Select Yelp - Cheat Sheet_u
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Page 1 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Introduction We highly recommend that Google be the main repository for your online reviews, since it is such an internet powerhouse. If you have not already done so, download our Google My Business Cheat Sheet to learn how to set up an account there as well. However, it’s a great idea to diversify your efforts. The important thing is to choose carefully which platforms you use.
Zillow and Trulia are popular venues for real estate agents to gather reviews, but we at GoodLife Realty and The Paperless Agent strongly discourage their use. The reason is because of how Zillow and Trulia portray your reviews. For example, at the bottom of the page, Zillow gives links to your recent listings (assuming that you still syndicate your listings to the portals). If your potential clients, who are going to be the ones most likely to be influenced by your online reviews, were to click on one of those links, they would be directed to a page with a list of random other agents on the side. How confusing!
Instead of potentially handing over your leads to your competition, we suggest your review alternative be Yelp, which is a widely-used and trusted platform for user reviews. And it’s an incredibly lucrative venue: according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, the average annual incremental revenue generated by a business claiming its free Yelp Business Page is $8,000.
This guide will cover a range of information about using Yelp. Use the Table of Contents below to navigate quickly to your topic of choice:
Claim Your Yelp Business Page
3
Instructions to Give Your Clients for Writing a Review
4
What to Do If You Don’t Have Any Reviews Yet
6
How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews
7
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to help you!
Page 2 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Claim Your Yelp Business Page To get started claiming your Yelp Business page, simply click here and fill out the informational fields as accurately as possible. Your business name should follow the same format as your Google My Business account: Your First Name Last Name, Realtor.
Many of you reading this will be individual agents at brokerages, and that will influence how you complete this form. For example, you should use the brokerage street address as your street address, but you do not need to put your brokerage phone here. Instead, input a personal line. However, we highly recommend that you refrain from using your cell phone number since scammers often crawl these business pages, and you’ll likely get an increase in spam calls. You can sign up for a free Google Voice number here, or get a ton more features specifically for real estate usage with BetterVoice by clicking on this link. Both of these options provide you with a new number that redirects to your regular phone.
On your Yelp Business Page, you can select a few more categories than you can on your Google My Business page. Our suggestions are below:
• Home Services > Real Estate • Real Estate > Real Estate Agents • Real Estate > Real Estate Services
Once you’ve completed the sign-up form, click the “Add Business.” You will then be sent a verification email. It may take a while to arrive in your inbox, and be sure to check your Spam folder if you don’t see it fairly quickly.
This first verification email is not the only step, however. Its purpose is just to confirm your email address. After you click on the link in the message, you’ll be redirected to a page that states “Your business page will not appear in search results until this information has been verified and approved by our moderators. Once it is approved, you'll receive an email with instructions on how to claim your business page.” While you wait on those instructions, you can add your best pictures and include a cover image.
The secondary verification email can come to you within as little as 24 hours, and it will include a link to “Claim My Business.” Click on that link, then select “Log in to claim.” Enter and submit the requested information, then receive your third and final verification email.
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(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Instructions to Give Your Clients for Writing a Review Your Yelp page can start collecting reviews as soon as it’s created, whether it has been verified by you or not. However, you cannot respond to any of these until you have received and completed the verification instructions emails from the Yelp moderators, so do not direct your clients to your page until your verification is finalized.
When your Yelp Business account is created, you’ll get a URL that goes directly to your page. What that URL looks like depends heavily on your account name. If you happen to get an unattractively long web address for your Yelp page, we recommend using a service like bit.ly or goo.gl to create what’s called a short link. Short links will make your email request for a review look much more professional and — most importantly — much easier.
To the right is an example of what your clients will see when they click on your Yelp Business page URL, or the short link created using your Yelp Business page URL. Have them click on the big red button that says “Write a Review” and fill out the information to complete their review. They will need to hit “Post” once they’re done for their review to show up on your page.
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(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
You can now use the email template below to ask your past clients for a review on Yelp.
Hi [Name], Congratulations on the sale/purchase of your home! You really made the difference in helping me achieve my goals of you a 5-star experience. Without your help in letting me know what you wanted during the entire process, it would not have been possible. But there’s one more step necessary to confirm the 5-star experience I strive to provide you with... your review of us working together! By authoring this review, you’re doing me a HUGE favor, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you for it. You can rate your 5-star experience and write your quick review here (it should only take a few moments). [link here] Thanks again! [Signature] P.S. If there’s anything I can do to help you get situated, please let me know. P.P.S. If you feel as though I fell short of a 5-star experience, please tell me now by simply replying to this email.
