Online reviews build your brand and strengthen your online presence. You should take them with a lot of seriousness.
If you are in the real estate industry, you can’t beat Zillow reviews as they reign supreme, surpassing Google and Facebook when it comes to real estate reviews.
Due to their importance, you should pay attention to them and ensure you collect as many as possible.
Data shows that when people search for online reviews relating to real estate, they also search for Zillow for reviews before deciding on the service provider to work with.
Due to the popularity of Zillow reviews and their impact on the real estate industry, you should prioritize them.
If you want to easily collect Zillow reviews and receive them on autopilot, check out our cutting-edge review management software for real estate agents.
How to ask for Zillow reviews
There are plenty of ways you can ask for reviews. These ways include:
Asking the reviews in person
As you talk to your client, you can ask them to leave you a Zillow review. A great opportunity to do this is after you have offered real estate advice. While a piece of advice isn’t a massive lift, if you feel that you provided great advice and the client is happy, you can ask them whether they read reviews about you or your business before getting in touch.
If they did, ask them to leave a review for you, as it will go a long way to helping other people find you. The review will also help the world know about the client’s experience with your service. If possible, guide them on how to write one.
Another excellent opportunity to ask for a review is after showing them a house. Taking a client on a tour gives you plenty of opportunity to discuss the next steps in the home-buying process. During the tour, express your need for a review and your motivation for requesting one. After the tour, send a follow-up email reminding them about your interaction and asking for a review. Of course, remember to include a link to your profile.
After closing on a property is another excellent time to ask for a review from the client. Remind your client that you would appreciate a review after closing at every level of the process.
The review should come naturally at this time, given the time you’ve spent with the client.
After making your request, send them a customized email that serves as a reminder of their accomplishments. Including a guide that walks them through leaving a review is a wise move to make the work easy for the client.
Asking the reviews via email
If you didn’t have the opportunity to ask for the review in person or that is not your style, you can then ask for the review via email.
Send an email to your client expressing your gratitude for working with them. By expressing your professional gratitude, you will help them remember why they initially chose you and will also help them think favorably of you.
In the email, include a video explaining how to write excellent reviews and provide a direct link to your profile.
When sending the email, pay close attention to the subject line. Most clients read their emails on mobile devices, so ensure that the subject line is no more than 41 characters.
Call the client
Here, you need to call your client. During the call, ask them how much they love their new place or find out where they are in the purchasing or selling process.
Before you go, find out whether they would be willing to provide you with a written or video review. If they don’t mind, send them a guide on how to do it and a direct link to your profile.
Send a text to your client
Zillow gives you a feature that allows you to send an automated text to your client. You only need to provide the client’s contact or email details, and the Zillow platform will send the text.
The beauty of the Zillow review request form is that you can personalize the automated text and make it yours.
Ask for review indirectly
If you aren’t the type to ask for something directly or you feel the client isn’t ready for it, you can go about the review-asking process indirectly.
An excellent way to go about it is to include a link to your Willow profile in your email signature line, website, and marketing materials.
Doing this gives your clients a quick and easy way to access your review submit page during your conversations.
Best practices when asking for Zillow reviews
You should consider a set of best practices for the best outcome when asking for reviews. These practices include:
Ask as early as possible
The last thing you want is for the client to forget about you, and you start explaining to them who you are. To ensure this doesn’t happen, make it a habit to ask for the reviews as soon as possible.
If you have just offered them advice and they are happy with it, go ahead and do it. Have you just sold them a house? Ask them about a review.
Even if you don’t ask for the reviews immediately after the interaction, don’t go without doing it for more than three days.
Make it easy
A client might be willing to leave you a review, but if the process is complex and they can’t figure out how to go about it, they won’t leave a review, which will be a loss on your side.
To prevent this from happening, make the process as easy as possible.
Remember to include a link to your profile when requesting the review by email. The last thing you want is for the client to rummage through the Zillow website to find your profile.
Even when asking for the review on the phone or in person, don’t ask the client to simply leave you a review. Follow up with them by email or text with a link to your profile.
