Online reviews are important to your home improvement business for a number of reasons. But attending to those online reviews can end up being one of those tasks that’s easily pushed to the bottom of your to do list. And eventually, it’s permanently at the bottom of your list, and online reviews become the thing you never looked at.
Don’t let that happen to you. Not only are online reviews important, but you can actually use them for the good of your business. Let’s take a look at why exactly online reviews are important to your home improvement business.
Why Online Reviews Are Important
As a home improvement contractor, your work depends largely on how your customer views their overall experience and the final product of the project. If your customer is happy, that’s great, but if your customer is unhappy for any reason, that’s not so great. And, oftentimes, that bad news will travel faster than the good news.
Your home improvement business depends on the reputation you build for it. That’s one reason that online reviews are important. Online reviews give your clients the power to influence your business in both negative and positive ways, but you also have a say in these reviews.
Almost every potential client you have will be doing some sort of research before they ever actually contact you. In the internet age, people will take to their phones or their computers to do this research, and a huge influence is online reviews. The home improvement contractor with the highest ratings will often be the contractor who books the most jobs. Online reviews are important. But you can have more than a little influence on these online reviews.
How Can a Home Improvement Contractor Influence Online Reviews?
One of the biggest ways you can actually influence both the quantity and quality of your home improvement business’s online reviews is by personally encouraging your customer base to leave them. Some clients are self-motivated to actually go and leave online reviews for your home improvement company. Some of those self-motivated reviews are great, but you can bet your bottom dollar that any less-than-satisfied customers are more likely to leave a negative review.
The truth of the matter is that you probably have way more satisfied customers than unsatisfied ones. So, make it a point to encourage them to leave you good reviews if they’re satisfied with your work. As a home improvement contractor, you likely know how to build relationships with your clients. Capitalize on those relationships by asking them to leave online reviews.
Because online reviews are important, make sure you prioritize customer service to get those positive reviews. Also make sure your clients know you want those positive reviews.
And don’t let negative reviews get you down. They can be a great opportunity to practice great customer service, to showcase your ability to problem solve, or to see where you can actually make room for improvement. And if you ever come across a truly unfair online review, there are online review sites that allow you recourse. Online reviews are important, but not more important than the actual work you do.
Home Improvement Financing is Also Important
The biggest takeaway here is that online reviews are important, full stop. If you’re operating a home improvement business, you have online reviews. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by to use those online reviews to your advantage.
And speaking of advantageous opportunities, home improvement financing is also important for the success of your business. By offering home improvement financing, you’re giving your clients just another reason to like you and give you a great online review. Home improvement financing can make people’s dreams come true.
The best way to offer contractor financing to your customers is through HFS Financial. Contact our team and get started today. We can help your customers find the funding for their next home improvement project lightning fast. With HFS Financial, “You Dream It, We Finance It.”