We wrote this template to be applicable for any reviewing platform, but please feel free to include additional instructions after the short link. It would be a good idea, for example, to point out the “Write a Review” button or to remind your clients of a particular memorable moment of your time together to include in their review. You can also include links to multiple review platforms to encourage your clients to spread the good word!
By the way, if you’re sending this message to a customer you who believe would be a rave reviewer and someone with whom you anticipate cultivating a long-term relationship, then they might be a good candidate for a testimonial on LinkedIn.
Page 5 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
What to Do If You Don’t Have Any Reviews Yet There’s two reasons you might not yet have any online reviews:
1. You’ve been practicing real estate for a while, but have just not solicited any reviews from your past or current clients yet. 2. You’re a new agent with little to no experience.
If you are a part of the first group, then your solution your online review deficit is easy. You’ve sold real estate before, which means that you have past clients. Simply reach out to those people and ask them to review you honestly. Consider this an opportunity to connect with your network!
A subset of this group is those of you who have reviews on other platforms but not Google. In this case, reach out specifically to those past clients who have given you 5-star reviews elsewhere, and say this: “I’m currently working on building my online presence on Yelp. Would you be so kind as to duplicate your past review on Yelp?”
New agents will need a different plan of attack. Your biggest resource for online credibility is your family, friends, and colleagues. While they cannot speak to your work from a client’s perspective, they can attest to your work ethic, personality, trustworthiness, and other such qualities. In their review, have them talk about such things as how they know you and for how long. If they can recount any anecdotes that demonstrate your character, have them include those as well.
Page 6 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews Online reviews, according to a recent study, are trusted just as much as or even more than a personal recommendation. This means that each and every review has a lot of weight in how your business appears to prospective clients. To prevent your online presence from becoming the product of a one-sided conversation, you must make it a priority to respond to the reviews you receive — especially the negative ones.
On Yelp, the steps to respond to a review publicly are simple, but please note that you will need to have already verified your business in order to see these options. You will also need to have uploaded a picture of yourself to your account because Yelp wants messages and responses to be as personal as possible.
To get started replying to reviews, log into your Yelp Business account and select the Reviews tab. From there you’ll be able to respond to each review that has been posted. Your response will appear directly below the original review.
Positive reviews should receive at least a “Thank you,” and optimally will include some personal touch that shows your client that you remember and value them. But what do you say when you receive a negative review? The first thing to remember is that bad reviews are inevitable. Mistakes happen, and people who are upset will naturally be more aggressive and vocal about their displeasure.
The second thing to remember is for whose benefit you are responding to the negative review. Certainly, a hopeful outcome would be that you mitigate the damaged relationship between you and the negative reviewer, and a proven process for that is discussed in more detail below. But you’re really aiming to please your future clients. Think about it: everyone knows that upset people are prone to overreacting. If your potential clients look up your reviews online and see that you’ve apologized and attempted to resolve the issue had by a negative reviewer, they be more likely to disregard the opinion of that reviewer.
Unlike on Google, you can also respond to online reviews privately with Yelp. This is a great option for a couple of different reasons. It’s a way to get a conversation with a past customer offline once it is no longer appropriate for the public. Also, comments that simply thank users without providing new or interesting information can be perceived as overbearing, so if you’re
Page 7 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
getting a lot of positive reviews, you can utilize private messaging to keep your Yelp page clutter-free.
When responding to a negative review, follow the steps below:
1. Respond publicly so that future clients and reviewers can see your responsiveness and attitude to serve all customers. Check out the template below for a starting point. 2. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to review your service 3. Reach out to the reviewer privately to get more feedback and to potentially resolve conflict. Try calling the person first, but if you do not have their contact information in your database for whatever reason, then utilize Yelp’s private messaging feature. 4. Ask the reviewer to consider updating their review to show follow-up steps taken 5. Follow up publicly on the review to let future readers know the outcome
Hi [Name], Thank you so much for providing your review. Your review is especially important to me because whenever someone has a bad experience (or a less than 5-star one), I like learn as much as possible to prevent it from happening again. If you’re open to it, I’d like to have a quick chat to see if there’s anything I can do to right the situation for you. Thanks! Your Name Phone and Email
Page 8 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Introduction We highly recommend that Google be the main repository for your online reviews, since it is such an internet powerhouse. If you have not already done so, download our Google My Business Cheat Sheet to learn how to set up an account there as well. However, it’s a great idea to diversify your efforts. The important thing is to choose carefully which platforms you use.
