Reviews get noticed
I was out with a friend across town the other day, and I was getting hungry, so we decided to eat. First thing we did was pull out our phones to look for a restaurant that might be interesting. And which one did we choose? We chose the one that had a list of nice reviews.
That restaurant got our money because other people took the time to jot down reviews that convinced us to give them a try, and the restaurant had the insight to put those reviews front and center.
If reviews work so well for simple issues, like where to eat, then you can be sure that they work like this for more complicated choices, like which Loan Officer to choose.
What do reviews do for you?
Reviews are, arguably, the most important pieces of information about you and your services. Nielsen’s 2013 Global Trust in Advertising Report indicates that consumer reviews rank as one of the most trusted source of brand information. An astounding 70 percent of global consumers indicate that they not only trust online reviews, but that they take action based on those reviews. Only reviews and referrals from a family member, friend, or colleague were ranked higher at 84% effective.
So people who look for reviews are acting on them. Reviews also help attract and guide people to you and your services by casting a wide net across your prime target groups. People that are already looking for your services will be far more likely to choose you over other LOs if you have a social media presence accented by multiple positive reviews.
Worth their weight in gold
Before you ever meet a client, he or she has probably already done research and knows a little bit about you. He asked for a reference from his real estate agent, or someone close to his universe who may have recently gotten a mortgage through you. She may have asked her lawyer or accountant, but somewhere along the line, she found you, and attached to that event was a referral, a recommendation or a review. And that is what online reviews really are: recommendations from people that have worked with you before, letting others know of their positive experience working with you.
Reviews attract the right clients and differentiate you from your competition. When reviews are featured effectively, they can create an echo effect between your current online presence and online reviews, and back again. Reviews add fresh and unique content to your website, driving up your social rankings, and reviewers use the same language as the people searching for you. Reviews tied to your online presence add to the size and focus of the net you are casting for the clients you want.
So what’s a Loan Officer to do?
Get reviewed and let the world know about it. Harness the voice of clients and colleagues that have something to say and then amplify it. Start out by creating a list of sites where you want to be reviewed. Sites like Linkedin, Facebook, Yelp, Zillow, Google+local and Betterloanofficers.com are prime sites for getting and broadcasting reviews for loan officers.
Go to your ‘A’ list. Reach out to colleagues that you know will deliver a thoughtful and well written review. Reach out to former clients with whom you have worked and let them know that you are trying to increase your online presence and you want their input. If any of your former clients wrote a thank you email to you after a successful close on a loan, reply to that email asking for their time to pen a review for you. Most people will be happy to help you out with a positive word or two.
Start asking for a review from clients at the conclusion of the loan process. They will be in a great mood and that makes for sparking reviews! Make the process easy for them, too. You can direct them to one of the websites you suggest, or to your own website. For your website, you may consider installing a 3rd party review system like ServiceKick+ or Reevoo so they can log in easily and review you. They can even send you a review in email too! The goal is to get the conversation started by making it easy on the people who want to review you.
Now connect the dots
Reviews are only helpful if potential clients can find them. Make sure that you include links on your website to your reviews with a snippet from them. Link your website to positive reviews as well, so that people who find you through a review can contact you immediately. Engage with reviewers in the comments section to say thanks, it plays well with people who read through the comments to see you acknowledging the positive words from a review.
If you have an active online social media presence, reviews will begin to play a large part in your effort, connecting real opinions from real people to you and your services. If you don’t have a dynamic online presence, now is the time to get going and having reviews as the centerpiece of your presence is a solid move.
With all the options that people have today, it’s more important than ever to separate your identity from the competition, and using social proof is the way to do it. Reviews got me into that restaurant, and reviews can get clients into your office.
So, do you have a tactic for getting reviews that I missed? Take a minute to let me know, and while you’re commenting, you might consider reviewing this post!