You might not pay much attention to customer reviews, but they could be the best way of building up your business. Word of mouth is an effective form of marketing and it’s extremely cost effective. Why are reviews so important to your business and how can you increase the number you receive?
Why are Reviews Important?
Customers can often feel lost when they’re looking for a construction company and usually ask family and friends. They want a guarantee that the work will be completed to the required standards, so it’s safer to use someone that they know has done a good job in the past.
Most building contractors work within a tight geographical area. It’s essential that you build up a good reputation within your local area, as negative comments can be passed around very quickly. To try and stop this occurring make sure you work closely with your customers. If you foresee any delays or problems occurring then communicate this quickly with them, so that you can work round the issues.
How to Build Up Your Reviews?
So, you’ve got lots of happy customers, but you need other people to know about them. The internet is a great marketing tool for enabling customers to comment on your work.
The starting point should be your own website. This is probably one of the first places potential customers will look, so you need to include a section on past projects which features photos and comments from homeowners.
Facebook is also a great asset when it comes to gaining feedback. Set up your own business page where you can update followers on what you’re working on and include photos of the different stages. The relevant customers are then able to provide a comment. When people like your page it will show on their news feed, increasing those that are aware of your company. Homeowners often use Facebook to ask their friends for recommendations, so it would be useful if they could direct them straight to your page.
There are a number of independent sites where people can search for relevant trades people in their area, including ratedpeople.com and mybuilder.com. Have a look through the sites and see which the best options for your area are. Once you’re registered your customers can leave comments and reviews, increasing your standing on the site.
Another way of increasing your reviews and recommendations is to build relationships with other local contractors in different fields, such as plumbers and electricians. They might be asked by customers to recommend a construction company, so it’s a good way of developing a mutual relationship.
In these tough economic times recommendations are one of the best forms of marketing; both cost effective and trusted by the customer.
Establishing a good reputation is essential if you want to increase the number of recommendations you have. If you want to build up your project leads then have a look through a resource.