Episode #21: Drive Your Business with Online Reviews

[00:00:00] What happens when you build a business through relationships is you get referrals.

[00:00:03] Yeah. So referrals are fantastic, but you can't just rely and say, hey, you know, it's all going to be word of mouth.

[00:00:10] Everything has to be through the mouth of someone I've helped to someone else.

[00:00:15] An online review done the right way and showcased in the right way and managed the right way will help you get referrals

[00:00:25] without people having to tell other people how great you are.

[00:00:34] Welcome to the podcast dedicated to real estate, insurance and everything in between.

[00:00:40] Join us as we take you along our own brokerage building journeys with additional wisdom from our network of business experts.

[00:00:48] Welcome to Bricks and Risk.

[00:00:55] Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Bricks and Risk.

[00:01:00] I'm Tim Garrity and I'm Sean Mooney.

[00:01:03] And today, Tim, we're going to get into it.

[00:01:07] We're going to talk.

[00:01:08] I mean like scrap.

[00:01:11] You would stand no chance.

[00:01:14] I think I know who the winner would be if that's what we're doing here.

[00:01:16] I think the public knows who the winner would be.

[00:01:20] That's right. They do know it's me.

[00:01:22] But keep going.

[00:01:24] Today, we're talking about reviews.

[00:01:29] We're going to talk about reviews and specifically how to get them and why they're important for businesses.

[00:01:36] Awesome.

[00:01:37] Oh, such a great topic.

[00:01:39] And we're huge proponents of this, by the way.

[00:01:42] So again, we like to talk about things that we feel positive about.

[00:01:46] So here are a couple statistics about online reviews.

[00:01:49] So 95% of customers read online reviews before buying a product or service.

[00:01:56] So that's pretty staggering.

[00:01:58] Also, 49% of customers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.

[00:02:07] And I think you would agree with me here.

[00:02:09] I hope you would.

[00:02:10] But maybe.

[00:02:12] But hey, when we built our businesses, again, we've built our businesses through relationships.

[00:02:19] And what happens when you build a business through relationships is you get referrals.

[00:02:23] So referrals are fantastic.

[00:02:25] But you can't just rely and say, hey, you know, it's all going to be word of mouth.

[00:02:30] Everything has to be through the mouth of someone I've helped, to someone else.

[00:02:34] An online review done the right way and showcased in the right way and managed the right way

[00:02:41] will help you get referrals without people having to tell other people how great you are.

[00:02:48] Here's a great example.

[00:02:50] I've helped you with real estate before.

[00:02:52] Yep.

[00:02:53] And you've given me an online review.

[00:02:55] Yep.

[00:02:56] And let's say someone that you know that maybe I don't know is just looking online

[00:03:01] and they're checking things out and they come across Copper Hill and they find our profile

[00:03:06] and they're reading about how we started, you know, the size of our team,

[00:03:10] where we specialize, you know, who we've helped.

[00:03:14] And they search for us on Google.

[00:03:16] And right to the right, you will see your online Google reviews,

[00:03:19] which in my opinion are probably some of the most valuable online reviews you can have today.

[00:03:24] Would you agree with that?

[00:03:26] Yeah, I think it's very important to have that profile

[00:03:32] and have an awareness and reviews posted on Google.

[00:03:40] Yep.

[00:03:40] Yeah.

[00:03:41] So then your friend finds us online, looks at our reviews,

[00:03:46] makes the connection between you and I for whatever reason,

[00:03:50] and then they can make the decision for themselves.

[00:03:53] So when you're looking at online reviews,

[00:03:55] not only are you looking for that SEO to boost your business,

[00:03:59] you know, having a Google business profile is going to boost your business.

[00:04:02] Having online reviews through Google is going to boost your business

[00:04:06] because again, where do most people search for business, for information?

[00:04:09] They go to Google.

[00:04:10] Most people go there.

[00:04:12] So having those there is huge.

[00:04:15] And you know, basically 49% of customers trust online reviews

[00:04:21] as much as a personal recommendation.

[00:04:23] They might look at that, have never spoken to you about your experience,

[00:04:26] but they're just going to reach out and say, hey, I need help.

[00:04:29] So what have you experienced on your end with online reviews?

[00:04:32] So they are a tremendous vehicle for us to gather new clients.

[00:04:40] Yep.

[00:04:41] We put a focus on trying to extract as many reviews as we possibly can.

[00:04:50] Yep.

[00:04:53] They tell a story, right?

[00:04:55] And I think that you're trying to tell people out there

[00:05:01] that are searching, that are looking for a new insurance provider,

[00:05:07] what you can provide to them, these people that are looking.

[00:05:11] Yeah, agreed.

[00:05:12] So we absolutely put a focus on number one,

[00:05:19] providing a client experience that is high level

[00:05:24] so that when we go to ask them to leave a review,

[00:05:30] they're more than willing to do that.

[00:05:32] Yeah, no, I agree.