Zillow and Trulia are popular venues for real estate agents to gather reviews, but we at GoodLife Realty and The Paperless Agent strongly discourage their use. The reason is because of how Zillow and Trulia portray your reviews. For example, at the bottom of the page, Zillow gives links to your recent listings (assuming that you still syndicate your listings to the portals). If your potential clients, who are going to be the ones most likely to be influenced by your online reviews, were to click on one of those links, they would be directed to a page with a list of random other agents on the side. How confusing!
Instead of potentially handing over your leads to your competition, we suggest your review alternative be Yelp, which is a widely-used and trusted platform for user reviews. And it’s an incredibly lucrative venue: according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, the average annual incremental revenue generated by a business claiming its free Yelp Business Page is $8,000.
This guide will cover a range of information about using Yelp. Use the Table of Contents below to navigate quickly to your topic of choice:
Claim Your Yelp Business Page
3
Instructions to Give Your Clients for Writing a Review
4
What to Do If You Don’t Have Any Reviews Yet
6
How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews
7
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to help you!
Page 2 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Claim Your Yelp Business Page To get started claiming your Yelp Business page, simply click here and fill out the informational fields as accurately as possible. Your business name should follow the same format as your Google My Business account: Your First Name Last Name, Realtor.
Many of you reading this will be individual agents at brokerages, and that will influence how you complete this form. For example, you should use the brokerage street address as your street address, but you do not need to put your brokerage phone here. Instead, input a personal line. However, we highly recommend that you refrain from using your cell phone number since scammers often crawl these business pages, and you’ll likely get an increase in spam calls. You can sign up for a free Google Voice number here, or get a ton more features specifically for real estate usage with BetterVoice by clicking on this link. Both of these options provide you with a new number that redirects to your regular phone.
On your Yelp Business Page, you can select a few more categories than you can on your Google My Business page. Our suggestions are below:
• Home Services > Real Estate • Real Estate > Real Estate Agents • Real Estate > Real Estate Services
Once you’ve completed the sign-up form, click the “Add Business.” You will then be sent a verification email. It may take a while to arrive in your inbox, and be sure to check your Spam folder if you don’t see it fairly quickly.
This first verification email is not the only step, however. Its purpose is just to confirm your email address. After you click on the link in the message, you’ll be redirected to a page that states “Your business page will not appear in search results until this information has been verified and approved by our moderators. Once it is approved, you'll receive an email with instructions on how to claim your business page.” While you wait on those instructions, you can add your best pictures and include a cover image.
The secondary verification email can come to you within as little as 24 hours, and it will include a link to “Claim My Business.” Click on that link, then select “Log in to claim.” Enter and submit the requested information, then receive your third and final verification email.
Page 3 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
Instructions to Give Your Clients for Writing a Review Your Yelp page can start collecting reviews as soon as it’s created, whether it has been verified by you or not. However, you cannot respond to any of these until you have received and completed the verification instructions emails from the Yelp moderators, so do not direct your clients to your page until your verification is finalized.
When your Yelp Business account is created, you’ll get a URL that goes directly to your page. What that URL looks like depends heavily on your account name. If you happen to get an unattractively long web address for your Yelp page, we recommend using a service like bit.ly or goo.gl to create what’s called a short link. Short links will make your email request for a review look much more professional and — most importantly — much easier.
To the right is an example of what your clients will see when they click on your Yelp Business page URL, or the short link created using your Yelp Business page URL. Have them click on the big red button that says “Write a Review” and fill out the information to complete their review. They will need to hit “Post” once they’re done for their review to show up on your page.
Page 4 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
You can now use the email template below to ask your past clients for a review on Yelp.
Hi [Name], Congratulations on the sale/purchase of your home! You really made the difference in helping me achieve my goals of you a 5-star experience. Without your help in letting me know what you wanted during the entire process, it would not have been possible. But there’s one more step necessary to confirm the 5-star experience I strive to provide you with... your review of us working together! By authoring this review, you’re doing me a HUGE favor, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you for it. You can rate your 5-star experience and write your quick review here (it should only take a few moments). [link here] Thanks again! [Signature] P.S. If there’s anything I can do to help you get situated, please let me know. P.P.S. If you feel as though I fell short of a 5-star experience, please tell me now by simply replying to this email.
