The CEO's Take: Authenticity Sells

Authenticity sells. It’s the rage these days in all industries business, politics, charities. The question you need to answer to provide a truly great experience is how do you present the authentic voice and presentation people are craving in this Instagrammable world where everything is filtered to seem better than it really is.

One of my favorite commercials of the last 10 years illustrates this with great humor:

The authenticity factor is the most prevalent in the world of reviews today. While we relyon Trip Advisor and Yelp for ratings and reference, how many of you still take a word of mouth referral or review from a trusted source more? How many of you use Facebook recommendations to gather info from friends? Every review site is trying to develop new ways to create more authentic and accurate recommendations.

Why? Because they are considered gold. A glowing review by a real customer is more powerful than any advertisement.

Real estate is no different. Authentic recommendations matter. Faceless, nameless, property-less recommendations from your website are not cutting it any longer. In today's world, people want to know it is a recommendation that matters. In short, they want to know it’s real.

Knowing all of that, I'm really excited about the new product we launched this month - RateMyAgent.

It’s super simple to use with its deep integration into CCIMLS, but more importantly, it’s one of the most authentic review platforms out there. Why? Because it attaches the review to the house the review is about. No transaction, no review. Tying the review to the property you sold (or helped a buyer purchase) gives your review instant credibility in the eyes of the public, making it feel more authentic.

What's also great about this product is it answers the questions about which review site to get your review posted on. You can copy a review from Yelp, Zillow, REALTOR.com, and then it sends a preview to your client to approve it. You can also bring in reviews from other review programs and sites and have them added into RateMyAgent, and they’ll even help you do it!

Give it a test drive and let me know what you think about it. We are always on the lookout for new tools and benefits to help you stay at the center of the real estate transaction.