Over the last 4 years or so I’ve spoken to lots of conveyancing firms and one theme that comes up on a regular basis when I start to ask firms about where or how they collect customer reviews is – “We don’t, we’re old school, all our business is through word of mouth or walks through the door.”
This may very well may have been true in times gone by but the world has changed and through technology customer expectations and their buying habits have changed beyond all recognition. On a personal level you can choose to accept or reject this change as in – “I don’t buy things online, I like to go to the shops on the high street.” However in business you simply cannot make that choice.
There are some sobering business examples of this over the last 20 years or so where huge corporations that you would imagine have teams of researchers looking at consumer trends under a microscope but still rejected technological change and ended up where? Here are some well known examples.
- Nokia phones rejected Android technology
- Yahoo rejected Google
- Kodak said no to digital cameras,
- Blockbuster ignored Netflix
So what can conveyancing firms learn from this corporate graveyard? The refusal to change your business in the face of changing consumer trends will make you obsolete no matter how intrinsic you feel your brand is to your local market. Firms must accept change and embrace new technology, if you don’t someone else will (and probably is already!).
Just think about the next online purchase you make or have just made, companies like ASOS, John Lewis and Currys are using reviews to increase conversions of website visitors to purchasers. They know that even a purchase as low as £30 in value will have an increase in uptake by showing feedback from customers who have purchased and used the product. How is a house purchaser or vendor going to trust a conveyancer with their most valued possession without knowing what other people have said about their experiences?
Reviews influence buying decisions especially when they are independently verified. Remember the quote at the beginning of this feature – “all our business is through word of mouth” – well customer reviews are word of mouth for the next generation of home movers.
So if you’re not collecting reviews start now! Your customers expect to be able to leave you a review and new customers expect to be able to read reviews from real customers.
Written by Simon Brown, Founder ESTAS customer review platform
