What Are The Benefits of Surveys?
The benefits of surveying clients of recently closed transactions include 1) generating new service ideas and suggestions 2) learning of, and addressing issues before they become bigger, and clearing the path for repeat and referral business 3)allowing clients to vent, thereby reducing the chances of complaints being posted on public websites and remaining on those sites indefinitely (it’s happening at alarming rates today, hurting both agents and companies) 4) being easier for the client, the broker, and the agent as compared to convincing clients to visit a foreign website and register in order to leave feedback 5) appearing professional; clients generally like being asked for feedback. 6) turning results into effective marketing, as we do with our reports and registry 7) increasing agent retention (managers, please refer to “Read About One Company’s Experience” on our homepage.

How Are Surveys Ordered?
No software is required because we are web-based. Companies almost always designate certain staff to order surveys as step in their transaction closing procedure, but upon the broker-manager’s request we can enable your account to permit agents to order their own surveys (you may decide this later after receiving our Get Started suggestions). We have a survey template that seems to work well for most brokers and agents, but we are happy to customize it (we do have certain limitations, but also a fair amount of flexibility), but in either case the surveys will use the specific agent’s name. Once logged in, ordering a survey takes about 15-30 seconds, or, for volume ordering use CVS files to speed things up. The survey is digitally prepared and sent to your client from Doug Fowler, President of AgentRatings.Org, as your third party vendor (see Why Is Privacy Important). We encourge orders for clients of closed transactions for the past 12 months, as this builds report data.

How do We Get a High Response Rate from Surveys?
We recommend short surveys (as long as the accomplish your survey objectives) and then we email them to the client with the agent’s name in the subject line and in the URL link for the survey. Additionally, at the very instant it is sent to the client, the agent receives an email courtesy notice that the invitation was sent. If the client does not respond to the survey, a second and final invitation is sent to the client in approximately 10 days, and the agent is notified that our final invitation was sent. Some agents are successful at getting nearly all their clients to take the survey by letting the client know in advance they will be receiving it, and then following up with the client once they receive our courtesy notices.

Where do Survey Responses Get Delivered To?
You can dictate where survey responses get delivered by specifying that in your initial set up, as will be explained in Getting Started. Companies typically have survey responses go to both the agent and a branch manager. Agents can also designate an assistant or team member to receive copies.

What if There is a Bad Response to a Survey?
It seems that even the best agents occasional get lack-luster or poor responses, and it might be embarrassing to some. But no company or person who generates lots of feedback is going to have all perfect marks, and consumers tend to look at average scores and comments. The reports look real, because they are, and this can actually help agents because consumers know they can trust the results. This said, the agent can disconnect his links to his reports and listing in the registry, and continue harvesting additional survey responses to improve results, if desired.

What About Surveys for Clients Without Email?
Some companies limit survey delivery to only those customers who have email (and it seems that today almost everyone does). However, if you would like for us to send a survey to those without email, we can mail a hard copy first class, with return postage, then manually enter responses into our system. The cost for this service is $3.00 per survey order, which is less than our hard cost. Companies will be billed for this extra service on their monthly billing cycle, and agents typically deposit $15 to cover the first 5 “hard copy” mailings in order to reduce the amount of billing and payments.

What do Reports Look Like, and How are they built?
You can link to an actual report from our home page in the “How it Works” section, or view another one by going to www.agentratings.org/kellimarchbanks. These reports are built from client responses to the surveys we send out as your third party vendor. We extract only some of the data from the survey; specifically the client’s overall satisfaction level, the comments, and if the client allows it, the client’s name(s).

What is Trusted Agent?
Once the agent receives a minimum of 3 responses and averages at least 4.1 stars (we use a 1-5 scale with 5 being the highest), the Trusted Agent Designation is added to the agent’s report, and the agent will probably be inclined to start sharing his report. When an agent is a Trusted Agent, his profile is also included in the Registry provided that the agent uses his agent profile to designate at least one city he serves. Should the agent fall below the 4.1 star threshold at any point, the designation and the registry are suspended until that threshold target is reached again, but the report and sharing tools remain available to the agent in the interim.

