Whether you’re a residential contractor, or just a small business that serves local customers: you’re working hard to serve your customers and run the day-to-day operations of your business. This is obviously core and crucial.
However, you don’t want to neglect gathering online reviews. Getting your customers to leave you an online review is the most important sale you’ll make every day! While getting your client to leave a review is often not thought of as a sales process, it absolutely is.
It’s a sales skill that is crucial to hone in order to consistently get homeowners to leave you online reviews. In this article, I’ll talk about the best way to ask your customer for a review in the most tactful way possible.
Why Should I Treat Gathering Online Reviews Like a Sale?
An online review should be secured with the same seriousness and strategic planning like any other sale.
The review is no afterthought; it’s a very deliberate process that should be initiated at the right time. This is best approached when you are just finishing the job and the homeowner is basking in the satisfaction of their problem being fixed. It’s at this peak moment of happiness and gratitude that they are most likely to give a positive review.
But, first things first:
The Power of a Job Well Done
Before even thinking of asking for a review, make sure you have truly solved the homeowner’s problem and have provided enough value so that he or she feels your company was the best choice to go with.
This is the foundation for the next: the quality of your work and the satisfaction of your customers. Only if they feel happy with your service, then and only then can you feel confident about asking them for an online review. This part isn’t just about online reviews. It’s a fundamental aspect of your business. If you can’t give the homeowner a great finished service and product, then you will have a hard time growing your business. But, assuming you can.. consistently getting new online reviews will drastically increase your growth.
How do I land this review? It’s all about your timing, and approach to the homeowner.
The Ask: Timing and Approach
Most owners simply don’t ask, largely due to the fact that they would seem to be too pushy, or even regarded as an inconvenience on the part of the customer. But think of this: asking for a review costs the homeowner nothing and could derive a lot of valuable feedback for your business.
Remember, every single one of these online reviews, in this specific case of Google, is a valuable commodity and has a future potential of earning thousands of dollars in business.
Need a simple way to ask the homeowner? Here’s what we implemented at Perform Heating and Cooling, which was our own local HVAC business. As you’re squaring up with the customer and getting paid, ask this question:
“On a scale of 1-5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, how would you rate our service?”
Then, follow up with: “Great! Would you mind sharing that in an online review? It’s very simple — here’s a QR code to scan!”
Then, try to encourage them to write up a review on the spot. By all means, don’t hover over their screen and watch every word they type! If they feel like you’re monitoring what they’re typing, it will come across bad. Instead, try to get them typing up the review, and then continue on with punching in their card number, cleaning up the job site, heading back to the van to drop some things off, etc. Give them a little bit of time and space.
After you’ve given them enough time, and you’ve finished what you need to do, simply follow up with:
“How did that review go? Were there any issues when you tried to submit it?”
Following this approach is going to increase your likelihood of them submitting the review. Why is it important to do this while you’re still there in person with them? Because once you’re gone, it’s out of sight, out of mind! They will simply forget.
And their problem is already solved, so they’re ready to move on with the rest of their lives. Many homeowners will promise to leave a review, but simply forget.
Even if you remind them later, many won’t take the time to go and do it. The window of opportunity is widest when you’re in person with them, and they’re grateful you just solved their problem. This is similar to getting paid — it’s good practice to collect payment before you leave the job site, and the psychology is similar. Once you leave, the problem is solved, and it’s out of sight, out of mind.
But! What about negative reviews? What if I tell them they can leave a review, and they’re actually not happy with me?!
Overcoming Fear of Negative Reviews
It’s normal to feel worried about receiving a negative review. But there are actually some positives for receiving negative reviews. First: critical, honest criticism is gold for an active business owner. This makes you realize the expectations of the customers and how best you can serve them. Negative reviews portray your reviews as genuine, and a well thought out response shows that your open to feedback.
A professionally and thoughtful response to negative comments become some of a powerful sales tool, showcasing your humility and commitment to customer satisfaction. If there’s consistent negative reviews, perhaps there’s a pattern that you’re falling short. Wouldn’t you rather know this, than have it be hidden away from you?
Criticism is a great way to grow as an individual. And if you’re not willing to learn and grow as a business owner, then sorry! Maybe you shouldn’t be a business owner. Instead, turn this negativity into a positive. Genuinely reflect and absorb it to learn how you can do better. Many times, customer issues boil down to a simple communication error, or an issue of managing your customer’s expectations before a job begins.
If you’re consistent in asking for reviews from each customer, the positive ones will most likely outweigh the negative ones. How do you think the larger companies have thousands of online reviews? It’s because they are consistent. They ask for reviews on every job. If you don’t ask, you can’t receive.
Showcasing Your Work and Transparency
While customer reviews are very powerful, and will increase your visibility on Google, Facebook, and other online platforms, there are other ways to show off your good work. Take photos!
Photos are one of your most important marketing tools, as it shows the type of work that you do. Every time you do a customer job, you have an excuse to post your work online. After all, you just solved a real world problem! Brag about it a little bit. Tell your community how you solved it. Take before and after pictures of the work, talk about your thought process and any tricky snags you ran into.
Post this online! Post this online! POST THIS ONLINE!
Show your community that you’re able to solve their problems, and provide them proof of you doing so. Bonus points? Combine this with your invoice notes.
Make some photos showing the invoices and tell a story of how you solved the problem. This will create not only an online reputation but also evidence of how transparently and openly you share your experience. It is really a strong way to make your community tight and clear for potential customers the added value you could bring to their business.
But Kody, this looks like a lot of work! It is a lot of work, IF you don’t have the right systems in place. But if you have the right systems, it’s actually VERY easy.
Leveraging Technology for Reviews
There are software tools out there to make this process easier. For customers who don’t leave a review on the spot, incorporate tools that automatically text and email your clients asking them to leave a review. Get your online presences set up, and post regularly with pictures, pricing, and customer success stories online. Luckily,
I built an app just for this! It’s called Field Rocket.
Field Rocket helps you with all of this, and more. Our app helps you start showing off your awesome work online, so that more people in your community can find you and book jobs with you.
Best of all? It’s free to get started.
Conclusion
If you have a satisfied customer, then securing an online review is an extremely valuable way to grow your business beyond just the revenue from that job. It’s all about building a name for yourself, receiving feedback, and showing commitment to excellence.
When you’re a service business/contractor, your ultimate power is in your ability to solve your customer’s problems. You deserve to get credit when you’ve done a good job!
Never shy away from asking for reviews. Instead, own it proudly. Incorporate it as one of the most fundamental processes in your business strategy. This will put you above your competitors and open up new windows of opportunity and growth for you, as the platforms your on will boost your presence based on your online reviews.