When sending the link, remember to remind the client that they will be asked to enter their email to confirm the review is genuine.
For clients needing help leaving a review, include a video guide that takes them through the process.
Follow up
If you ask a client to leave a review but fail to do it, don’t give up. Follow up with them.
As much as you should follow up with them, ensure you don’t do it more than three times. This means that you should make the request once and follow up no more than twice.
You should follow up twice, once every 30 days, preferably while you call your client to see how they’re doing, and once more after 90 days.
Reply to all reviews.
Besides having the clients leave a review, you should ensure you respond to the reviews to show engagement. As a rule of thumb, you should respond to all reviews regardless of whether they are positive or negative.
You don’t need to do much when you get positive reviews. In most cases, a simple thank-you note is enough. It means a lot to the client who took the time to leave a review.
Besides making your clients feel good, responding to the review shows that you are human and have taken the time to appreciate and acknowledge your clients. Responding to reviews also demonstrates that you are accessible and responsive.
The problem often comes when you receive a negative review. In most cases, you will be inclined to get defensive and even use vulgar words. To maintain a good image, be composed and professional when responding.
Provide your side of the story diplomatically, taking care not to come across as mocking or criticizing the disgruntled client. Provide a solution to the issue or show the client some other act of kindness if possible.
How to link Zillow reviews to Google Business
Everything in one place makes life a little easier. And as a business owner, you would want your Zillow reviews on your Google business page so prospective clients can see them when they visit the page. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible.
There is no way to import reviews to Google from other sources because every review site has different forms for users to fill out and different standards for evaluation.
While this is the case, it doesn’t mean that you can’t show the reviews on the page—you can do this by embedding the reviews using our Score My Reviews Software.
You only need to create an account with us and copy the Zillow review widget embed code. You should then head to your Google business page and paste the code there. Save the page, and you are done. This will take a few minutes, and your Zillow reviews will start showing on your page for everyone to see.
How long do Zillow reviews take to post
Zillow moderators go over each review before it is posted on the platform to make sure it complies with the policies.
The moderation procedure for a review can take up to one week, and every review is published if it complies with the requirements. If the review doesn’t abide by the rules, it’s not published.
When the review doesn’t go through, the client is alerted immediately by email. They are urged to resubmit their review with revisions—typically adding or eliminating some content—to ensure it complies with the review requirements.
To increase the chances of the reviews going through, have the client sending the review create an account on Zillow with a legitimate email. It also doesn’t hurt if they can build up their profile before sending the review.
As tempting as it might be, don’t ask your family members, employees, or business partners to send the reviews, as the moderators have a way of telling when a review isn’t genuine.
As you are asking for the reviews, ask the client to keep to the transaction’s facts and act professionally. This calls for the client to mention the property’s location and the amount involved. They also should use professional language in the review.
Zillow reviews not showing up
One of the main reasons your Zillow reviews aren’t showing up is that they are still under review. As mentioned above, the reviews will take up to a week before they are posted.
All you need to do is be patient; they will be posted once they have gone through the moderation.
If it has been more than a week and they aren’t showing up, you should ask the client to look at their email and see if they have been asked to resubmit the review.
If the review had a problem initially, you should resolve the issue with the client before resubmitting it.
You can monitor the status of the reviews submitted in your Zillow profile. If you feel that the status of a review hasn’t changed for too long, you can write to the Zillow team and ask them to look at it.
There you have it
Zillow data shows that the more the reviews you get, the more the clients you receive. This means that you should strive to get as many Zillow reviews as possible.
In this article, we have shown you how to go about it.
As you ask for the reviews, be professional and don’t hesitate to follow up on it. As you do the follow-ups, be cautious not to overdo it. As mentioned, don’t bug your client more than three times; of course, don’t beg for the review.
As much as it might be tempting to fake the reviews and ask your family members or employees to review your business, you should avoid it, as Zillow has a moderation team that goes through the review and certifies that it is genuine before posting it.
To increase the chances that the reviews show up when posted, play by the rules. When you receive the reviews, respond to them professionally regardless of whether they are positive or negative.
