If you provide some type of in-home service, such as roofing repair or general contracting, online reviews are essential for growing your business. Read on to find out how contractor reviews can be used as an effective marketing tool.

Whether you do small repair projects or build custom homes from scratch, online reviews are one of the best marketing tools available. Reviews help you build trust in your community, enhance your online visibility, and make it easier to establish a strong brand. Keep reading to learn more about how contractor reviews can take your business to the next level.

CraftJack can help you monitor your online reviews. Sign up for our Reputation Manager tool today and see all your reviews in one place.

Benefits Of Online Reviews

Sell More

Think about the last time you made a big purchase. Did you spend thousands of dollars without doing any research or asking a trusted friend for a referral? Probably not. People are more likely to buy from you if someone they know had a positive experience with your business. In the absence of a personal referral, many potential customers turn to online review sites to read about the quality of your work and the level of service your business provides. A report from Qualtrics indicates that consumers are willing to spend 31% more on a business that has excellent reviews, highlighting the importance of reviews for contractors.

Identify Unmet Customer Needs

An added benefit of local contractor reviews is that they can help you identify unmet customer needs. For example, if you read roofing contractor reviews, you may notice that many people have trouble finding contractors to do small repair jobs instead of roof replacements or major repairs. If this is a problem in your community, you may be able to distinguish yourself from other roofers by having a team dedicated to these small jobs, creating an entirely new stream of revenue for your business. 

Make Better Decisions

As a contractor, you have many decisions to make each day, from which jobs you'll accept to the number of workers you need for each job. Paying attention to contractor reviews can help you make better decisions, improving customer service and making your business more profitable. For example, if several reviewers mention that their projects took too long to complete, you may be able to schedule additional workers the next time you do that type of project. With more workers, it'll take less time to complete the work, making customers more likely to give your business a positive review.

Build Your Brand

You may think of branding as something only a company like Apple or Amazon would have to worry about, but even small businesses need to have strong brands. Branding is important because it helps you stand out from other contractors and makes it easier for potential customers to understand what they should expect when they contact you for an estimate or hire you to complete a project. If you take the time to respond to local contractor reviews, you'll be able to build a stronger brand in your community.

How To Get Contractor Reviews

For best results, you should request a review from every customer who uses your services. One of the best times to ask is when the customer is giving you positive feedback. This gives you a natural opportunity to let the customer know how much your business relies on reviews. Try the following script next time a customer tells you how much they enjoyed working with you.

"Thank you so much! It's great to hear that you're happy with your new roof. If you have a minute, would you mind leaving a review on Google? Your comments would really help other people who need high-quality roofing work and aren't sure who to trust."

If you're not comfortable asking the customer directly, you can incorporate a review request into a follow-up email. Once a project is complete, you should be emailing the customer to thank them for their business and let them know they can contact you if they have any questions. Consider adding a P.S. at the bottom of the email to request a review. 

"We'd really appreciate it if you took a few minutes to write a review of our services on Trustpilot. Reviews make it easier for your neighbors to find us, giving them access to high-quality repair services from a local service provider."

Responding To Reviews

Once you start getting reviews, you need to respond to them — even the negative ones. Responding to reviews has several benefits:

• Responding to reviews builds trust by showing that you're a real person who cares about what customers think.

• Every time you respond to a review, you create another opportunity for a prospective customer to find you online.

• Responding to reviews helps with local SEO, making your business more visible to the people who need your services.

• Done correctly, your responses can help you build a reputation as a level-headed professional who wants to deliver the best possible experience to your customers.

Responding To Positive Reviews

Although copying and pasting a canned response to every review would save you time, it's best to write customized responses. Your customers took the time to write a review, so you should take the time to write something thoughtful that expresses your gratitude and shows you care about each person's experience. Follow these steps each time you write a response to a positive review:

• Thank the reviewer for taking the time to share their experience. 

• Respond to specific statements in the review. For example, if the customer mentioned how neat your employees kept the work site, you might say something like, "Cleanliness is important to our whole team, so I'm glad to hear you were impressed with the way Chad and Tim kept your work site organized."

• Respond to each review within a day or two after it's posted. This shows you value customer feedback and care enough to respond to each customer who submitted a review.

• Ask the customer to share their experience with a friend or neighbor.

Here's a sample to follow:

Hi Gina:

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your experience with Quality Roofing. We're always looking for ways to help customers save money, so I was happy to hear that Jim was able to identify the source of the leak and develop a low-cost plan to address it. 

If you have any neighbors who need roofing repairs, would you mind letting them know about the great experience you had with us? We'd love the opportunity to help other people save money on their roofs.

Thanks again!

Responding To Negative Reviews

Responding to negative reviews is a little trickier because you have to maintain your professionalism even if the customer is angry or writes something that isn't 100% true. You also need to adjust your approach based on whether the customer wrote a mixed review or a completely negative review.

A mixed review contains a blend of positive and negative elements. The best approach to this type of review is to thank the reviewer for the feedback and let them know that you intend to look into the problems they mentioned. Here's an example to follow the next time you need to respond to a mixed review:

Hi Mark:

Thank you for taking the time to write a review of Superior Home Renovations. We strive to ensure every completed project meets our customers' expectations, so I'm glad to hear you're happy with the quality of your breakfast nook. 

I'm so sorry that one of our contractors left plywood and other supplies behind when the project was finished. We require our employees to clean up thoroughly after every project, so it's disappointing to hear that this didn't happen. If you'd like, I can have someone stop by your house this week and pick up the remaining materials. You can email me directly at bob@superioremail.com to make arrangements.

Again, I'm sorry we fell short in meeting your expectations. If I can be of any further assistance to you, please email me at any time.

Rich Jones

Owner

In some cases, the customer doesn't give any positive feedback for you to acknowledge. When that happens, it's important to keep your cool. Some of the comments may not be accurate, but you have to remember that a review is based on the customer's perception of what it was like to work with your company. If the customer feels your team charged too much or didn't do a good job, you have to acknowledge those feelings and offer a solution. Use this template as a guide for responding to completely negative reviews. You'll need to tweak it to match each review, but it should give you a good foundation for writing your responses.

Hi Joan:

I'm Joe Smith, the Customer Service Manager at ABC Flooring. I just read your review and wanted to apologize for letting you down. We've never completed a tile project in a bathroom with a skylight, so Mike didn't realize that the tile color would look so different on a sunny day versus a cloudy day. I understand how upsetting it must be to choose a tile color and then realize it looks completely different depending on the weather. 

What I'd like to do is have one of our employees come to your house and paint the tiles in a color of your choice, at no additional cost to you. Alternatively, I can offer a refund of 20% of the project price. Please email me at joe@abcflooringemail.com to let me know which option you prefer. 

Once again, I'm so sorry that we didn't meet your expectations. I'm standing by to help you in any way I can.

Joe Smith

Make Reviews Work For You

In this day and age, contractor reviews are the lifeblood of any home services business. Contact CraftJack to learn more about how you can make reviews work for you without having to spend hours each day reading and responding to them.