If you have been in search of the deck and patio builder’s guide to online reviews, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re a one-man deck and patio building shop or a mega chain of home improvement specialists offering everything from custom concrete cutting to contractor financing, online reviews earn you customers or cost you customers on a daily basis. The primary way consumers find deck and patio builders today is to Google search. They can also ask Siri or Alexa. Searching customers are immediately presented with a collection of results. Right within those results is the star rating of your business. It only takes a handful of 1- and 2-star reviews to drive new business away before they even give you a chance. And it can take a host of glowing 5-star reviews to offset those 1-stars. This is true even if the reviewer isn’t actually a real customer and even if their comments are wholly unfair.
What’s the up-and-coming deck and patio builder to do? Are you powerless in the digital age? We’re so glad you asked! Because we’ve got your winning guide to scoring customers in the era of online reviews!
The Deck and Patio Builder’s Guide to Online Reviews: Addressing the Not-So-Nice
Let’s discuss the elephant in the room. Most businesses get 1-star reviews from time to time. This can happen for any number of reasons, including random internet trolls, people who refuse to be pleased, and some we never know why. They pop in, leave a 1-star review with no comment and nary a trace of who they are or why they left the review.
It’s important for the deck and patio builder to answer each and every review. However, we can’t answer in kind. Remember that you’re not writing so much for the reviewer as for those who come after to read the reviews and decide whether they want you to build their deck or patio. Here are a few tips for answering those 1-, 2-, and 3-star reviews:
- Resist the urge to argue.
- Be brief. State your side without being negative about the reviewer.
- If the person was never a customer, simply state that in your answer.
- Encourage the reviewer to reach out. “We are sorry that you were unhappy. Please contact us at (business phone number) so we can work out a solution.”
- Write in such a way as to instill confidence in anyone who is on the fence about calling you for a deck or patio installation.
- Report phony reviews to Google or other platforms. This doesn’t guarantee the poor review will be removed, but in many cases, they will remove obvious phonies.
- Partner with a reputable financing company that specializes in contractor financing and customer service. This prevents you from getting negative reviews based on your financing company, not your actual work.
Earning the Coveted 5-Star Online Reviews
The best way to offset low reviews is to get your Google page, Facebook page, Yelp listing, or other online review platform flooded with great reviews from happy customers! There are several ways to do this:
- Print up flyers or postcards to leave with your customers after building their deck or patio. Tell them how much a great review will help your business.
- Reach out to happy customers from the past few months and ask if they’d be willing to give you a review.
- Include links to your Facebook page or other online review pages in your email broadcasts so happy customers can leave comments and reviews.
- Make sure your Google listing, as well as your website, is filled with great images of the decks and patios you’ve built. Nothing says you can do great work like a good photograph as proof!
- Partner only with suppliers and a home improvement finance company that has an excellent reputation for customer service. You don’t want your good name as a deck and patio builder to be tarnished by suppliers or finance companies that let your customers down. Often, these reviews, both positive and negative, end up on your platform instead of your suppliers’.
Other Ways to Make Your Deck and Patio Business Attractive to Consumers
Customers today just expect more, so the ability to give them more makes them happier. This, in turn, helps your deck and patio building business score excellent reviews!
- Offer financing to your customers. They appreciate a one-stop shop, where they can get the financing, the estimate, the materials and labor, and a finished deck or patio through the same company. A lot of searches for home improvement contractors include the mention “offers financing,” so if you offer this, you’ll show up higher in search results.
- Be sure to complete your business listing on all relevant platforms. Make sure your Google listing, Yelp listing, Facebook page, and other review platforms reflect thorough and accurate information. Check things like your location address, phone number, business hours, and any extra products and services you offer, and update when you change things like product lines or consumer financing options.
- Keep your website up to date. Many deck and patio builders saw a great deal of change during the pandemic. You don’t want to promise a two-week turnaround if it’s taking you six weeks to get materials! It’s better to have a good smaller website than a huge site that doesn’t reflect your current deck and patio building business. The important information – address, phone, services and products offered, etc. – should be very easy for customers to find the moment they open your site. Beautiful images of your work also help tremendously. Customers aren’t the only ones visiting your website. Google looks at it, too.
We hope this deck and patio builder’s guide to online reviews can help take your business to the next level. HFS Financial would love to partner with you to help build your deck and patio business and improve your customer service. We offer fast, no-hassle consumer financing options for your customers. When you want fast answers, no staged funding, and quick loan payouts that make your customers 100% cash buyers upfront, HFS Financial is the only partner you need. Offer your customers the deck and patio financing that’s sure to generate tons of great 5-star reviews! With HFS Financial, “You Dream It, We Finance It.”