[00:05:33] And that's like, it really brings up the next point.

[00:05:37] So you mentioned that.

[00:05:39] So how do you get online reviews?

[00:05:42] You have at Mooney Insurance Brokers,

[00:05:45] do you have a way or ways that you consistently,

[00:05:50] whether it's through technology,

[00:05:52] whether it's the phone,

[00:05:53] whether it's just in person,

[00:05:55] like how do you get online reviews?

[00:05:58] So number one.

[00:06:00] Besides having a droid.

[00:06:01] I mean, we do understand that that helps.

[00:06:04] They get preference or treatment.

[00:06:05] But I figured that was just understood.

[00:06:06] You have a droid, you're just going to get more online reviews.

[00:06:09] But what are the other ways?

[00:06:10] So number one, if client A comes to our office

[00:06:16] and we start a new policy for them,

[00:06:21] and they have a Gmail email account,

[00:06:25] they get like an asterisk next to their name

[00:06:28] so that we're aware that we treat them differently.

[00:06:31] Interesting.

[00:06:32] Yeah.

[00:06:33] Oh, that's cool.

[00:06:35] And so there's a reason baked in to the idea of having that.

[00:06:39] Because you think they have a droid as well?

[00:06:42] We only write insurance for people.

[00:06:45] That's one of the pre-qualifying steps.

[00:06:47] If you don't, you are not welcome.

[00:06:50] If you're on Tim's side of the fence with an iPhone,

[00:06:53] please go somewhere else.

[00:06:54] Go to State Farm right there.

[00:06:56] Right down the street.

[00:06:58] So we treat them the way that they come into our CRM.

[00:07:04] It's different than if it's Verizon or AOL

[00:07:10] or whatever type of email account.

[00:07:12] So that's number one is they're kind of treated differently upfront.

[00:07:19] Number two is we actually, in our application process,

[00:07:26] this is a great little tip that I think some people will enjoy.

[00:07:32] Our docu-sign.

[00:07:33] So we execute a policy.

[00:07:34] We have an application.

[00:07:36] We need signatures on that application.

[00:07:39] Same here.

[00:07:40] Yep.

[00:07:41] We have a redirect on our completion process

[00:07:47] in that baked into that docu-sign

[00:07:52] so that as soon as they're done signing,

[00:07:58] they're immediately taken over to our review page.

[00:08:02] No way.

[00:08:04] What tech do you use for that?

[00:08:06] I'll put it in the links.

[00:08:07] Dude, that's sick.

[00:08:08] Yeah, throw it in the shout outs.

[00:08:09] So literally what we do is when we prep them,

[00:08:12] say, hey, we're sending over this application.

[00:08:14] I need you to sign all of the spots

[00:08:19] where you need to sign and date.

[00:08:22] And by the way, after you're done completing that application,

[00:08:26] you're setting their expectation.

[00:08:28] Instead of surprising them, you're letting them know,

[00:08:30] this is what we do.

[00:08:32] You're going to be taken to a review site.

[00:08:35] And I know that they're Google and Gmail linked.

[00:08:40] So I say, you're going to be taken over into a review site.

[00:08:46] If you can leave a review, nothing formal.

[00:08:49] You can just leave a review.

[00:08:50] It would mean a lot to us.

[00:08:52] Dude, that's awesome.

[00:08:53] So never shared this with me before.

[00:08:55] I'm glad we're doing this episode.

[00:08:56] I can't give you all the nuggets,

[00:08:58] and then I wouldn't have anything for the podcast.

[00:09:01] We've talked about it before.

[00:09:03] Mooney's the better man.

[00:09:04] He reads more books.

[00:09:05] He has better redirects.

[00:09:07] He obviously has a better phone.

[00:09:09] So it's like just think of all these different ways.

[00:09:12] I mean, it's kind of infinite if you think about it.

[00:09:16] I can't believe I only had three.

[00:09:19] That's us.

[00:09:20] So we really rely heavily on the reviews

[00:09:27] because we think that people are looking, especially

[00:09:30] our industry, insurance, like insurance people,

[00:09:32] especially now, looking for new insurance.

[00:09:35] Hey, I want to deal with a broker.

[00:09:37] I'm not happy with who I'm dealing with.

[00:09:39] We're looking for someone new.

[00:09:41] So number one, we put a heavy emphasis on it.

[00:09:46] We tell people that they're coming to finish it out,

[00:09:51] to review if they could do it.

[00:09:53] And then it's them leaving a story

[00:09:55] of what their experience.

[00:09:57] So we've already given them, hopefully,

[00:10:01] a very good experience going through the process.

[00:10:05] And so then it just tells a story

[00:10:06] to all the people that are looking, hey,

[00:10:09] this has been a great experience.

[00:10:12] And then hopefully, we bring in the business based on that.

[00:10:16] Do you solely focus on Google reviews?

[00:10:20] Do you have other spots that you try?

