Why Reviews & Referrals?
Updated: Jul 8
It's hard for many who aren't in business for themselves to grasp just how far 2-10 minutes of your time can go in the life of someone you've done business with in the past. In this post, I wanted to take a deeper dive into that.
""Excellent experience in everything. This purchase will help me to save a lot of money. We feel like you're not just our Realtor, but our friend. I'm sure for the next transaction that I will contact you directly. I will recommend you to friends and family." John ~ Google Maps
Why Adam reviews others more now than before he was in business himself
I was never into reviewing people much until I became a Realtor and had places online where people could, for the 1st time, review me. After that, I saw just how much a single review can mean to someone. They take very little time, but can have a major impact on someone's life.
The review I gave on the 1st day of my honeymoon
I got married around 4 years after I got into the real estate business. After seeing the importance of reviews, since my wedding officiant wouldn't let me tip him monetarily, and in part since he did such a fantastic job, I composed the review then copied & pasted on multiple review websites (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) without him ever asking on the first day of my honeymoon as a way to thank him.
Your reviews help motivate me
Reviews don't have just a positive monetary value on me. What others say, privately but especially publicly, about my business has a significant emotional impact on me. What you say can warm my heart. What people have said in a positive light about my business has literally brought me to tears. You might call me a cry-baby, but what people say can have a deep heartfelt impact on me. Some of the best reviews have such a positive impact that my wife has even encouraged me on days when I'm discouraged to look at this encouraging public word about me from someone who was the first homeowner in his very large family, shifting from a culture of forever renting to owning and changing his financial future for the better:
""Adam is a person with a heart of gold - a man of God. This man went out of his way to help me when I was buying a home. I didn't know anything about getting a home. He did things for me any other realtor would have never done. I have so much respect for him; he changed my life and I just want to say thank you again. I wish there were more people in this world like him. You made my dream come true. I like him as a person and am proud to have him as a friend" Thurman ~ Facebook"
Your reviews & referrals have a significant financial impact on me & finances help me get better at what I do & take care of my wife better
Reviews, like referrals, can have a much greater impact on the life of a business than a monetary or physical gift. I've been given gift baskets after closings by clients, a $200 Visa gift card, & otherwise, but the most valuable presents or "tips" if you will that I receive come in the form of reviews and referrals to others. A single heartfelt review is typically worth $100s or thousands of dollars to someone like me even if it only takes you just 2-10 minutes. Except those who regularly make $1000's/hr on a consistent basis in their main profession, it's difficult to replicate the kind of effectiveness per time of the value you could add to my life, my family, my business, & those I'll be able to help in the future with referrals/reviews from your experience with me, & that's true whether you spend 2 minutes or 10 minutes.
As I grow in the business, I'll be able to invest more into my business with digital & physical gadgets and tools that are on my long wishlist to add to my currently available options so that I can serve buyers and sellers even better than I can now. If you work with me before and after acquisitions of better tools/gadgets, you may even see some of the fruits of your referrals & reviews. For instance, when I first got into the business, I didn't have a drone.
With a higher business income, I'll be able to have better tools, and I'd eventually like to hire an assistant, which would be especially helpful for when I go on trips & do things with my wife. Currently, even though I have other agents filling in for many tasks while I'm away, I often work far more than would be best for my wife and I to truly relax while away.
Without a formal assistant, yes, I even worked a bit on my honeymoon (pictured above)!
Your impact on other buyers & sellers
Reviews and referrals directly help anyone coming to me based in whole or in part by what you share. I often use reviews to find businesses to refer others to, like you may with services and products in your experience. There is a large difference between agents, and unsuspecting buyers and sellers can very easily start working with an agent who isn't doing them the service that will help them most.
Your impact on those in poverty & in need outside of real estate
As my business grows, the help that I can do in the community and outside of our community grows beyond the realm of real estate. You may or may not be aware, but my goal is to build up investment assets as a real estate agent in part so that I can spend more time in physical, educational, emotional, & spiritual assistance around the globe. I've done extensive work with the homeless in the US and have worked a lot with orphans & those in juvenile detention centers in other countries on over a dozen trips, including with a ministry my family started, Orphan Helpers. I haven't gone on a trip with Orphan Helpers since I've become a Realtor, but higher production levels assisted in part from your reviews and referrals can help to make that become a much more regular reality.
I'd also love to go back to some places that Orphan Helpers doesn't touch, like the orphanage I went to in Nepal when I was 12.
Going back to Africa again would also be a treat that I dream about:
Here are some stories from my trips:
Best practices for reviews
Before you write a review directly on a website, use Word, a Google Doc, or another program (i.e. something integrated with Grammarly) to compose your review in a way that you'll be able to more easily see grammatical, punctuation, spacing, and spelling errors as they come up more readily. If you submit a review directly on a website and didn't save it first in a location like Word, you may be unable to see it until publication, which is sometimes immediate, but sometimes takes days.
If you don't have any instructions on where to go, do a Google search for the service provider. In my case, you might search for Adam Garrett: 3rd Generation Realtor
After you've composed your review & have 1 or more locations to post it on, use copy/paste for any websites that you want to add it to. There's no need to rewrite the review every time in a different way.
If you have any pictures of the person you're reviewing or the work that they did for you (i.e. pictures of your home), include them in the review if you have time.
The more popular the website and the less reviews someone has, the higher the impact you can make. That said, even more obscure websites can have a big impact, especially if someone has no reviews there now.
It's ideal to start with places that you see that you're already familiar with and that you have already established accounts with.
If you'd like any assistance with a review for me, I'd be happy to guide you through the process in person or over Zoom using Screen share &/or remote desktop if desired.
For more details on how to create a good review, go here.