Having a good online reputation can make a big difference when a homeowner is choosing who to hire for their next project, but many contractors don’t find the time to ask for reviews. Unfortunately, this creates a missed opportunity for customers to share their positive experience and leaves no balance for the occasional dissatisfied customer who posts a negative review of your business online.
Make sure potential customers gain a positive first impression by collecting and sharing success stories from your past customers.
Discover Your Reputation
You can’t do anything about your reputation if you don’t know what customers have written about you online. There are many tools and programs you can use to automatically track your reputation so when someone leaves a review mentioning you or your business, you get an alert and can take action.
Ask for Reviews
Dissatisfied customers are often willing to put in some extra work to leave a negative review, but you may have to encourage happy customers to share their experience. If a customer mentions what a great job you’re doing during the job, invite them to leave a review on your website, Facebook page, BBB or Google. Otherwise, be ready to let your customers know how much you enjoyed working with them and request their online feedback at the end of the job.
Make it easy by providing them with the links to one or two review sites and some leading questions to help your customer figure out what to say. Simple prompts such as “What was your favorite part of the process” or “Why did you choose to work with us instead of our competitors” can help you receive stronger, more specific testimonials.
Respond to Reviews
If someone takes the time to leave you a review, take time to thank that person for their feedback. Keep your response simple and informational while still taking the time to react with specific details about the work you did for the homeowners. Answering each review with the exact same (or very similar) response won’t earn you much trust with potential customers.
What to Do with Reviews
Your customers love you, so collecting testimonials should be easy! Here are a few ways to share your testimonials with your current and potential customers:
- Social Media: Share testimonials on your social sites and tag the person who left the testimonial.
- Website: Create a page on your website showcasing your best testimonials.
- Ads: Looking for new business? Share testimonials showcasing past customers’ positive results.
- Email Signature: Share a very short testimonial in your email signature.
- Marketing Materials: Increase your credibility by adding testimonials to your blogs, flyers, postcards and other marketing materials.
When you work with Foundation Finance, it’s easy to provide a positive financing experience for your home improvement and renovation customers. Our friendly support team is here for all of your questions and financing needs.
Not already a dealer? Enroll in the Foundation Finance dealer network today. Contact us for more info: 1-855-241-0024, [email protected].