[00:10:21] Do you rotate?

[00:10:22] Facebook.

[00:10:23] So Facebook and Google.

[00:10:25] If they don't have a Gmail, it's not going to work.

[00:10:28] Because in order to leave a Google review,

[00:10:30] you need a Gmail email.

[00:10:31] Or at least be in their system.

[00:10:33] Or have a Google account.

[00:10:34] So anyone else, we're going to send out.

[00:10:36] We have a different process for someone

[00:10:39] that doesn't have that Gmail email account.

[00:10:41] Wow, you are really dialed into that.

[00:10:43] All right, so if you had to guess off the top of your head,

[00:10:45] how many Google reviews do you think your company has today?

[00:10:50] I don't know, 100.

[00:10:51] OK, and how about Facebook?

[00:10:53] Equally as good or less?

[00:10:54] No, we don't get nearly as much traction on the Facebook.

[00:10:57] But again, it's good.

[00:10:59] Here's a great example.

[00:11:01] When you're searching for a new business or something,

[00:11:04] doesn't matter what it is, you're going to Google them.

[00:11:07] And when you Google them, one,

[00:11:08] you would love to see a Google business profile

[00:11:10] on the right.

[00:11:11] It's a very easy thing to reference.

[00:11:13] And you can also very easily see,

[00:11:15] it's like there are hours, there are reviews, some snippets,

[00:11:18] some images.

[00:11:18] Like there's lots of really helpful information

[00:11:20] at Google Business Profile.

[00:11:22] But what's also interesting is most of us do is

[00:11:24] we scroll down the page a little bit

[00:11:26] and we start looking at other websites.

[00:11:28] OK, Copper Hill for example.

[00:11:31] Big website for us and credibility not only

[00:11:34] for online reviews, but for like listings

[00:11:36] and the size of our team is Zillow.

[00:11:39] So Zillow is the largest consumer-facing real estate

[00:11:43] site out there today.

[00:11:46] Second is homes.com, which has kind of come up

[00:11:49] out of the blue.

[00:11:50] It used to be realtor.com and now they're beating them.

[00:11:53] So with Zillow, you can have a profile about yourself

[00:11:57] as a real estate agent,

[00:11:58] as most people in this business know.

[00:11:59] If you don't, I'm telling you right now.

[00:12:01] If you have a team or you have a brokerage,

[00:12:03] you can have everyone connected to you.

[00:12:05] You can have all those sales showing.

[00:12:06] But it also allows you to have online reviews.

[00:12:09] So when someone goes and searches Copper Hill

[00:12:12] for real estate on Google, again, same as you.

[00:12:15] I don't know, maybe 70 or so reviews we have over

[00:12:17] in our Google business profile.

[00:12:18] That's what we focus.

[00:12:20] But we also have 20 some on Facebook,

[00:12:24] 50 some on or a hundred some on Zillow.

[00:12:28] And I think that's credible.

[00:12:29] I think what you're doing is very much dialed

[00:12:33] into where you want them to go based

[00:12:36] on their email address.

[00:12:37] I think that's super smart.

[00:12:39] Ours is more a product of like we used to ask

[00:12:42] that they go to multiple sites and kind of like

[00:12:45] just give the same review, which wasn't a good strategy.

[00:12:49] And most of our other ones like Facebook and Zillow

[00:12:53] are actually some of our older reviews.

[00:12:56] And a lot of the newer ones, pretty much all of them

[00:12:58] we focus on Google.

[00:12:59] Do you know where you should be having these,

[00:13:03] where you're getting, because we don't.

[00:13:06] There's an assumption with me that if people are looking

[00:13:09] for shopping insurance that it's going to primarily

[00:13:13] be on Google.

[00:13:14] But do you have any like ideas to like how much

[00:13:19] of a return a Zillow or versus a Google might be?

[00:13:24] I don't have those particular numbers.

[00:13:26] What I will say is that Zillow is not really

[00:13:30] the consumer spot to search for brokerages

[00:13:33] or even really agents.

[00:13:35] Like you can learn about people there,

[00:13:37] but that's what, you know, people are just going

[00:13:39] to put Tim Garrity Realtor, Copper Hill Real Estate.

[00:13:41] You know, they're just going to put things out there

[00:13:43] to really learn more about us.

[00:13:45] So Google for us is, I would definitely say.

[00:13:47] And I don't even mean it with like specifics,

[00:13:49] but like we track every piece of business

[00:13:50] that comes into our agency.

[00:13:52] And a lot of it is heavy Google.

[00:13:57] Like, I don't know the exact number,

[00:13:58] but I would say if I were to guess,

[00:14:01] I would say that.

[00:14:03] You mean the business that like comes you

[00:14:05] New prospect.

[00:14:05] Without like referral.

[00:14:07] Yeah.

[00:14:07] Got you.

[00:14:09] How do you track that?

[00:14:09] Well, how do you ask?

