Have you checked your ratings lately? If not, you may be hurting your career and not even know it. The all knowing CONSUMER is constantly striving to stay ahead of the curve. Inquiring minds want to know, and they use the Internet to do so. A number of services rating all professionals from attorneys to doctors, to, yes, Realtors, have been springing up all over the Web.
Savvy consumers peruse these sites before they call the needed professionals, and it would behoove you to stay ahead of the curve. Acquaint yourself with these sites and make sure your ratings are satisfactory. One such site I found is called Real Estate RatingZ. Check it out before you lose business because of it.
Remember, that it's a numbers game, so if a disgruntled client gets on there and writes you up a horrible scenario, all you need to do to bring the numbers up is encourage several of your willing clients, friends or relatives to get on there and give you stellar ratings. The ratings go from 1 (one being the worst, garnering a green, unhappy face) to 5 (5 being the best and garnering a yellow, happy face). Example: say you get a disgruntled client to rate you the lowest, a 1. You encourage your "fans" to get on that site and give you rave reviews. You get six of your fans to score you a maximum 5, so now your final rating looks like this: 1+5+5+5+5+5 +5=31..... 31divided by the 7 contributors makes a total rating of 4.43, instead of the "1" from the disgruntled client. You now have a good rating and a smiley face.
If you know of any other Realtors' ratings sites, please share them with us! Also consider this: if you have a very good closing with an agent who did a superb job, why not give him or her a stellar rating? So what if they are competition? I always give credit where credit is due, even when dealing with competition. Being a top notch agent allows you to let others shine as well...
If a rating system such as the one that your link sent me to had any affect on whether clients chose me or not I think I would get out of this business. The work I do for a client is MY own rating system. My referall business is a testament to that.
My business last year was 92% by referral. This year is it will be about the same, if not a bit higher. If a client was given my name and they googled me they would find much more about me than what a "rating" system that is flawed and can be manipulated could ever tell them.
I think educated people understand how one can manipulate a system. You yourself pointed out how to "beat" a low rating by having your friends upgrade it with higher ratings.
There was a post here about a month or so ago by a lady who was going through some personal slanderous stuff on one of these systems. It was horrifying to me what was happening to her. I will try to find that link for you to her article.
If someone would only choose or not choose me based upon a "rating" sytem then I say---next!
I found the post I was referring to in my message above. I cannot link it as it was a "members only" post.
I don't conduct my business as if it is a number game. Or a game of any kind for that matter. We're dealing with human beings - and human beings can manipulate that rating system, as you yourself described in your post how to do so.
I also wouldn't choose an attorney or a doctor or a CPA based upon a rating system such as you described in your post.
We'll disagree with this til doomsday...If you want to delete my comments feel free. It's your blog/your post after all.
Edit: I found this part of their FAQ all too telling...
Who can rate real estate agents?
We prefer that you only rate real estate agents you have first-hand knowledge of. However, it is not possible for us to verify which raters have knowledge of which real estate agents, so always take the ratings with a grain of salt. Remember, we have no way of knowing who is doing the rating - customers, people in the real estate agent industry, regular people, dogs, cats, etc.
Thanks Keith! Perhaps we'll see some improvement in these sites... I think it would help if they at least registered an e-mail address...
Kris, no I wouldn't do that! I agree with you quite a bit; I just keep an open mind.
I have used the Martindale Hubbell system, and it is truly worthwhile. I'm sorry that the only Realtor rating system is still in it's infancy and not yet perfected! If you get a chance, check out the Martindale Hubbell at the local county library; you'll understand why I am sold on it!
I sincerely appreciate your input!