What Are Report Sharing Tools, and How Are They Used?
The agent may login to this website to access his sharing tools, update his profile, and more. The system is very easy, and most agents use these without any instruction beyond our simple Get Started guidelines. The one possible exception is for agents who wish to place script we issue in order to have the “See My Ratings” logo on their website; some agents manage well on their own, but some require about 5 minutes of their webmaster’s time. For all other matters, we are reasonably available by email and phone for agent and staff report. You will note at the top of our reports that an agent (or his “sphere of influence”) can share reports through Twitter, Facebook, email, and more. Additionally, we provide a URL link so that agents can make their ratings part of their email signatures. One big advantage for agents in sharing this report instead of pointing prospects to on-line reviews (or even our own registry) is that prospects will not be looking at the profiles of other agents. If for any reason an agent does not want this report to be seen, we can disconnect the links upon request, but still provide that agent services for surveys.

What is the National Registry?
A picture of what the Registry looks like can be seen at the top of this website, or, you can visit the actual site and registry at www.agentratings.org. The Registry allows buyers, sellers, REO, and relocation personnel to find good real estate agents, and have greater confidence in those agents knowing that their ratings were obtained through more controlled measures (as compared with websites that do are not able to screen responses well. We believe that buyers, sellers, relocation companies, and REO departments will appreciate that Trusted Agents on the National Registry were rated and reviewed in a more controlled survey approach as compared with many review sites.

Why don’t I See Agents in the Registry For a City that I Entered?
We started providing survey services to a limited number of brokers and agents in late 2010. The registry is a relatively new part of our service mix; it was released in late February, 2013. We fully expect to have companies and agents in every corner of the market throughout the United States within a few months. Companies and agents who participate sooner have an advantage in that search results favor agents with the highest number of responses. An agent can stipulate numerous cities/towns he provides services in (and therefore be found by buyers and sellers searching in those cities/towns) by logging into the member section of this website and adding locations to his agent profile section.

How do Buyers and Sellers Find AgentRatings.Org?
For starters, www.agentratings.org is often the first site that appears when doing a Google search for the terms “agent ratings”. We are tracking to have agents and companies in most markets by December 8, 2013. We will promote this site as the highly unique service that it is through a multi-pronged marketing approach.

What Are The Benefits of Surveys?
The benefits of surveying clients of recently closed transactions include 1) generating new service ideas and suggestions 2) learning of, and addressing issues before they become bigger, and clearing the path for repeat and referral business 3)allowing clients to vent, thereby reducing the chances of complaints being posted on public websites and remaining on those sites indefinitely (it’s happening at alarming rates today, hurting both agents and companies) 4) being easier for the client, the broker, and the agent as compared with encourage clients to visit a foreign website, register, in order to offer feedback about their experience 5) appearing professional, and clients generally like that their broker/agent asked for feedback. 6) turning results into effective marketing, as we do with our reports and registry 7) increasing agent retention (managers, please refer to “One Manager’s Real Story”How Are Surveys Ordered?
No software is required because we are web-based. Companies almost always designate certain staff to order surveys as step in their transaction closing procedure, but upon the broker-manager’s request we can enable your account to permit agents to order their own surveys (you may decide this later after receiving our Get Started suggestions). We have a survey template that seems to work well for most brokers and agents, but we are happy to customize it (we do have certain limitations, but also a fair amount of flexibility), but in either case the surveys will use the specific agent’s name. Once logged in, ordering a survey takes about 15-30 seconds, or, for volume ordering use CVS files to speed things up. The survey is digitally prepared and sent to your client from Doug Fowler, President of AgentRatings.Org, as your third party vendor. We encourage orders for clients of closed transactions for the past 12 months, as this builds report data.How do We Get a High Response Rate from Surveys? We recommend short surveys, and then we email them to the client with the agent’s name in the subject line and in the URL link for the survey. Additionally, at the very instant it is sent to the client, the agent receives an email courtesy notice that the invitation was sent. If the client does not respond to the survey, a second and final invitation is sent to the client in approximately 10 days, and the agent is notified that our final invitation was sent. Some agents are successful at getting nearly all their clients to take the survey by letting the client know in advance they will be receiving it, and then following up with the client once they receive our courtesy notices.Where do Survey Responses Get Delivered To?
You can dictate where survey responses get delivered by specifying that in your initial set up, as will be explained in Getting Started. Companies typically have survey responses go to both the agent and a branch manager. Agents can also designate an assistant or team member to receive copies.

