I also think that with the rise of social networks – AND the fact that Gen Y has already been observed to chose “referral via social network” over “searching the web for ratings” I think we have the best system, organically designed by the consumer, and backed up by the only rating that counts: Their dollar (spent or withheld).

Keep up the great postings!

Rob, I note that each component of your admittedly “imperfect” solution requires significant if not exclusive MLS and/or brokerage oversight/participation. For what it’s worth, I have mixed feelings about this. For example, I think MLS/brokerage involvement is what allows consumers to have confidence in the agent reviews published by HAR, Redfin, and ZipRealty (I’m not sure, but perhaps the same can be said of QSC, NPS, and Diverse Solution’s recent creation). Consumers know that real former clients are behind the published feedback. But there seems to be something unseemly about putting groups of Realtors® in charge of their own rating systems (I suppose this gets at the interested/disinterested predicament you discuss above).

I admire your comprehensive approach. Thanks for sharing it.

Michael Erdman
President & Founder
http://www.AgentsCompared.com

Any thoughts on how to overcome this?

And, as a point of clarification, I don't fear analytic rating systems. I only question their validity.

You hit on an interesting point with Redfin, and it is true. I send out a report card after every closing, and only the most passionate will respond. The non-responses are usually from the folks who were less than thrilled — nonplussed — for whatever reason. I suspect that the ones who aren't comfortable smacking me personally will be the ones most likely to tell their friends on Facebook.

One thought regarding peer ratings. You have forgotten that the majority of agents want only to through their “peers” under a bus. It is that competitive. I wish I thought that most would grade their colleagues honestly and fairly, but that is not the world in which we operate.

While I think the idea of sharing peer feedback would be interesting in concept, I think you underestimate the amount of gamesmanship that would be demonstrated if consumers had access to the information. I do think, however, that peer ratings among realtors is an excellent idea to be shared only among the real estate community. Peer transparency may actually help to increase the level of integrity and professionalism in the process. If an agent couldn't hide from her bad behavior it may eliminate some of the bad practices that give the real estate industry a bad name. It may also help brokers eliminate the low integrity/professionalism performers because they will better understand how an agent is hurting their brand. Brokers need better data other than simply the number of transactions completed to understand the true impact of each of their agents.

To start, it may make sense simply to share agent peer feedback with the agent being reviewed and possibly his/her broker. The agent could then decide if he would like to share the feedback with the entire real estate community. Make the process of participation voluntary just like the public-facing systems like QSC do. The absence of some in the process may point out their “inadequacies” without having to point any fingers. A system like this should also invite “counterpoint” feedback from the agent being reviewed. Fellow agents are educated enough to know when the ratings and the counterpoint feedback are legitimate. Consumers may not be. I believe this type of transparency would definitely help agents perform better.

I don't know why this is such a contentious topic. We just need to get on with it and adopt products that will allow agents to take credit for their good performance. If consumers are pleased with their performance so be it. It may just mean that agents actually do perform well for their clients and they create loyal fans. I don't know why that is a bad thing. Just take credit for your good customer service and let the strong reviews rack up. I wrote a white paper about this a couple of months ago called Reputation Marketing – Your secret weapon. http://wavgroup.com/Home/Reports/Reports/YourRe…. The paper talks about how to turn the great customer service you provide into a marketing tool. Why not take credit for the great service you provide?