The Real Reason You're Losing Clients (And It Has Nothing to Do With Your Sales Skills)

You nailed the presentation. Your website looks professional. Your marketing materials are polished. But when it's time for that prospect to pick up the phone, they ghost you. Sound familiar?

Here's what's actually happening in that critical moment between their interest and their action: they're Googling you. And what they find—or more importantly, what they don't find—is making or breaking your business before you even know they existed.

In my conversation with Shane Chase from Oggvo, we pulled back the curtain on the invisible moment of truth that's quietly determining whether your phone rings or stays silent. This isn't about gaming algorithms or buying fake reviews. This is about understanding how the review economy actually works and why your digital presence might be your biggest conversion killer right now.

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Welcome to the Review Economy

We're no longer living in the era where a trusted referral alone seals the deal. Shane breaks down the three primary ways businesses generate leads—referrals, advertising, and lead generation—and reveals the uncomfortable truth: all three are now filtered through your online reputation.

Here's what actually happens:

When someone gets a referral to you: They don't just call. They Google you first. If your friend recommended three people and you have 10 reviews while the others have 100+, guess whose phone rings?

When someone sees your ad: Before they respond to your direct mail piece or call the number on your billboard, they're searching for you online. If your reviews don't impress them, your marketing dollars just went to waste.

When you call a lead: If they don't recognize your number, they're Googling it before they call back. No reviews? That callback isn't happening.

As Shane puts it: "If someone is struggling to find a reason to do business with you, that's a problem."

Your Google Business Profile: The Most Powerful Asset You're Probably Ignoring

Shane makes a bold claim: your Google Business Profile is your most powerful online asset. But why?

It Serves Two Critical Relationships

Your relationship with Google: Have a strong profile with consistent activity and reviews? Google rewards you with visibility. Don't? You'll need to pay for ads to get found—and those ads cost significantly more when you don't have the reputation to back them up.

Your relationship with the public: Your Google Business Profile is your digital business card and one-click cheat sheet. It's where prospects go to find everything they need to validate you: reputation, services, social media, content, photos, and most importantly, what other people say about working with you.

The Market Leader Example

Shane shares a powerful insight about buying leads: "Do not invest in leads from platforms like Market Leader if you Google your phone number or name and don't have reviews backing you. Those leads are very gung-ho for validation, and they will look you up. If they don't see what they think they should see, they'll blow you off."

The problem isn't the lead generation service. The problem is you're driving traffic to a profile that doesn't convert. It's like inviting someone to your house when the front porch is falling apart—they're not coming in.

The Psychology of No Reviews

When I shared my own story about having 97 profile views but zero reviews, Shane asked the perfect question: "What does that feel like?"

The answer reveals everything. As the business owner, I felt panic. Like people might think I'm not legitimate. As a consumer looking at someone else's empty profile, I feel hesitation and doubt.

That gap—between how competent you actually are and how legitimate you appear online—is costing you business every single day.

It's Not About Quantity (It's About Strategy)

One of the most surprising revelations: you don't need hundreds of reviews to dominate your market.

Shane shares a success story of a client ranking number four organically in Google searches with only 27-28 reviews—ranking higher than their own broker. Meanwhile, competitors with 248 reviews rank lower.

Why?

"Reviews are why your phone rings. Your relevance and popularity in Google's eyes is why you rank."

The difference comes down to having systems that feed the right signals to Google consistently. It's about:

• Regular review activity (not just volume)
• Consistent updates to your profile
• Proper integration with the platforms that matter
• Strategic timing and approach

The Don Jake Story: When Reviews Change Everything

Shane's favorite success story perfectly illustrates the power of this approach. Don Jake, a 20-year real estate veteran, had never received a single inbound call from someone finding him online. Not once in two decades.

Six months after implementing Oggvo's system, he had closed three listings from people who found him on Google. When Don saw Shane at a conference, he bear-hugged him in front of everyone—that's how significant the shift was.

Today, Don is in his third year with Oggvo and recently called to upgrade his package because he's so happy with the results.

The Conversion Multiplication Effect

Here's where things get really interesting. Shane breaks down how reviews multiply the effectiveness of every other marketing dollar you spend.

The Google Ads Secret

"Best time to buy a two-week or 30-day ad campaign on Google? When you have a positive reputation backing you."

Why? Because only 15% of online traffic stops at Google ads. But 30-50% stop at the organic map pack section. The rest scroll past to corporate sites like Zillow and Redfin.

If you're going to pay for clicks, you want those clicks to land on a profile that converts. Two ads side by side—one with 10 reviews, one with 100—which one gets the call? The one with 100 reviews just got better ROI on the same ad spend.

The Domino Effect

When one of my coaching clients implemented this strategy, they got their first listing from Google within a month. Two weeks later, another one. Then their highest price point listing ever—all from organic Google searches.

Other agents in their network saw the results and wanted in. That's the multiplication effect: one person's success becomes visible proof that drives more people to take action, which creates more success stories, which drives more adoption.

The Newcastle Golf Club Moment

Shane describes one of his proudest moments at a Compass conference at Newcastle Golf Club. After presenting to a seasoned 30-year veteran agent, Don Jake bear-hugged him out of nowhere.