[00:14:10] So in our CRM, it's just like,

[00:14:12] where did this piece of business come from?

[00:14:13] So referral and then name.

[00:14:15] So you always ask them up front.

[00:14:17] How did you find us?

[00:14:18] It's like one of the first intake questions.

[00:14:21] Yep.

[00:14:22] And because, you know, if there's,

[00:14:24] if it's Google, then maybe we're going to spend more

[00:14:26] on Google ads and get that spend up,

[00:14:28] you know, based on different things or referrals,

[00:14:32] you know, oh, Jim gave us five referrals last month.

[00:14:35] Like, you know, so we run that kind of report.

[00:14:39] It's just good to know where, you know,

[00:14:40] where it's coming from.

[00:14:41] Yep.

[00:14:42] But I will give you this too.

[00:14:43] I was looking at this.

[00:14:44] We believe so heavily on it.

[00:14:47] We're looking at your Acer right now?

[00:14:49] Acer.

[00:14:49] This is the-

[00:14:50] About the size of a flat screen TV.

[00:14:51] I'm checking it out right now.

[00:14:52] It might be bigger than-

[00:14:53] Probably bigger than that.

[00:14:55] We could watch the Superbowl on this thing.

[00:14:56] But what,

[00:15:00] my email signature.

[00:15:02] So we track the emails too, that are going out.

[00:15:06] And so we can kind of see where people are, you know-

[00:15:09] Where they're clicking?

[00:15:10] It's like a hotspot for-

[00:15:10] Like Heatmap?

[00:15:12] Yep.

[00:15:12] Gotcha.

[00:15:13] So I actually have in my email,

[00:15:18] our Google

[00:15:22] Your link.

[00:15:22] Business page.

[00:15:23] That's awesome.

[00:15:24] So if you-

[00:15:27] So if I'm feeling so inclined?

[00:15:31] Yep.

[00:15:32] So I know that people, it's kind of like for me,

[00:15:35] like a billboard.

[00:15:35] That's sweet, yeah.

[00:15:36] It's like a digital-

[00:15:39] Yeah.

[00:15:40] So that-

[00:15:41] That's a good thing for email signature.

[00:15:42] When you click on it,

[00:15:44] it's going to take you in-

[00:15:46] 112.

[00:15:48] That's impressive man, 112 reviews.

[00:15:50] 112.

[00:15:51] Like that.

[00:15:52] That's awesome.

[00:15:53] Hey everyone, this is Tim,

[00:15:55] your favorite Bricks and Risk co-host.

[00:15:58] But don't tell Sean.

[00:15:59] I hope you're enjoying this episode

[00:16:01] and I'll get right back to it in a moment.

[00:16:03] Our audience grows through word of mouth.

[00:16:06] So if you would please take a moment of your time

[00:16:08] and give us a review on the platform you're on,

[00:16:11] that would be fantastic.

[00:16:13] Please also help spread the BNR word

[00:16:15] by sharing your favorite episode with a friend.

[00:16:18] We greatly appreciate your time and trust.

[00:16:21] Now, back to the show.

[00:16:28] All right, so it's interesting that,

[00:16:30] do you track things a little bit differently

[00:16:31] because everything kind of comes in the same way?

[00:16:35] We have a team of over 30 agents.

[00:16:37] Agents are running around,

[00:16:39] their clients will give reviews for Copper Hill

[00:16:41] as well as them.

[00:16:43] It's harder to track.

[00:16:44] For myself it's easier.

[00:16:47] How we have done it too is that,

[00:16:50] I start with a lot of that

[00:16:51] in the beginning of the process.

[00:16:52] I'm doing a lot of it verbally.

[00:16:53] When I'm meeting with people,

[00:16:55] I'm telling them a little bit about the brokerage,

[00:16:56] I'm telling them about myself,

[00:16:59] kind of like how I've gotten to where I've gotten,

[00:17:01] where most of my business comes from,

[00:17:03] a lot of it's word of mouth.

[00:17:04] And we're talking about how important referrals are

[00:17:08] to Copper Hill Real Estate

[00:17:09] and to my book of business as an agent, let's say,

[00:17:12] throughout the entire process.

[00:17:14] And then we get to closing.

[00:17:15] One of the last things I do,

[00:17:17] closing goes well, give them a closing gift.

[00:17:19] I say, hey, you're gonna get an email from our system

[00:17:23] that's going to ask for an online review on Google.

[00:17:26] I would love it if you could take a couple minutes

[00:17:30] out of your day to leave us a review

[00:17:32] that reflects your experience.

[00:17:34] But what happens is,

[00:17:37] it comes through our CRM system, which is HubSpot,

[00:17:39] and when it hits them a certain amount of times,

[00:17:43] and there's a formula to that,

[00:17:44] we can deep dive into that another day,

[00:17:46] but I learned this through someone,

[00:17:48] like how frequent it is sent to them.

