Every real estate agent is going to get bad reviews at some point–it’s just part of the business if you do enough business. But there’s a good way to handle bad reviews, and there’s a bad way to handle bad reviews. Let’s do a deep dive on how to handle bad reviews as a real estate agent in the best way possible.
First things first, acknowledge that bad reviews will happen, regardless of your intentions. Even if you’re working with best intentions and trying to do everything right, it’s still possible that someone isn’t going to be happy with the service you provide. Here’s the sucky part, even if you DO EVERYTHING right, there’s still someone that could not see it the same way as you.
Now that you’ve acknowledged this, let’s look at how we can deal with bad reviews to improve our business and still provide the best possible experience for our clients.
Be Proactive
So, if we begin with the understanding that we have already rendered service, we have to realize that there’s no use looking at the past. We did what we could to provide good service, and if we made a mistake or did something differently than our clients were hoping we would, we can’t go back and change it now. It’s done.
However, there are steps to take so that we can get ahead of bad reviews. It all starts with being proactive.
1. Pick Up on Cues
The truth is, people won’t just start bashing you out of the blue. When you’re working with them, you should be able to see if they have a bad taste in their mouth about something that’s happening. Likewise, you should be able to see if they’re having a good experience.
What I’m saying is, you should be aware of what they’re feeling throughout the transaction so you aren’t caught too much by surprise. That way, you have the chance to get out ahead of it and deal with the problem before they leave a review online for everyone to see.
2. Reach Out
If you notice something isn’t going right and worry that it might come up later, reach out right away to have an open conversation about that item that could be problematic in the future. Make sure you give your clients plenty of opportunities to talk to you and prove that you are willing to listen to their concerns.
Give them a call: “Hey, I just felt the need to speak with you as I feel things didn’t go as well as we had originally hoped. Is there anything I can do for you at this time to help alleviate things?”
Don’t mention anything about reviews, just reach out so you can connect with them one-to-one and do what you can to smooth everything over.
Respond to Reviews
In some cases, you won’t be able to avoid a bad review even with your proactivity. If someone does leave that review online, these are the steps you should take to handle the situation professionally.
1. Reach Out Directly
When you notice a bad review, reach out directly to the reviewer to inquire what brought about the review. Listen to understand where they are coming from and see if you can offer them any help in exchange for their taking the comment down.
2. Respond to the Review
In the event that you can’t reach an amicable solution to the problem, be sure to address the review directly. Most review platforms (Google, Yelp, BBB, etc.) give business owners the opportunity to openly respond to reviews.
In your reply, avoid getting personal. Maintain an objective stance and simply state your side of the story so that others who will be reading through reviews get the chance to see both sides of the issue.
Do your best to admit what went wrong instead of outright denying it, but also explain why things went wrong and reiterate any solutions you offered. Always apologize for the client’s bad experience too–a genuine “I’m sorry” goes a long way.
Realize that at this point you’re not doing this just for that reviewer (past client), you’re now working for future clients that read this review. Put your best foot forward!
3. Drown Out the Bad with the Good
A typical response among celebrities and others dealing with bad press is to go on crisis management mode and start showing up at animal shelters or homeless soup kitchens to generate some good press.
In real estate, the best way to get good press that drowns out the bad is to go to other clients who haven’t left you reviews and ask them if they will share their experience. All you have to do is send them a gentle, personal message: “It would mean the world to me if you would share your experience with me on [Yelp, Google, Facebook, whatever platform].”
By generating more good reviews, you can drown out the bad reviews by boosting your overall rating and offering readers the opportunity to hear from people who had better experiences with you.
Why Handling Bad Reviews Is Crucial in Real Estate
If you haven’t heard it yet, you’ll figure it out soon: online reviews are super important to any business. In fact, at least 91% of people who are looking for a service on Google read online reviews before deciding who to work with. And 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Social proof, or the opinion that other people have about a specific product/service/person, is crucial for most people when they’re making decisions about who to work with.
Plus, it’s super hard to ever remove a review. Even if you go on Yelp or Google and see a review from someone you’ve never met, you’ll have a heck of a time trying to get the review taken down. So, be vigilant about getting good reviews and responding to bad ones as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember that bad reviews aren’t everything. They aren’t the end of the world–at some point, you’re going to have to move on from a bad review and focus on other things.
Do what you can to avoid bad reviews in the first place, but if you still get them, know how to handle them and move forward. Here are a few final tips for avoiding bad reviews and addressing issues:
- Set expectations early and often–let your clients know what to expect from you and the market. Educate them about what’s going on in the real estate world and in the transaction process as you’re working on it.
- Appropriately assign fault–if it’s your fault own it. If it’s the fault of the vendor, the market, or those on the other side of the transaction, state exactly what happened and why this issue couldn’t be avoided this time.
- Listen and help–always listen to your client first. No matter what, it’s essential that they feel heard and respected. And, if you can do anything at all to ease their stress or help them recover, do it!
There you have it! The secrets to handling bad reviews as a real estate agent are here for you. You don’t have to live in fear of bad reviews–understand how to address them properly and you’ll go a long way towards creating a stronger business even with a few bad reviews on your record.