Then you know it’s not taken for granted actually to get one. Even customers who show high satisfaction levels with your service may turn you off, show themselves as technophobic, or just forget about it as soon as you walk through the door.
The truth is, getting home service business reviews can be tricky, especially considering competitive home service markets. The average home service business only gets one review for every 20 jobs they complete. That’s probably because before you even get to ask for a review, you need to have the customer book your services, which can be difficult if you don’t already have an abundance of positive reviews in stock. This can be twice as hard if you only started running your business, which means that you’re struggling to build a reputation from the ground up.
The good news is that reviews are worth it. 91% of 18-34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and 93% of consumers say that online reviews influence their purchase decisions. That means that reviews (which come for free) are the best ads you possibly put out there. They’re sure far more effective than handing out flyers or posting an ad on the paper. Even better, customers are willing to spend 31% more on a business with excellent reviews, which means you can afford to increase your rates as your positive reviews pile up.
The even better news is that beating the competition is easier than you might think. Contrary to common belief, the main objective you should aspire to is not just one or two positive reviews but a high ranking on search engines and reviews websites, preferably with dozens of positive reviews and fewer negative ones. Most businesses actually fail to do, for example, by not responding to customers’ reviews, which costs them plenty of money. If you have a consistent work method, you can achieve that goal in a few weeks to a few months.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make this happen, plus a few pro tips for moving even higher up the ranking ladder.
Step 1: Build
You can’t ask your customers to rate your services if they don’t exist online. Before asking for a review, make sure your online presence is up to date. That means having a website alongside social media accounts, a Google My Business page, and preferably some entries on Yelp, Yellowpages, and such. Remember that even one positive review, no matter where can make a real difference for your business. However, if your customers ask where you would rather have a review, it’s better to refer them to Google, as their positive review may rank you higher on search results. You can always send them the direct link to your Google My Business page to make things easier.
Step 2: Ask
Don’t assume that customers will be so grateful to look you up online and leave a review just because you have an online presence. Get over being shy and simply ask them to do so.
Just make sure the job is actually finished first, so the customer has the full experience to describe. Taking five minutes at the end of a visit to ask “Is there anything we did well, or could be doing better?” is good practice on its own – but keep it separate from the review request, and send that request to the customer either way. Never write the review for them, and never enter them into a prize draw or offer anything else of value for leaving one. Yelp, Google, and the FTC all prohibit it.
Many home service providers will also leave a business card with a review request attached to it. You can easily do the same (and save some trees) using Workiz’s review request automation via the Automation Center.
Step 3: Reply to negative reviews
This is perhaps the scariest part for every business owner, which might explain why so many businesses prefer avoiding it. Reading negative feedback, which can often be offensive, is not an easy experience to go through, but it’s essential to your business reputation more than any positive review you’ll ever get.
In fact, many customers will look at your negative reviews first just to see how you handle them. Suppose you reply respectfully while making sure the problem is addressed and solved. In that case, you’ll create the impression of excellent non-compromising customer service, which is priceless in terms of the business’s selling point.
Pro tips: how to climb up the ranking ladder higher and faster
1. Avoid the bots
We don’t think bots are capable of writing bad reviews, but who knows? Anyways, be mindful of sites’ rules regarding buying or incentivizing good reviews. This is a common mistake among service business owners looking for a shortcut to enable more reviews in less time.
Never buy reviews or pay for them in kind – no discounts, gift cards, free service, or prize entries. It’s the most common shortcut service business owners try, and it’s prohibited by every major platform as well as the FTC. And don’t try to get negative reviews taken down. They’re what makes the rest of your profile credible, and answering one in public is the cheapest reputation work you’ll ever do.
2. Automate your requests
Why try so hard to get a review every single time? Just send an automated message once a job is done. You can set such automation using the Workiz platform and even change the message to make it sound like you. Here are some easy-to-use templates we created with our partners at Signpost to get you started in no time.
Automating the request means you’ll get negative reviews as well as positive ones – that’s the point. A public complaint you answer well is worth more than a review you quietly avoided asking for. If you also want private feedback, run that as its own survey, separate from the review request, and don’t use the answers to decide who gets asked. You can create detailed surveys using tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey.
3. Handpick the customers who will review your services
Timing is the one thing worth being careful about: don’t ask before a job is done. Wait until the work is finished – or until you’ve been back to fix a problem – so the customer has the whole story to tell. Beyond that, ask everyone. Skipping the customers you’d rather not hear from is review gating.
If you genuinely want to save time and build your reputation with minimum effort, we suggest giving Workiz’s review request automation a try. Just enter the Automation Center, select the “Review Request” automation, and personalize the message however you like. And if you’re new to Workiz in general, why not try all it has to offer? Get Started with a 7-day free trial to see how it can take your business to the next level. We believe you’ll be amazed at how it makes service business management so much easier.