[00:17:51] Sometimes I get the online review

[00:17:53] within like a day or two of closing.

[00:17:54] Sometimes I don't get it for six months

[00:17:57] because it's going to them at different intervals

[00:18:01] over months to just, here's a reminder.

[00:18:03] If you're okay with it, please give us an online review.

[00:18:07] It's almost like it's following them to a point

[00:18:11] to be like if you haven't done it yet,

[00:18:13] the emails will keep coming.

[00:18:15] Yeah.

[00:18:16] You better fill this out.

[00:18:18] I'm like, yo, listen.

[00:18:20] Okay, we're gonna have a serious issue.

[00:18:22] Or else we're gonna drip you for six months.

[00:18:24] So just do it now.

[00:18:25] Just get it over with.

[00:18:27] Just leave the GD review.

[00:18:29] Dude, you wanna hear something interesting?

[00:18:30] Tell me.

[00:18:31] So we only started doing that maybe like a year,

[00:18:33] year and a half ago,

[00:18:34] and one thing we did is we actually took

[00:18:37] all of our previous clients

[00:18:39] who didn't do an online review,

[00:18:42] and we put them into the same formula

[00:18:46] that literally we got like 20 reviews in like a month.

[00:18:51] So much so that Google kind of like shut us down.

[00:18:54] They're like, you're rigging the system,

[00:18:56] whatever you're doing, this doesn't seem real.

[00:18:58] So we had to like fight through that.

[00:19:00] Then, so we got a ton from the people who were like,

[00:19:03] oh my gosh, I never really got a couple reminders.

[00:19:05] So yeah, I'd love to say what my experience was like

[00:19:08] with Copper Hill or with Tim or with one of Tim's agents.

[00:19:11] And then moving forward, it's pretty consistent.

[00:19:14] Maybe like one out of three, five, seven,

[00:19:17] I don't know what the exact number is.

[00:19:18] We'll really go on there and leave a review.

[00:19:20] So we're in like this cadence now

[00:19:22] where the formula that we're using through email only

[00:19:25] after it is closed, after we verbalize it

[00:19:27] is really working out for our business.

[00:19:29] I would recommend if I'm you,

[00:19:34] I am going to do that in a text.

[00:19:38] Get the link, work it into your CRM.

[00:19:40] I don't know, can you text out?

[00:19:42] Yeah, we can.

[00:19:43] I bet your numbers go up dramatically.

[00:19:46] Yeah, now you're right because it's so much easier.

[00:19:48] It's so much easier.

[00:19:50] You do, you know if people do it through text through you?

[00:19:54] I don't allow it mostly only because my system,

[00:19:59] the way I do my docu-sign, it's almost like.

[00:20:02] That's the system.

[00:20:03] That's a good, that's a really good idea.

[00:20:05] I'm gonna look into that.

[00:20:06] Because with us, my return rate on it is

[00:20:12] and we actually did it.

[00:20:13] I showed you, I rigged out, so I did it differently.

[00:20:17] So I was using that Monco happening.

[00:20:22] Oh yeah, yeah.

[00:20:23] It's like best insurance company

[00:20:24] in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

[00:20:26] So in the world I think it was the best insurances.

[00:20:30] This, we're going for the top insurance brokerage

[00:20:33] in the entire universe.

[00:20:36] So please vote for Mooney Insurance Brokers.

[00:20:38] So I swapped it out because I was like,

[00:20:40] oh during this period, we can do it.

[00:20:42] And then again, tremendous response from our clients

[00:20:48] because I'm like, oh, because it's baked into the email

[00:20:51] on the signature, I was like, hey, just below,

[00:20:54] check it out if you can do this.

[00:20:56] Awesome.

[00:20:58] So I think it's just finding the right position

[00:21:02] for when you wanna ask.

[00:21:05] Six months down the road, I mean, it's like,

[00:21:07] I don't even, yeah, I remember working with them,

[00:21:09] but the likelihood of me being like,

[00:21:12] oh yeah, I've been meaning to do that.

[00:21:13] You kind of lost that opportunity.

[00:21:15] And that's kind of interesting.

[00:21:17] In your business, I could see that more so in mine.

[00:21:20] It's different because it's like,

[00:21:22] this is something that they deal with all,

[00:21:24] this is someone's home or it's their investment.

[00:21:27] Whatever it was, whatever form of business

[00:21:29] they did through us.

[00:21:29] Maybe they bought their first rental property.

[00:21:32] But I think there's more of a personal reminder

[00:21:36] through real estate when we follow up with those emails

[00:21:39] because then they're thinking about this house.

[00:21:41] They're thinking about how happy I am here.

[00:21:44] Again, it's like, when we get someone

[00:21:48] to the closing table, whether you're a buyer,

[00:21:50] whether you're a seller, a tenant or a landlord

[00:21:52] or an investor, we're not at that closing table

[00:21:56] unless you are completely satisfied

[00:21:58] with everything we have done for you.