We wrote this template to be applicable for any reviewing platform, but please feel free to include additional instructions after the short link. It would be a good idea, for example, to point out the “Write a Review” button or to remind your clients of a particular memorable moment of your time together to include in their review. You can also include links to multiple review platforms to encourage your clients to spread the good word!
By the way, if you’re sending this message to a customer you who believe would be a rave reviewer and someone with whom you anticipate cultivating a long-term relationship, then they might be a good candidate for a testimonial on LinkedIn.
Page 5 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
What to Do If You Don’t Have Any Reviews Yet There’s two reasons you might not yet have any online reviews:
1. You’ve been practicing real estate for a while, but have just not solicited any reviews from your past or current clients yet. 2. You’re a new agent with little to no experience.
If you are a part of the first group, then your solution your online review deficit is easy. You’ve sold real estate before, which means that you have past clients. Simply reach out to those people and ask them to review you honestly. Consider this an opportunity to connect with your network!
A subset of this group is those of you who have reviews on other platforms but not Google. In this case, reach out specifically to those past clients who have given you 5-star reviews elsewhere, and say this: “I’m currently working on building my online presence on Yelp. Would you be so kind as to duplicate your past review on Yelp?”
New agents will need a different plan of attack. Your biggest resource for online credibility is your family, friends, and colleagues. While they cannot speak to your work from a client’s perspective, they can attest to your work ethic, personality, trustworthiness, and other such qualities. In their review, have them talk about such things as how they know you and for how long. If they can recount any anecdotes that demonstrate your character, have them include those as well.
Page 6 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews Online reviews, according to a recent study, are trusted just as much as or even more than a personal recommendation. This means that each and every review has a lot of weight in how your business appears to prospective clients. To prevent your online presence from becoming the product of a one-sided conversation, you must make it a priority to respond to the reviews you receive — especially the negative ones.
On Yelp, the steps to respond to a review publicly are simple, but please note that you will need to have already verified your business in order to see these options. You will also need to have uploaded a picture of yourself to your account because Yelp wants messages and responses to be as personal as possible.
To get started replying to reviews, log into your Yelp Business account and select the Reviews tab. From there you’ll be able to respond to each review that has been posted. Your response will appear directly below the original review.
Positive reviews should receive at least a “Thank you,” and optimally will include some personal touch that shows your client that you remember and value them. But what do you say when you receive a negative review? The first thing to remember is that bad reviews are inevitable. Mistakes happen, and people who are upset will naturally be more aggressive and vocal about their displeasure.
The second thing to remember is for whose benefit you are responding to the negative review. Certainly, a hopeful outcome would be that you mitigate the damaged relationship between you and the negative reviewer, and a proven process for that is discussed in more detail below. But you’re really aiming to please your future clients. Think about it: everyone knows that upset people are prone to overreacting. If your potential clients look up your reviews online and see that you’ve apologized and attempted to resolve the issue had by a negative reviewer, they be more likely to disregard the opinion of that reviewer.
Unlike on Google, you can also respond to online reviews privately with Yelp. This is a great option for a couple of different reasons. It’s a way to get a conversation with a past customer offline once it is no longer appropriate for the public. Also, comments that simply thank users without providing new or interesting information can be perceived as overbearing, so if you’re
Page 7 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
getting a lot of positive reviews, you can utilize private messaging to keep your Yelp page clutter-free.
When responding to a negative review, follow the steps below:
1. Respond publicly so that future clients and reviewers can see your responsiveness and attitude to serve all customers. Check out the template below for a starting point. 2. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to review your service 3. Reach out to the reviewer privately to get more feedback and to potentially resolve conflict. Try calling the person first, but if you do not have their contact information in your database for whatever reason, then utilize Yelp’s private messaging feature. 4. Ask the reviewer to consider updating their review to show follow-up steps taken 5. Follow up publicly on the review to let future readers know the outcome
Hi [Name], Thank you so much for providing your review. Your review is especially important to me because whenever someone has a bad experience (or a less than 5-star one), I like learn as much as possible to prevent it from happening again. If you’re open to it, I’d like to have a quick chat to see if there’s anything I can do to right the situation for you. Thanks! Your Name Phone and Email
Page 8 of 8
(C) 2015 The Paperless Agent
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