool that best fits your needs. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Yelp – Yelp is used to search for just about any kind of business making it an excellent platform to show off those great reviews. Clients can rate you using a 5-star system and then leave a written review, which you can link back to your website.
- Facebook – You may just want to ask clients to leave feedback on your social media accounts and then transfer them to your testimonials page.
- LinkedIn – More working professionals use LinkedIn for business and several powerful testimonials on your profile can turn heads.
- Instagram – Post pull quotes from client testimonials, client photo or photo of their home to show off recent sold or listed homes.
- SurveyMonkey – Create a survey you can send out via mobile phone, website, or social media. Include custom logos and branding for a personal touch.
- Boast – Allows clients to record short videos, photos or text testimonials by embedding the Boast feedback form to your website or inviting customers to download the mobile app.
- Typeform – Create customized surveys using unique templates. You could also add a thank you or call to action at the end of the survey with links to your website.
In addition to these online resources, we recognize that some clients will be most comfortable and willing to just answer a few questions, either in a formal appointment setting, over the phone, or in a more casual setting. Just make sure that you get their written permission to use the information on your website.
Real Estate Video Testimonial : Great personal touch comes through in video.
STEP 3: Present them with Pizazz!
Once you have your content collected from surveys, videos, or verbal reviews, it is time to present them with pizazz! Choose what information to include and how to format it to be eye-catching and engaging. We recommend you check out Canva.com from great designed layouts. It is important that stay true to what the client actually said (which means you cannot change the wording), but you don’t have to use everything they give you either. Remember, the key to an engaging real estate testimonial is to use positive feedback to enhance your reputation and generate leads. Less is more, so be certain that you don’t overdo it. When potential clients visit your website, they will be skimming the content. You want to help them ingest as much as possible in just a couple of minutes. Here are some things to consider:
- Utilize bold headlines or italics
- Keep text concise, using just a few powerful sentences
- Use bullet points
- Try out different fonts to add personality, but no more then two fonts or it become cluttered.
- Pictures or videos will catch the eye and lend credibility
- If you are not sure where to start, check out what other agents have done to generate your own ideas.
We us a consistent template to showcase our client testimonials.
STEP 4: Share each Testimonial with the World
Start with a page on your website dedicated to testimonials. We offer a Testimonials Add-on for an easy way to showcase your testimonials, add and delete testimonials, and include client photos or photos of the property that was sold or bought. Here is an example of an agent who put photos of the listing related to the client’s testimonial: Client Listing Photo. In this example the agent used photos of the client next to their testimonial: Client Photo
Once you have created a testimonials page you will have a great place to link back to when you publish on your other social media accounts. Every time you receive new testimonials, share them on your Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or other accounts. You can make appealing headlines, such as “Just finished helping the Smith’s purchase their dream home! What a pleasure it was to work with them.” And then provided a link to your testimonial page.
STEP 5: Motivate Clients to Leave Feedback
Although you may get the occasional client that writes an online real estate review or testimonial without being asked, most often you will need to reach out and ask clients for their feedback. So, how do you motivate your clients to participate in giving feedback? Every agent has their own ideas, but here are a few incentives you might consider:
- Enter them in a drawing
- Offer a housewarming gift basket or gift card
- Offer a package of discounts at local businesses
- Offer a free Professional Family Photo Shoot (on the condition you get to use the photos in conjunction with their testimonial)
- Take them out to dinner
People love rewards and free stuff, so you can get really creative here to motivate your clients to help you. As an added bonus, experts in search engine optimization (SEO) techniques have done studies that reveal online reviews are playing a strong role in getting websites to the top of search engine results. You have all the information, now make a plan to get your testimonials to work for you!
Real Estate websites are a valuable investment as a lead generator and excellent tool for keeping in contact with past and current clients. IDXCentral.com has been specializing in real estate website design, IDX solutions for sale and integration for over 20 years. We are happy to answer questions you may have and show you what we can do for your real estate business. Learn more about our real estate website services or contact us now.