It’s vital to encourage clients to leave reviews

Key Tips to Remember

  • Utilize reviews to help build trust with new clients.
  • Ask for the review, but tread carefully
  • Comb through the feedback you get, and use the best reviews in client-facing material

With would-be buyers and sellers now doing so much research online before they even select real estate professionals to work with, having a bevy of good reviews on various websites can obviously go a long way. Of course, the best way to get good reviews is to continually provide positive experiences for clients on either the buying or selling side of the real estate sales process, but agents can't always count on people to go online and leave a nice note of their own volition.

That's where an agent's ability to read the situation and determine whether the relationships they've built up with their clients are strong enough to let them suggest the idea of leaving a good review, rather than hoping they do so. There are plenty of ways to do so without coming across as insistent — which is why some agents may avoid the suggestion in the first place — including talking about the importance good reviews have for agents early on in the shopping or selling process. That way, by the time the sale is complete, people may already be prepared to leave a review without additional prompting.

Other methods to get testimonials

In addition to casually hinting at the importance of reviews, agents may also be wise to write that kind of ask into client-facing email newsletters. If these people are signed up for a newsletter in the first place, they're probably going to feel pretty good about the agent overall, so asking them to take a few minutes to leave a positive review within the context of that newsletter can often pay off.

But even before doing any of that, the more agents can do to make sure it's easy to review them on any number of sites — by providing links and examples — will probably go a long way as well. And for agents who start to cultivate even a handful of reviews per week, featuring them on social media can be a good way to encourage others to do the same without coming right out and asking.

Using reviews to your advantage

In addition to simply letting those positive reviews build up on sites like Zillow, Yelp or Google, it can also be helpful for agents to regularly comb the feedback they get and post the best examples, permanently, on their websites and elsewhere. Editing them down to just a few quick words and including them at the tops of pages on the site or incorporating them into marketing materials are good ways to put the best possible foot forward when people start looking for an agent to work with on a sale.

The work of obtaining and cultivating lots of positive reviews may seem a little daunting — even for the most experienced agents — but their value for both the short and long term cannot be understated. If dozens or more good reviews are the first thing prospective clients see, the return on investment for just asking current clients for this favor is likely to be massive.  


The information in this article is intended to provide guidance on the proper maintenance and care of systems and appliances in the home. Not all of the topics mentioned are covered by our home warranty or maintenance plans. Please review your home warranty contract carefully to understand your coverage.

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