I had to jump on a quick episode because of what just happened in my business. I've been working hard to make sure we get found on ChatGPT. And last Friday, I closed a loan from a borrower who found me there.
His name was Andrew. He completed the application without ever talking to me. I followed up day one, no answer. Day two, no answer. Day three, he called back. He'd been working with a big box bank and couldn't get that loan officer to call him back. Super well qualified, great credit, money in the bank. He wasn't there to shop. I referred him to one of my agent partners, they looked at a couple of houses over the weekend, and by Monday they were under contract.
That got me thinking hard about Google reviews. And then something happened that blew my mind.
Short Money and Long Money
Most of us only work on short money. This episode is about long money, and Google reviews are a big part of it. They help with search on Google, and they help AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude recommend you as the local expert.
Change When You Ask
We used to follow up the week after closing to say thank you and ask for a review. Here's the truth: about one in 20 people gave us one. The follow up emails just got ignored.
So now I ask the day before closing, or the day of, right when the final closing disclosure goes out. Everybody's excited. Nobody has told me no yet.
The Review Ask"Super excited for you, you're closing tomorrow. I really appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Could I ask you a quick favor?"
"Would you give me a five star Google review? They help us validate the work we're doing, and when other people are looking for solutions, it brings us to the top."
Then I follow up with a text that has the review link, so most of them fill it out right then. I'm not chasing anybody down. I send it to both borrowers and both agents. Even if only two out of four leave a review, you win.
Tell Them What to Say
A buddy of mine is the number one five star reviewed Realtor in Houston. Here's his secret: he asks clients to name who they are and where they bought.
"Steve helped me buy my first home in Houston, Texas." "Steve helped me with my VA loan in Cypress, Texas." "I'm a Realtor in Katy, Texas, and Steve helped my clients purchase a home."
When somebody searches for a first time homebuyer lender in Houston, a review that says exactly that does a lot more than a generic one. Loan type, buyer type, city, even the neighborhood. Tee it up for them.
The Part That Blew My Mind
I wanted to go back to every past client since I got back in the seat 14 months ago. My plan was five texts a day, 30 minutes every morning, for weeks. I was willing to do it because long money matters. Then I used AI, and here's what happened.
- 1Give it your dataI copied all my Google reviews and pulled a report of every closed loan: names, emails, loan type, city. I dropped both into Claude.
- 2Reconcile the listsI asked it to figure out who had already left a review and who hadn't, and to have each message ask them to name their buyer or loan type and the city they bought in.
- 3Clean up the namesMy report said Nicholas and Alexander. I had it compare names to email addresses and flag likely nicknames. It nailed about 90 percent of them.
- 4Test one, then send in batchesIt offered to send the texts for me. I tested one, then sent ten, then scheduled the next ten for 8 AM the next morning. That way I have time to reply to everyone who responds.
It even caught the refinances and changed the message so it didn't say "hope you're loving the new home." I didn't ask it to do that.
And the responses have been great. People thanking us, catching up, even asking us to run new numbers.
Don't skip the ask because you don't want to be pushy. If you don't ask for the review, the answer is already no. Ask, and you might be surprised by a yes. The result is easier loans, people seeking you out, and built in trust before they ever call you.
You don't have to know how to do this already. Grab the transcript of this episode, put it into ChatGPT or Claude, and tell it what you want to do. It will walk you through which report to pull, how to find your review link, and how to connect your messages.
We go deeper on this inside Predictable Producer.
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