Shane's reaction reveals something important about how he approaches business: "I realized if I'm going to stay in the sales industry, no matter what it is, I want to actually provide a solution that people need and that's going to benefit them."

This philosophy—selling solutions you genuinely believe in rather than just making a sale—is what builds sustainable businesses. It's also what makes your reviews authentic when they come.

Authenticity: The Advice That Changed Everything

When Shane shares his best piece of advice ever received, it's simple but profound: "Just be yourself."

His mentor Joel caught him not being authentic on a sales call and called him out. Shane took days to process it, but that feedback transformed his approach to business.

"Authenticity at the end of the day would always make me win and it has in my life personally. I'm quick to tell people, I don't know, but I will find out. I'm quick to tell people, hey, this is not a good fit for you or for me."

This connects directly to online reputation. You can't fake authenticity in reviews. People can smell manufactured feedback a mile away. The goal isn't to collect hundreds of five-star reviews by gaming the system—it's to build a reputation that genuinely reflects the value you provide.

Competition vs. Collaboration: The Captain Planet Mindset

One of the most valuable insights from our conversation came when Shane talked about how he views other companies in his space.

Rather than seeing competitors like RealGrader as threats, he sees opportunities for synergy. When someone at a conference asked Shane why they should choose Oggvo over RealGrader, his response was brilliant: "You're looking at it wrong. You should choose both of us because if you combine what they do and what we do together, the result is huge."

The CEO of RealGrader overheard this, pulled Shane aside, and said: "You're a stand-up guy. You could have easily just bashed us and took the sale."

Shane's philosophy: "Don't look at it as competition. Look at it as how can we all use each other to level up... I eat, you eat, we eat, they eat. Let's all win."

This abundance mindset isn't just nice—it's strategic. When you focus on creating value rather than protecting territory, you build better partnerships, serve clients more completely, and position yourself as a leader rather than just another vendor.

The Best Advice for Business Owners

When I shared my best advice—to fire yourself from your business, then rehire yourself as the 2.0, 5.0, or 7.0 version—Shane loved it. His complementary advice?

"Always stay uncomfortable because every mistake is one step closer to success."

He's right. Recently, I challenged myself to do one scary thing every day. What I've discovered is that every day's "scary" is different from the day before. And each time I do something scary and survive it, it stops being scary.

That cold outreach on LinkedIn I avoided for months? It took 30 seconds and resulted in a great connection. Now I'm doing more of them.

Growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone. Your online presence requires the same courage—putting yourself out there, asking for reviews, being visible enough to be validated or criticized.

Key Takeaways: Your Action Plan

If you take nothing else from this conversation, implement these strategies:

1. Audit Your Digital Presence Right Now

Google yourself. Google your business name. Google your phone number. What story does it tell? Be honest about gaps.

2. Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile

If you haven't done this yet, stop reading and do it now. This is non-negotiable. Add photos, complete all sections, post updates regularly.

3. Build a Review System, Not Just Review Requests

Don't randomly ask for reviews. Create a system that automatically requests reviews at the right moment in your customer journey. Oggvo integrates with POS systems so requests go out immediately after service. Find your equivalent.

4. Feed Multiple Platforms Consistently

Google's algorithm is different from Zillow's, which is different from Realtor.com. If you're in real estate, you need systems feeding all relevant platforms. Don't just focus on one.

5. Time Your Paid Advertising Strategically

Don't invest heavily in Google ads or leads until you have a reputation backing you. Build the foundation first, then amplify with paid traffic.

6. View Your Reviews as Conversion Tools

Reviews aren't vanity metrics—they're the final bridge between someone's problem and your solution. Every review is a data point telling prospects "this person delivers what they promise."

7. Stay Uncomfortable and Authentic

Ask for reviews even when it feels awkward. Be genuine in how you request them. Don't overthink it—just ask your satisfied clients to share their experience.

The Question You Need to Answer

Shane ended our conversation with a powerful challenge, and I'm passing it to you:

If a potential client Googled you right now, what story would your online presence tell them?

Would they see someone established, trusted, and proven? Or would they see gaps, questions, and reasons to hesitate?

Your technical skills aren't in question. Your ability to deliver results isn't the issue. But if your digital presence doesn't reflect your actual value, you're losing clients before they ever give you a chance to prove yourself.

The Bottom Line

We're living in a review economy whether we like it or not. Every referral, every ad, every lead gets filtered through your online reputation. You can either ignore this reality and wonder why your conversion rates are declining, or you can build systems that turn your digital presence into your most powerful sales tool.

The entrepreneurs winning right now aren't necessarily the most skilled. They're the ones who understand that trust is built in public, one review at a time, and that visibility without credibility is just noise.

You've built something valuable. Now it's time to make sure the world can see it.

Ready to turn your online presence into your most powerful conversion tool? I've opened up a few slots for complimentary one-to-one strategy sessions this week. This isn't a sales call—it's a focused deep dive where I'll help you diagnose the exact gaps in your current strategy and outline the first three steps you need to take right now. Book your session here.

Connect with Shane and Oggvo: Visit oggvo.com to learn how their system can help you build the online visibility and reputation your business deserves.

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