How much do you think reviews are worth?

[Kevin B]

Im curious to hear what some of you think.

Are reviews part of your marketing? Should they be? Do they matter?

How much will a bad review cost you? How much do no reviews cost you?

Do reviews set you apart? Can they?

Who cares about Google, Yelp and Facebook anyways...a good referral is worth way more, or is it? Or is it both?

 

[Mikey P]

More importantly, how much would you pay to remove a negative review?

 

[Kevin B]

Depends on what the review said. Some nevative reviews are not the end all, unless it is your only review then your done. Add another one to it and you are rebranding

 

[Mikey P]

Most review fans want to see a certain percentage of reviews that are less than 5 stars

If any company in any industry has 30 or more reviews that are all 5rs.....

Something reeks.

 

[Kevin B]

Well, yes and no. I agree on some facets with what you said but we have around 200 reviews on google yelp and facebook and only a couple are 4 stars, no 1s,2s or 3s thankfully.

So, if your being super proactive in capturing the complaint before it goes to the internet. We are using a survey system that is working real well for us. Channels complaints to us, allows us to handle them and takes the 5star reviewers right to social media. Ive been working close with the developer to make it work good. He submitted API for servicemonster too to help us automate it.

 

[Kevin B]

We have been getting about 30 percent surveys returned and 30% of those are leaving reviews. Doing whatever we can to increase conversion as best we can

 

[SamIam]

Then theres the review us here button @FredC talked about.
That posts the 4-5 star reviews and hides the 1-3 star reviews. Or at least give you a chance to deal with the unhappy people complain before it goes live.

Thats only if they review you from your site.

Good reviews are crucial if you haven't got a great clientele established already.

 

[Kevin B]

You can do that in an email too. We did that for a while. Review feedback was around 1%

 

[Cleanworks]

Reviews are worth what ever you paid for them.

 

[Old Coastie]

I had two bad reviews. They gained me a ton of business.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Im curious to hear what some of you think.

Are reviews part of your marketing? Should they be? Do they matter?

How much will a bad review cost you? How much do no reviews cost you?

Do reviews set you apart? Can they?

Who cares about Google, Yelp and Facebook anyways...a good referral is worth way more, or is it? Or is it both?

ALL THE PIECES CREATE A COMPLETE PUZZLE.......

 

[EDS]

Most review fans want to see a certain percentage of reviews that are less than 5 stars

If any company in any industry has 30 or more reviews that are all 5rs.....

Something reeks.

bull shit...

 

[EDS]

My 2 cents. When booking a customer I take down email addresses and in doing so I know if I will have an opportunity for a google review. Google reviews are by far the easiest to get. The next step is when I arrive. In my mind I already know that I may want a review from this person. This is where I become what the customer wants me to be.

I do so by analyzing the person and seeing how they are and what they want. I change. If they are a pet owner I may show them photos of my dogs. If they have children I will talk children and show pictures. But it is important to read the person. Some people don't want to talk and some people do. I use the pre-inspection as an opportunity to silently size them up. This 5 minutes of one on one with the client is crucial. as is the post inspection. Then when Im done and ready to email them the invoice (after the post inspection and after showing them before and after pictures) I say " I noticed you have a gmail account it would be great if you could leave an honest review....it helps others make an informed decision. "

I do quality work but I do go that extra mile for (doing extras at no charge) when I think I have a strong chance at getting a 5 star review from them...

 

[Kevin B]

I think facebook is the easiest to get reviews

 

[Nomad74]

Im curious to hear what some of you think.

Are reviews part of your marketing? Should they be? Do they matter?

How much will a bad review cost you? How much do no reviews cost you?

Do reviews set you apart? Can they?

Who cares about Google, Yelp and Facebook anyways...a good referral is worth way more, or is it? Or is it both?

This thread has been on my mind greatly for the last few days. I have had three customers contact me this week solely because of my Google reviews. I currently have 25 and growing. I have more reviews than most of the cleaners in my town. I only focus on my google reviews because Google rules the world. So, I did everything I can to make Google happy. Yahoo, Yelp, and Facebook can go play tag with parked cars for all I care.

For all the FB guru's and lovers out there, I don't want to get into it with you. I'm sure it works great in your area, but not Redding. I don't do well with price shoppers and FB is a breeding ground for that. I get a sick little thrill when someone tells me I'm to expensive. I'm not, but people's perception of how much a good cleaning should cost is often on par with a blue blinking light in Kmart. (Young-ens won't get that)

 

[EDS]

And you can't game google. There is a guy with over 100 google 5 stars reviews on the 8th page...and a hand full of 1's...obviously he was making email accounts and posting reviews so stupid. I repeat...you can't game google and expect to have a good SERP ranking. If you violate there TOS your one update away from becoming irrelevant.

 

[SamIam]

What's your ad budget???

 

[EDS]

Nothing yet... but that will be changing...Depends on the ROI i get from Adwords. Have to do it correctly this time and give it a couple month's. Have to get my ducks in a row before I start promoting the company. I want a strong media presence. I rank high in my immediate service area but I want to expand my coverage and services.

 

[SamIam]

Make sure you at least grab all your free listings and flesh them out!

Having a Facebook page cost nothing unless you choose to promote it.

And even then you pick your target audience and areas and budget and can start and stop at anytime.

Facebook puts you in control.

I look at google and Yelp as the researchers tool like phonebook of today.

People will go there first when making a decision.

Facebook is more of a branding and selling yourself to people, you'll still get a lot of calls from people on Facebook with very little investment.

 

[SamIam]

As for the comment there are price shoppers on Facebook! There are price shoppers everywhere.

Some are willing to spend what you charge, some aren't.

The branding part is establishing a page with lots of great reviews and customers who'll share your content with others.

 

[Kevin B]

I totally agree. There are price shoppers everywhere. Its not like the price shopper sets my prices

 

[Nomad74]

I totally agree. There are price shoppers everywhere. Its not like the price shopper sets my prices

All I'm saying is it's one thing to be laser focused, and another to just throw shit on a wall. I'm focused.

Nothing wrong with free marketing. Especially when your desperate and hungry for anything.

 

[Kevin B]

Facebook definitely doesnt let you market for free. You wont reach your clients and likes without money

 

[EDS]

Good example today of an opportunity I see. Im working on my floor posting article for my blog and I receive an email form submission. I open my calendar to see availability and call the customer within 2 minutes of receiving the email. She sounded impressed. It is a move out for a condo. Two rooms. She asks me if I can do it on Feb 26 which is a Sunday. I say yes. I go through my shtick and by the end of the conversation and I can here the enthusiasm in her voice. She has a gmail account and she is my next target...

Nothing stinky here Mikey...