January 2011

Give clients something to Yelp about

By Stephanie Sievers, Associate Editor

How do online reviewers describe REALTOR® Amy Duong? Diligent, well-informed, a go-getter who treats the transaction as her own. It’s the kind of advertising agents would love to have and best of all it’s free on Yelp.

What is Yelp? Think word-of-mouth on steroids. Yelp is an online social networking site that allows users to review everything from restaurants and businesses to yes, even their real estate agents.

“It’s honest, immediate and real people voicing their opinions,” says Duong, managing broker of AAA Realty Group in Chicago. Duong herself was a “yelper” reviewing local businesses she frequented, but hadn’t thought about using it for her own business.

But when a former homebuyer posted a positive review of her on Yelp, more reviews followed and Duong estimates she now gets about 38 percent of her business from clients who find her on Yelp. 

Yelpers are a community and when they find something they like, or dislike, they want to share the news. Fears of a negative review may frighten some

REALTORS® but Duong says if “you do good work then you have nothing to be scared of.”
With more people starting their search for a home and a REALTOR® online, sites like Yelp help clients find out what other consumers are saying. REALTOR® Ron Knoll, agent-owner of Saffron Realty Group in Chicago, calls it the “word-of-mouth of our generation.”

Knoll uses Yelp himself several times a week to find business resources such as painters, heating and cooling companies and locksmiths.

Veteran Yelper, Brian Copeland, a REALTOR® with Village Real Estate Services in Nashville, Tennessee, and chair of the National Association of REALTORS® 2011 YPN Advisory Board, sees multiple business benefits withYelp.

• Yelp creates social proof. In other words, it’s an online accounting of what clients really think of you. “The days of saying you’re No. 1 in real estate are over. People want proof,” he says.
• Yelp is today’s Chamber of Commerce 2.0. You’re still networking and building community goodwill, you’re just doing it online. Copeland’s frequent reviews of local restaurants and businesses forged beneficial relationships, and in some cases referrals.
• Yelp helps you create an omnipresent brand. Many of today’s buyers aren’t just looking for a home but a lifestyle. When they start their online research, they may also look at neighborhoods and local amenities. Writing reviews gets your name out there and helps with branding, Copeland says.
• But don’t try to game the system. Part of what has made Yelp popular is the idea that it is an honest and open review system. Yelp and consumers will see through efforts to manipulate results, such as REALTORS® reviewing other REALTORS®—a move that could get your account cancelled, Copeland says.