Why Reviews Matter & How They Can Win You More Jobs
Plenty of good reviews are essential if you want customers to choose your business over another. With nothing else to go on, they’re how most people judge the reliability and quality of a service provider when comparing different options online.
Studies have even shown that good reviews can influence a customer’s decision even more than factors like price — so they’re directly tied to how much profit you can make as a business.
And, thanks to the way search engines like Google work, reviews can even help your business get seen more by potential customers.
In this article, we’ll explain how this works and show you how to spin reviews to your advantage and win lots more work in the process (this is also known as review marketing).
How reviews help customers find and choose you
1. Better visibility through Google searches
Google wants to connect its users (web searchers) with the best products, services, and information out there. Its algorithm has been carefully fine-tuned to do this, and will therefore take the number and quality of reviews into account.
For example, if you are to search “heating engineer in cambridge”, Google shows local results that include a map with 3 highly-rated businesses it thinks could help you out.
Each of these businesses being displayed has claimed something called their Google Business Profile, which is a way for you to list your business on Google. It’s where reviews are held alongside other key business info like addresses, opening hours, and more.
Businesses with lots of good reviews are more likely to show up in these results. This is crucial because if your customer sees what they need, they don’t have any reason to continue looking. These three businesses get the lion’s share of attention from potential customers.
The same theory applies on lead gen websites like Checkatrade. In fact, they say that getting between 11-20 reviews on their site can double your conversion rate with them.
2. A way to differentiate from competitors
Compared to product-driven businesses, it’s a little harder for service businesses to stand out from the competition and do something unique. Where a customer might choose a new phone based on design or a unique set of features, they only really have price and reviews to base their judgement of your business on.
Which of these businesses would you choose to service your boiler?
Most customers browsing online will quickly skim through listings. Since Google, Checkatrade, and other sites will show local results, ratings and reviews are the quickest and easiest thing to compare.
3. Offer customers an insight into your service quality
This is perhaps the most obvious point. A review is a review after all, and if nothing else they’re a way for you to understand what your customers think of your service quality. Are they happy with your workmanship? Your customer service? What do you do perfectly and what could you be doing better?
Quality over and quantity
Having good reviews is the most important thing for your business. But having more good reviews? Even better.
How to use your reviews to get even more customers
1. Respond to & manage reviews
Reviews are an opportunity to engage with your customers. Responding to reviews, if even just to say thank you, is a great way to connect and get them to remember you. Try to avoid copy and pasting the same response for every review, though.
For potential customers reading the reviews, this shows that you’re an active listener and business that truly cares about its customers. It will also help amplify whatever positive review was left, and contribute to ranking higher on Google search results.
2. Post happy testimonials on your social media
If you’ve been working on marketing, quoting reviews or using them as testimonials is an ideal source of content. Just be sure to ask if they’re okay with you posting it.
3. Add reviews to your website
Adding your reviews onto your website as social proof is a great way to double up on a single review. It adds credibility and trust to your brand and can be all that’s needed to convince a customer to ring up or request a callback.
You can also add little review widgets to your site, like Arton Plumbing & Heating has done with Trustpilot:
An easy way to do this is to use a review plugin, like Elfsight, that connects to your Google Business Profile to automatically pull reviews on. This means that new reviews will appear as they’re left for you.
What happens if you get a bad review?
Bad reviews, despite what some might think, are not the end of the world. And, as long as you’re genuinely offering a good service, they should be few and far between.
But when it does happen, think of it as an opportunity. Respond politely and helpfully (even if they’ve been unfairly rude), and try to offer a genuine solution to the problem. Engaging in a virtual argument in a public space presents your business in an extremely negative light, even if the customer is in the wrong.
Tip: Try to inject some personality into your responses, or you could end up sounding like an automated reply.
How to guarantee you get good reviews
The simplest and most effective way to get good reviews is simply to make your customers genuinely happy. This means following all the basics of good customer service.
Use Gas Engineer Software to get more reviews & more work
A streamlined workflow with Gas Engineer Software leaves you with more time to focus on getting the job done.
And, with happier customers, you’re more likely to get referrals, reviews, and more work.
Try Gas Engineer Software for free:
