Consumers want to know that the information they find online is accurate and trustworthy. In this course you’ll learn how Zillow Group empowers consumers to feel trusting of the reviews and information they find on our sites, and why this should matter to you.
Consumers want to know that the information they find online is accurate and trustworthy, but unfortunately, not everything found on the internet is truthful. While many people are fairly skeptical about the information they find online, 60% of millennials found online ratings and reviews of lenders to be important in their home financing decision-making (Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report, 2017).
Here at Zillow Group, we want people to feel empowered and trusting of the information they find on our sites. For customer reviews to be effective and trustworthy, they undergo moderation – a process where reviews are analyzed by our system and then checked for quality standards by a moderation team. Every lender review is read by a real human being.
Our quality standards check for things like profanities and inappropriate language, spam, relevance and suspicious activities so that customers can trust that reviews are honest and authentic.
You can find more information on our Review Guidelines here.
Rules of the Road
Imagine looking up reviews for a local restaurant that will be hosting a large and important event for you. You wouldn’t want to see reviews from people who had never eaten at the restaurant, nor would you want to read reviews from the chef or another staff member who works there. Those opinions are biased and aren’t helpful for what you’re looking for.
The same idea applies to how we look at customer reviews on Zillow. Other real estate professionals are not allowed to leave you a review unless you worked with them on their own personal transactions. Family and friends are also not permitted to leave you a review unless they have also worked with you on a transaction.
We only allow clients who have worked with you personally to leave you a review. They are not required to have closed a loan with you, but they will have had to communicate with you in some way. Reviewers must also have a Zillow Group profile and provide details about the experience they had with you, including what service you provided to them.
We may also return a review to your client for revision if their review appears to be incomplete or if it doesn’t contain enough information to be considered helpful. There’s a minimum of 250 characters required for each review and the more descriptive they are in depicting their experience, the better.
It’s a best practice to ask open-ended questions when reaching out to ask for a review. Questions such as, “How did I exceed your expectations?” or “Why would you recommend me to a friend or family member?” are great ways to get your customers to write a great review for you.
Negative Reviews
One of the biggest concerns any professional may have with online reviews is overcoming the less-than-stellar reviews they may receive. This happens to everyone. Anyone who has worked in a customer service role probably knows that it’s impossible to please everyone.
While we do not permit professionals to delete reviews, there is a way to respond to them instead. Follow the steps below to respond to a review:
- Once logged into your Zillow profile, click on Lender Hub.
- Click on the “Reviews” link in the blue navigation bar
- In the Your Reviews section, you will find a list of your reviews. Select one by clicking on it, and it will drop down to reveal the review details. You will see the option to respond by typing in a response.
Once you submit it, it will go to a moderator to ensure it meets our guidelines before it is shown under the review on your profile.
Feel free to reach out to the Mortgage Support team at mortgagesupport@zillowgroup.com if you have any questions or need any help.