[00:22:01] And the reason we believe that wholeheartedly

[00:22:03] is because if you don't,

[00:22:06] closing should have been pushed out

[00:22:08] so that something got figured out.

[00:22:10] Or guess what?

[00:22:11] This transaction, this deal was not meant to be

[00:22:15] for whatever reason or reasons,

[00:22:17] and we had to move on to another home.

[00:22:20] So I always look at closing.

[00:22:22] It's always a happy experience.

[00:22:23] I've been to closings with other agents

[00:22:25] and I don't want to speak poorly of anyone,

[00:22:27] but the other side is fighting at closing

[00:22:29] or they're in disagreement

[00:22:31] or someone's saying just move forward with it.

[00:22:34] It's fine.

[00:22:35] And people are saying, you know what?

[00:22:35] It's not fine.

[00:22:37] So I've seen it all different ways.

[00:22:39] It's just, everyone runs their business differently.

[00:22:41] Some people are more transactional

[00:22:43] and they're more numbers focused

[00:22:44] and I get that side of the business.

[00:22:46] And some people are more customer service driven,

[00:22:48] more relationship focused,

[00:22:50] which is kind of how I've been.

[00:22:51] That's my own personal spin.

[00:22:54] There was an agent I was talking to earlier this week.

[00:22:56] Yeah, real estate agent?

[00:22:57] No, insurance agent.

[00:22:59] And he said, I can count the number of clients

[00:23:03] that I know and have dealt with on one hand.

[00:23:08] Yeah.

[00:23:09] So just transaction, transaction, transaction.

[00:23:12] Yeah.

[00:23:12] You know, just-

[00:23:13] It's just deals.

[00:23:14] Just deals.

[00:23:15] It's like, I don't know anyone.

[00:23:16] It's like bring them in, bring them out.

[00:23:17] Hopefully they had a good time.

[00:23:19] Bring more in.

[00:23:20] Yeah.

[00:23:20] Yeah, I mean, again, to each their own.

[00:23:22] There's no right or wrong way.

[00:23:23] No.

[00:23:25] All right, so we talked about some of the statistics,

[00:23:27] why it's important.

[00:23:29] We talked about how you get them.

[00:23:32] And we've also talked about some of the different places

[00:23:33] you can house them online.

[00:23:35] Like is it Google?

[00:23:36] Is it Facebook?

[00:23:37] And I think for us,

[00:23:38] the timing is very important for us.

[00:23:42] I think for you, it actually works

[00:23:43] because it's another touch, it's another drip.

[00:23:45] It's kind of like- Yeah, it is.

[00:23:47] For us, it's like we feel like there's a finite window

[00:23:51] to have that person's attention.

[00:23:54] So like we gotta get it.

[00:23:55] Like once they lock in with you,

[00:23:57] they're kind of like, it's on autopilot.

[00:23:59] But they're happy, right?

[00:24:01] So let me take advantage of the goodwill right now.

[00:24:06] Gotcha.

[00:24:07] And then the likelihood of them leaving a review

[00:24:09] is much higher.

[00:24:10] Yeah.

[00:24:11] So from a timing standpoint, that-

[00:24:12] That's a really good point.

[00:24:13] Is key for us.

[00:24:14] Actually talking about places to house them online,

[00:24:16] so if there's a Zillow in real estate,

[00:24:19] is there an insurance-focused consumer facing site

[00:24:22] that people like to have online reviews?

[00:24:25] I'm sure they're out there.

[00:24:28] People do it on their website.

[00:24:29] So I don't know-

[00:24:30] Just company specific,

[00:24:31] they'll just go right to the company.

[00:24:33] Like there's no just-

[00:24:33] No, like-

[00:24:35] Is there a website that will talk about

[00:24:38] multiple insurance companies, one online reviews,

[00:24:40] anything you know of?

[00:24:41] QAura is a site.

[00:24:51] No, but so like if I have a placeholder on-

[00:24:55] Answers.com?

[00:24:58] Yeah.

[00:24:58] Ask Jeeves.

[00:24:59] Where's the best insurance broker in the universe?

[00:25:06] Where's Ask Jeeves these days?

[00:25:07] In Ambler, Pennsylvania.

[00:25:08] That's Mooney Insurance.

[00:25:10] That's great.

[00:25:11] But on our site, so you can go to our website.

[00:25:13] So if we wanted to redirect,

[00:25:14] and I'm sure there's an SEO-

[00:25:15] It's more focused.

[00:25:17] Benefit by having it there?

[00:25:18] Yep.

[00:25:19] You could go there.

[00:25:20] Some of the national insurance,

[00:25:24] like,

[00:25:27] not agencies, but like some of the-

[00:25:29] Like other shopping sites that were like,

[00:25:31] hey, I'm comparing one versus the other

[00:25:34] versus blah, blah, blah.

[00:25:35] I don't think you would do reviews there.

[00:25:37] Gotcha.

