What Are Your Clients Saying About You? The Importance of Consumer Surveys for the Real Estate Industry

A good client referral can result in a whole lot of business for a real estate agent. One person has a positive experience and shares that with their sister, friend and neighbor; all of a sudden the real estate agent is listing another three properties. The same effect can happen with a negative client experience, except a whole lot worse.

According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2015 Member Profile, roughly 20 percent of a REALTOR®'s business comes from repeat clients and another 20 percent from referrals from happy customers. How do you know if your clients are happy with your services, unless you ask?

Sure, word of mouth can help you build a positive reputation and grow your business. But if you're not asking your clients what they think of your services as a real estate professional, how will you really know what they're saying to their sister, friend and neighbor when your name is brought up?

With 85% of consumers reading online reviews for local businesses (BrightLocal 2013 Local Consumer Review Survey), real estate professionals can now also benefit from the marketing power of online reviews.

At its 2014 conference, NAR announced its intent to establish a Code of Excellence which would include standards for collecting feedback on agent performance. With this announcement, survey companies have gained traction in the industry. With most feedback happening after the close of a real estate transaction, many survey companies are partnering with real estate technology providers, such as Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies, to integrate consumer surveys into the transaction process.

Brian Friemel, Lone Wolf's Executive Vice President, Brokerage Services, says "Survey partners recognize the value of integrating with technology providers to eliminate the need for agents to manually send the survey or to enter contact information for the customer." Friemel says this tie-in to the back-end system of a real estate brokerage "automates the entire process of gathering feedback from clients, increasing the chances that customers will evaluate agent performance. This should lead to more referral business."

Real estate consumer survey providers, such as RealSatisfied, provide detailed survey results that capture important data to help agents:

• Identify what clients are saying;
• Catch problems before they impact the business and brand; and
• Identify clients who are brand advocates.

When linked to a brokerage's back-end system, such as Lone Wolf's brokerWOLF back office management solution, buyers and sellers are automatically notified of the opportunity to rank and review their real estate agent immediately following the close of the transaction. The push notifications from the integration simplify the data collection and allow brokers to focus on the coach-back opportunities the survey results offer. RealSatisfied ensures that agents always control what data appears on their profile pages and, therefore, what data appears in their feeds.

Other consumer survey companies, such as RankMyAgent, facilitate the real estate process by connecting homeowners with highly rated, user-endorsed real estate agents and resources. Buyers can find agents and connect with them, write reviews about their agents and get advice from industry experts.

A positive client experience will help you grow your business. By asking clients for feedback on your services, you can customize your offerings to the needs of your target audience. If you don't ask, you'll never know.

So, what are your clients saying about you?