So the big question is how do you get good reviews? Because everyone looks at reviews on the internet don’t they. We’ve got big global companies now like Amazon and Trip advisor who are really encouraging their customers to look at a review before they purchase, and it’s become second nature to us now online.
When your clients are looking to purchase big ticket items, for example a home extension, a rewire or a new boiler, be under no illusions they, are going to be scrutinising your reviews. They want to have absolute confidence in their construction company or builders to do a good job. Reviews are one way to lead a successful business and in this two part series I will be looking at four things:
- 1.How to get good reviews
- 2.What review platforms should you be using
- 3.How to get your client to leave a review
- 4.What steps to take after a bad review
In this blog post we will be looking at parts one and two, starting with;
How to get good reviews
Firstly you need to make sure that your clients have a place to leave a review. To leave a review you have to make sure that your review settings are turned on, so double check today that these settings are up and running. People who are most strongly motivated generally to leave a review are those who are leaving a bad one because of a bad experience. So how do you get your customers to leave a 5 star review?
When you know your customer is really happy with the result why not give them a short questionnaire with some questions on how they found your service. For example: What did they most like about your service? What did you do well? Where could you improve? This last question is a critical one because at this point the customer will be able to tell you how they really feel and you can find out if it is a five star review or not. This would then give you the opportunity to smooth things over if needed. If they say for example that they are not happy with the finished product, maybe they were unhappy that there was a delay, you can explain the reasons why that might have been. If there were areas you failed to deliver as a company, then this is your chance to make it up to them, maybe you can offer them a discount or a free gift. You will find in many cases if you follow that process, the customer will be happy to uplift your review and potentially give you a five star one even if the job didn’t go as planned. Because then they know you have done everything in your power to solve the problem and that’s often just what people want.
What platforms should you be getting a review on?
There are so many platforms it’s hard to know what will bring you the better business. Well if resources are tight and you carry out a business that is not naturally going to get lots of reviews every month, it may be best to start with one or two and then build it out. Now one of the best places to focus on reviews is Google as it’s the first port of call when someone searches your business, and any good reviews come up on your google ranking. Another great place to start is Facebook, I think the last time I checked it was about 2.8 billion users around the world and it’s probably much more than that now, it’s not a platform to be ignored. It’s easy to set up a Facebook business page and get your clients to leave reviews there. And then in construction there are many specialist sites out there, you have sites like Trustpilot, Trustatrader, Mybuilder, Federation Of Master Builders or Checkatrade. Don’t forget Yell, it still ranks highly on google and that is where your reviews will show generally on the first page.
So in conclusion this year reviews are an important way to get business. It’s the best way to stand out above your competitors. Everyone looks at reviews so don’t ignore the power of them. In part two we will be looking at how you can ask your customers for reviews, and also what to do if you get a dreaded bad review.
