Do you believe your reputation is an important factor that clients consider when choosing an agent? Does “word of mouth” matter when you choose with whom to do business? Consider this quote, from a National Association of Realtors survey: “The most important factor in choosing an agent was reputation, according to 41 percent of home buyers, followed by an agent’s knowledge of the neighborhood, 24 percent.” Word of mouth matters more than ever!

If a client tweets about their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with you as their agent, it could easily enhance or diminish your reputation with the public, and affect decisions about which agent to use.

You might say “it wouldn’t matter, who sees Twitter anyway?” In February of 2009 alone, Twitter had a monthly growth of 1,382 percent, and registered over 7 million users. Still, Twitter users are likely a drop in the bucket of the general population. So again, why should you care?

Here’s why: On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at a conference in San Francisco, Google announced that they will be integrating real-time Twitter into Google search results. This won’t be a separate “Twitter search,” tweets will be integrated into regular Google searches.

So if a potential buyer searches for real estate in your area, Google’s search results may well show real estate agent and company websites and tweets about real estate agents in the area. It’s not a reputation builder if the Google searcher sees your new listing and also a tweet about how you never returned someone’s phone call!

What can you do if a disgruntled client decides to tweet their complaints? Answer them, politely and professionally. Attempt to remedy the situation. The Google search results will also show your tweets-your quick response and excellent customer service in listening and resolving any issues.

Tip: Begin to monitor your online reputation by registering a Google Alert with your name as the search topic. Once a day you’ll get an email with every new place your name has been used online!