In today’s world, online reviews are one of the most important elements to growing your business, especially when it involves a person’s home.
Homeowners wanting to remodel or update their homes will absolutely want to vet the company beforehand. And what better way to do that than reading the company’s reviews?
Reviews aren’t something that’s new to the world, we’ve been giving feedback before technology and the ease of research gave us access to others’ opinions and thoughts.
While it’s tough to hear a negative review for any business owners, they can be particularly damaging for contractors, such as home improvement contractors, because client referrals are such an essential part of this type of business.
It’s inevitable that someone will post a not-so-nice review about your home improvement business online. But it’s your response to these reviews that will make or break your business.
Keep reading to learn how you can turn negative reviews into something positive for your home improvement business.
- Stay Calm
It can be easy to want to immediately respond to someone’s negative review about your business. But responding while you are frustrated or heated up can result in a rude response for others to see.
Take a moment to cool off. Let the review sit for a few hours before you work on a reply. When you decide to reply, keep it short and straightforward. Acknowledge that they are upset with their results and let them know you want to work towards a resolution.
Obviously, the way you respond to negative comments will vary depending on the situation but the key is to stay calm and reply in a professional manner.
Many other homeowners looking for a home service business will come across these reviews and the way you respond can make or break their decision to work with you.
- Don’t Remove Reviews
No matter what, never ask for a negative review to be removed. As much as you might disagree with a homeowners review, removing them can have a negative impact on your business.
Removing reviews makes your company look like it’s hiding something. No company has a perfect 5-star rating and when others notice that they will know your reviews are being monitored.
Also, if the original reviewer notices you removed their review, they’ll most likely be prompted to leave another, letting others know about their experience.
Removing reviews from homeowners will make it look like you don’t value your customers enough to win them back. Customers like to see businesses that are open to feedback and especially the businesses that are willing to make things right with their customers who had a negative experience.
- Do Your Research
If someone has left a negative review about your home improvement business, they most likely are leaving specific incidents that they are unhappy with. This can help you research the complaint and get to the bottom of it, especially if names are mentioned.
Gathering more information about the review before responding can give you a better understanding of what the customer has experienced.
Researching is an important step to take, especially if one of your employees is being mentioned directly. When talking to your employee, don’t accuse them of poor customer service or whatever the review stated, just get their side of the story.
If responded to correctly, homeowners will have a positive reaction to your efforts to make things right.
- Focus On Legitimate Reviews
There will be a time where no matter what you do, you will never be able to make certain homeowners happy. Some people just want to leave bad reviews and are only happy when they are miserable. And fortunately, most potential customers won’t focus on reviews that have no premise or legitimate facts about the performance of your business.
But if a review does contain legitimate concerns from a previous customer, acknowledge those concerns and address how you plan to make them right in the future.
Don’t expect to make every homeowner you service happy. Not everyone will like the way you do things. And some people will want to share their experiences with others if they feel strongly about it.
But choosing how you respond to these reviews will determine the success of your home improvement or home service business.
When you come across a negative review, stay calm, reply professionally, and do your research to uncover a way to make things right.
If you are putting in real effort and you value your customers, it will be reflected in your business ventures.
For more helpful tips on all things home improvement sales, check out our podcast and sales tip center!