[00:25:40] But some like the,

[00:25:42] I forget what they're called,

[00:25:43] National Association of Insurance Agents

[00:25:46] or something like that.

[00:25:47] You can get plugged in with them,

[00:25:48] and there's some reviews.

[00:25:50] And I think they do leads out of there too.

[00:25:52] So it could work there.

[00:25:53] There is another spot,

[00:25:54] but it's not as prevalent in your business.

[00:25:55] Yeah, for us, I know the volume coming in.

[00:25:59] I know just when we do that intake

[00:26:02] of the amount of people

[00:26:04] that are getting directed through Google,

[00:26:08] that for us it just works the way that we have it set

[00:26:10] up in terms of where the traffic's coming from,

[00:26:14] and then the reviews to kind of like back that up.

[00:26:17] All right.

[00:26:18] So here's the final point we wanted to go over.

[00:26:22] What do the online reviews actually mean

[00:26:26] or do for your business?

[00:26:29] So now that you have,

[00:26:30] you got 100 plus reviews on Google.

[00:26:32] Yep.

[00:26:33] You got reviews on your website.

[00:26:34] You got reviews on Facebook.

[00:26:36] What does that mean?

[00:26:37] What has that done for your company?

[00:26:40] So I think that,

[00:26:42] I think it was 2017,

[00:26:45] there was a statistic that was given

[00:26:47] and it was 73% of shoppers were robo's.

[00:26:54] Research online by offline.

[00:26:58] Wow. Yeah.

[00:26:59] Like that acronym, never heard of that one.

[00:27:00] So they're online.

[00:27:02] They're kind of looking around,

[00:27:04] looking for information.

[00:27:06] But when the time comes to buy,

[00:27:09] they're not gonna buy online

[00:27:11] because they're insuring their house.

[00:27:13] They're insuring their vehicle.

[00:27:15] They're using it to research.

[00:27:17] They just wanna get a feel.

[00:27:19] They wanna take their time.

[00:27:21] It's interesting, like in real estate,

[00:27:23] do you know who I would classify as that in person?

[00:27:26] Would be like, you have an open house.

[00:27:28] So when you have an open house,

[00:27:30] let's say I have a listing, one, two, three,

[00:27:31] Main Street and you have an open house.

[00:27:34] Most of the time you're getting interested buyers

[00:27:38] who I'm gonna say half of them in my experience,

[00:27:41] don't even have a real estate agent yet.

[00:27:44] No one's helping them.

[00:27:46] They haven't tried to interview buyer agents.

[00:27:48] They're not really talking to a friend

[00:27:50] or a family member yet,

[00:27:51] like someone they trust

[00:27:52] who can navigate them through real estate.

[00:27:53] They just wanna go to the open house for research.

[00:27:57] They wanna look at it.

[00:27:58] They wanna walk through it.

[00:27:59] They wanna maybe meet a real estate agent

[00:28:03] that they feel good about at that open house.

[00:28:06] And it's interesting you say that.

[00:28:07] That's almost like that robo philosophy.

[00:28:10] They're gonna look, they're gonna,

[00:28:11] okay, there's an open house at one, two, three,

[00:28:13] Main Street and then they show up.

[00:28:15] And most of the time it's because they're not ready.

[00:28:18] They're just like, you know what?

[00:28:19] We're renting, maybe we got six months left on our lease.

[00:28:21] It's a little early.

[00:28:22] You know, we're first time home buyers

[00:28:24] or hey, we're move up buyers.

[00:28:25] There's no rush.

[00:28:27] So people will kind of browse.

[00:28:29] What we find is that the people

[00:28:31] that are looking online,

[00:28:34] some people are just gonna buy online.

[00:28:36] There's certainly a quarter of the people out there

[00:28:40] are just totally fine with that.

[00:28:42] Fine.

[00:28:44] But what the other people are doing

[00:28:46] are trying to get like a baseline.

[00:28:48] Like they're saying like,

[00:28:51] all right, these are my policies right now.

[00:28:53] These are the coverages I have.

[00:28:55] They don't have a good handle on the coverages.

[00:28:57] But I know what I'm paying for this policy

[00:28:59] or I'm paying for this policy.

[00:29:01] So they go online and say,

[00:29:02] hey, is there something possibly out there

[00:29:06] that may be better?

[00:29:10] And so that may like spur them on to look

[00:29:14] and do some investigative work online.

[00:29:17] And then at least they have a baseline

[00:29:19] when they call us to like,

[00:29:21] what's their expectation?

[00:29:22] You know, what do they anticipate when coming to us?

[00:29:27] Yeah.

[00:29:28] And so our goal is really

[00:29:32] to have that information out there.

[00:29:36] You know, it's social proof, right?

[00:29:38] You want them to see you when they do their research.

[00:29:41] They're doing all that searching.

[00:29:43] They're diving through different things.

[00:29:45] They're doing Google search,

[00:29:45] all sorts of different things.

