Brodie Stephens- Broker Associate Selling Homes in Folsom | Placerville | Pollock Pines | El Dorado Hills | Elk Grove | Roseville | Rocklin

The power of positive (or negative) reviews has always been important to service providers and business owners. Now with the online world taking a hand in it, people’s reach and ability to affect consumer decisions outside of their own sphere of influence is magnified exponentially.

As a real estate professional or other service provider you should care about the experience you deliver to each and every buyer, seller or connection you make and how they perceived that experience as well. Using rating sites such as Yelp proactively puts the power back in your hands to take charge of what’s being said about you and your business. By owning your online brand you can encourage positive reviews from happy clients and monitor negative reviews and work to change those opinions in the future.

It is important to remember not to take these reviews personally all the time – we all have improvements we can make and blind spots in our practice. Just recently I spoke publicly at a convention and a woman came up to me afterward and said she loved my presentation, the information I had to share and my delivery style – except that I say “um” too much and that I should work on it. Now, a few years ago I would have been taken aback at the nerve of someone to come up to the keynote speaker and correct delivery – but what I realized is – whether or not she bothered to tell me what she thought, she still thought it – at least this way I could do something about it.

Yelp’s newest updates will include the ability of Yelp users to get “royalty status” and badges for reviews and interactions. This will further drive participation and engagement in the service – meaning more reviews, more readers and more businesses competing for fame.

So, if you haven’t signed up for a Yelp account or created a page for your business – give that a try today. If you do have a page already started (even if it has negative reviews) start leveraging it by sending it out to family, friends and clients that had a good experience and request reviews. Put the link on your website, in your email signature and on your business cards – and let your fans help you gain some ground with new customers.

And don’t forget – give reviews as well – write about your favorite restaurant, dry cleaner, shoe shine stop or bed and breakfast so others can experience the awesomeness you’ve found in your community!