What if There is a Bad Response to a Survey?
It seems that even the best agents occasional get lack-luster or poor responses, and it might be embarrassing to some. But no company or person who generates lots of feedback is going to have all perfect marks, and consumers tend to look at average scores and comments. The reports look real, because they are, and this can actually help agents because consumers know they can trust the results. This said, the agent can disconnect his links to his reports and listing in the registry, and continue harvesting additional survey responses to improve results, if desired.

What About Surveys for Clients Without Email?
Some companies limit survey delivery to only those customers who have email (and it seems that today almost everyone does). However, if you would like for us to send a surveys to those without email, we can mail a hard copy of the appropriate, personalized survey via first class postal, with return postage, then if responded to enter the data into the system. The cost for this service is $3.00 per survey order, which is less than our hard cost (we have postage, return postage, and staff time to specially prepare the custom survey and enter any response into the computer manually). Companies will be billed for this extra service on their monthly billing cycle, and agents typically deposit $15 to cover the first 5 “hard copy” mailings in order to reduce the amount of billing and payments.

What do Reports Look Like, and How are they Built?
An actual report can be linked to from “How It Works” on our home page, or go to www.agentratings.org/kellimarchbanks. These reports are built from client responses to the surveys we send out as your third party vendor. We extract only some of the data from the survey; specifically the client’s overall satisfaction level, the comments, and if the client allows it, the client’s name(s).

What is Trusted Agent?
Once the agent receives a minimum of 3 responses and averages at least 4.1 stars (we use a 1-5 scale with 5 being the highest), the Trusted Agent Designation is added to the agent’s report, and the agent will probably be inclined to start sharing his report. When an agent is a Trusted Agent, his profile is also included in the Registry provided that the agent uses his agent profile to designate at least one city he serves. Should the agent fall below the 4.1 star threshold at any point, the designation and the registry are suspended until that threshold target is reached again, but the report and sharing tools remain available to the agent in the interim.

What Are Report Sharing Tools, and How Are they Used?
The agent may login to this website to access his sharing tools, update his profile, and more. The system is very easy, and most agents use these without any instruction beyond our simple Get Started guidelines. The one possible exception is for agents who wish to place script we issue in order to have the “See My Ratings” logo on their website; some agents manage well on their own, but some require about 5 minutes of their webmaster’s time. For all other matters, we are reasonably available by email and phone for agent and staff report. You will note at the top of our reports that an agent (or his “sphere of influence”) can share reports through Twitter, Facebook, email, and more. Additionally, we provide a URL link so that agents can make their ratings part of their email signatures. One big advantage for agents in sharing this report instead of pointing prospects to on-line reviews (or even our own registry) is that prospects will not be looking at the profiles of other agents. If for any reason an agent does not want this report to be seen, we can disconnect the links upon request, but still provide that agent services for surveys.

What is the National Registry?
You can visit the actual registry at www.agentratings.org. The Registry allows buyers, sellers, REO, and relocation personnel to find good real estate agents, and have greater confidence in those agents knowing that their ratings were obtained through more controlled measures (as compared with websites that do not screen responses well). We believe that buyers, sellers, relocation companies, and REO departments will appreciate that Trusted Agents on the National Registry were rated and reviewed in a more controlled survey approach as compared with many review sites.

Why Don’t I See Agents in the Registry for a City that I Entered?
We started providing survey services to a limited number of brokers and agents in late 2010. The registry is a relatively new part of our service mix; it was released in late February, 2013. We fully expect to have companies and agents in every corner of the market throughout the United States within a few months. Companies and agents who participate sooner have an advantage in that search results favor agents with the highest number of responses. An agent can stipulate numerous cities/towns he provides services in (and therefore be found by buyers and sellers searching in those cities/towns) by logging into the member section of this website and adding locations to his agent profile section.

How do Buyers and Sellers Find AgentRatings.Org?
For starters, www.agentratings.org is often the first site that appears when doing a Google search for the terms “agent ratings”. Over the next few months we expect to have companies and agents in most markets throughout the United States, and will then promote this consumer benefit as the highly unique service that it is through a multi-pronged marketing approach.