[00:29:46] Insurance and Ambler,

[00:29:47] maybe they even saw your company.

[00:29:49] They're just like, who's Mooney Insurance Brokers?

[00:29:51] And they just wanna see what's going on.

[00:29:54] Do you get, we get statistics from, you know,

[00:29:57] from Google every month.

[00:29:58] And it's like, hey, you know, your search count is up.

[00:30:02] And you get your page views and stuff.

[00:30:03] You know what's really cool is like,

[00:30:04] you just see search terms.

[00:30:06] I'm not sure if you ever looked at that part

[00:30:07] when you get that monthly email.

[00:30:09] Yeah.

[00:30:10] And then our, it used to be Copper Hill Real Estate.

[00:30:14] So it's like people are finding us

[00:30:15] because they're looking for us.

[00:30:17] So it's like, I'll tell you man,

[00:30:19] it recently lasts like six months.

[00:30:22] It's real estate, which is interesting.

[00:30:25] So we're showing up for different reasons.

[00:30:27] You know, we have a blog.

[00:30:28] It's all original content.

[00:30:31] We have a pretty detailed agent page.

[00:30:33] We have neighborhood pages.

[00:30:35] We have building pages.

[00:30:36] So it's almost like when we were talking to Ryan Hanley

[00:30:39] and we were talking about his book, Content Warfare,

[00:30:41] which I have not read yet,

[00:30:42] but I'd like to look into it

[00:30:43] because I've always been big on content marketing.

[00:30:45] Yeah.

[00:30:46] I think after-

[00:30:47] That's why I mentioned it

[00:30:48] because it was like perfectly suited for, you know.

[00:30:50] I think after like almost a decade

[00:30:53] of being in business as Copper Hill,

[00:30:55] I'm starting to realize that some of this content

[00:30:58] is really paying off because, you know,

[00:30:59] I'm small potatoes.

[00:31:00] I'm a smaller company.

[00:31:01] Yeah.

[00:31:02] Like, I don't have the market share

[00:31:03] that some of these people-

[00:31:04] Well, when you start getting found for real estate,

[00:31:06] I mean, you know, when you look at the pricing

[00:31:09] for like keywords and you do AdWords

[00:31:11] and that sort of thing, like insurance is like-

[00:31:13] Yeah, it's insane.

[00:31:14] But to see the results,

[00:31:16] to see that you're pinging,

[00:31:18] people are like navigating the way through

[00:31:21] and getting to you after the initial search of real estate.

[00:31:24] I mean, that's, that is, that's pretty cool to see.

[00:31:26] Yeah.

[00:31:27] Read man.

[00:31:29] Anything else you wanna add before we close this one out?

[00:31:31] No, I think the main focus for us or the moon-

[00:31:36] Mason.

[00:31:38] If you could talk.

[00:31:40] Main reason why we're doing it

[00:31:42] is because we believe that it's taking a cold lead

[00:31:45] and turning it into a warm lead.

[00:31:48] So you're kind of taking that person

[00:31:51] that you don't know

[00:31:54] and they're getting comfortable with you

[00:31:56] and knowing how you transact business

[00:31:59] and it's gonna be much easier to get them on board.

[00:32:04] Yeah, I agree.

[00:32:05] And I like to relate things too in business

[00:32:07] to like the way that I would search for things as well.

[00:32:09] I try and think of it's like, how would I look at it?

[00:32:12] What would be important to me?

[00:32:13] Not that my opinion matters more than anyone's,

[00:32:15] but it's just like,

[00:32:16] I try and put myself in the shoes of the person

[00:32:19] looking and it's like, hey, I wanna go out to eat.

[00:32:22] I'm searching them to see what's going on.

[00:32:24] Am I getting takeout or dining?

[00:32:26] It doesn't matter, I'm searching you.

[00:32:27] Spray tan, where's the best spray tan?

[00:32:29] Where am I gonna get the best bronze look possible?

[00:32:33] Because that is highly important

[00:32:34] to my everyday and weekly routine.

[00:32:36] I mean, we all know this already.

[00:32:38] Don't wanna go to a place that's like half bronze?

[00:32:41] That's right.

[00:32:42] You know, that's a very fair point.

[00:32:44] So, all right, well, we're gonna close this one out.

[00:32:48] So thank you for tuning in again

[00:32:50] to another episode of Bricks and Risk.

[00:32:53] See you soon.

[00:32:55] Thank you for joining us

[00:32:56] on another episode of Bricks and Risk.

[00:32:59] Our goal is that you walk away

[00:33:01] with one or two valuable nuggets

[00:33:03] and we greatly appreciate you

[00:33:05] sharing your time with us today.

[00:33:07] You can find all BNR episodes on Spotify,

[00:33:10] Apple Music, YouTube,

[00:33:13] and anywhere else you get your podcast content.

[00:33:16] Until next time, keep learning and keep growing.