Why Reviews Matter in the Home Services Industry

Are reviews part of your marketing strategy for your home services business? Maybe you’ve gathered a few reviews along the way but aren’t sure whether they’re really driving the needle for your business.

Good news: Reviews are one of the easiest, fastest ways to help new customers find and choose you as their provider. Plus, the resources you need (happy customers) are already available to you.

In this article, we’ll go over why reviews matter for home service professionals and how to start getting reviews fast with the least effort. Here are the top four reasons you should focus on reviews:

1. Rise in Online Rankings & Get More Business

When you get positive reviews, you show up higher on the results page when someone Googles a phrase like “plumbers near me” or “best [insert your city name] electricians.”

Google and other search engines like Yelp see positive reviews as evidence that you’re running a great business. If you have lots of recent reviews you’ll be likely to show up at the top of the page.

And most importantly: the higher you are on the search results page, the more prospects will start learning about you and considering you as their provider. Reviews are really just free marketing!

Consider these statistics as evidence that reviews can make a difference:

• 93% of consumers used Google to find a business in the past year (BrightLocal).
• Nearly 2 out of every 3 searchers will click on one of the top five options that come up in their search results (Impact Plus).

2. Convince Prospects to Choose You Over Your Competitors

When people see your business online, 93% of them will first look at your reviews (Forbes). You want to make the most of your online traffic and create a great first impression through glowing reviews.

If your Google My Business listing or Yelp profile is full of five star reviews, you’ll win over new prospects who check you out. When stacked up alongside competitors who may have negative reviews or no reviews at all, your page will stand out and they’ll decide to give you a chance.

3. Engage With Your Customers

Reviews are a great place to engage with your customers. When someone leaves you a review, the best practice is to respond quickly. Whether you’re thanking them for a positive review or writing a quick follow-up for a not-so-positive review, it shows that you care about your customers. Keep your responses brief and friendly, and personalize when you can by using the customer’s name if they provided it. 

When prospects see how engaged you are, they’ll trust that you’ll treat them with the same level of attention.

4. Get Actionable Feedback

Aside from winning new customers right and left, your reviews are a great place to learn where you can improve your business.

Customers who leave specific feedback are doing you a favor by giving you insights into your services you might not get otherwise. Helpful input can range from a specific compliment about an area where you should double down to a piece of constructive criticism that gives you an idea of what to improve.

That means that even when reviews sting a little, you can use them to change your home services business for the better and gain more customers in the long run.

So, What’s the Fastest, Easiest Way to Get Reviews?

Many companies start out by asking their most loyal customers to leave a review when they think of it. Others don’t focus on reviews at all and let a few trickle in from their most outspoken advocates or critics. If you really want to use reviews as a growth strategy, asking in person can get you started, but won’t get you to scale.

Asking in person is free, but hard to keep up with. Since review numbers and recency matter, it’s worth investing in software that can keep reviews flowing without any work on your part.

Home service providers use Swell to send out customized review requests via SMS text message. Swell integrates with tools like Jobber so texts can be sent automatically when a job is marked complete. 

Swell’s messages can be set up to send at the times proven most likely to get a response, and can be followed by a timely reminder a day or two later. Thanks to an API with Google, it only takes customers a few minutes and two clicks to submit a Google review, which will be published almost immediately. 

To learn how Swell can help your home services business generate reviews and bring in more customers, book a free demo.