Maintaining a stellar online reputation as a real estate agent is as equally important as building that reputation. Here’s some simple actions that you can do to keep a good online reputation intact.
Manage Brand Searches
People run an internet search on everyone nowadays, so agents should expect that people are going to conduct a search before deciding to work with them. Agents should be aware of what people find when searching their name and set up a great website and social media persona to make sure there are favorable posts and information on the first page or two of their search results.
Encourage Customer Reviews
One of the simplest things ways to positively market yourself is to have positive customer reviews. Agents should ask both buyers and sellers for reviews, and ask explicitly for permission to include reviews on their website. Reputation management agency iSocialReviews collected statistics from several studies showing:
- 87% of people trust online reviews
- 77% read less than six reviews to form an opinion
- Customers do believe a rating system matters, and each star increases sales
Interact With Social Media Followers
Agents need to be thoughtful about how they interact with followers on social media and their blog. Here are the basic rules:
- Interact directly with followers and commenters and respond to direct interactions.
- Share positive reviews and thank the people who originally posted them.
- Offer useful information and ask questions to elicit conversation.
- Use reputable information and credit sources used in your posts
- Be knowledgeable to be able to answer questions about the information they post.
Responding To Negative Feedback
One of the potential drawbacks of social media is the negative attention. Word-of-mouth can shred a real estate agent’s reputation quickly and most people won’t dig deep to find out if accusations are true. The best way to avoid most of this is to respond swiftly to anyone who expresses they’ve had a negative experience. Agents must learn to know the difference between authentic and false claims. When it comes to legitimate critique, agents should listen and respond in a way that can resolve the issue, not just make it go away.
Maintaining Professionalism
Striking the balance between being personable and fun versus being unprofessional can be tricky. Agents should remember their professional reputation affects their business. They cannot interact with clients the way they might with friends after-hours. At the same time, they should be approachable as experts in their field. They must be thoughtful that emotions, facial expressions and body language are removed from online interaction so humor may not translate and excessive formality can be off-putting. Try striking a good balance of remaining personable and  conversational while remaining professional with all interactions.
Managing an online reputation is not all that different from managing your reputation in real life. All it takes is personality, integrity and transparency.
Title Talk by FNTA Phoenix 