By now, you already know your online reputation is your most valuable marketing asset.
And you know if you don’t have great reviews on sites like Google, Facebook, and BBB, you’re basically giving away money to your competitors.
But I have a secret to tell you.
It’s official. ReviewBuzz and ServiceTitan, two leading software providers for the home services industry, are now seamlessly connected.
And your life is about to get a whole lot easier.
Now, getting more 5-star online reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, Facebook and more will be automatic and easier than ever.
You and your team are going to love it!
Not yet using ReviewBuzz? Request a free 30-day trial of ReviewBuzz and we’ll waive the set-up and integration fees (a $724 value).
Not yet using ServiceTitan? Learn more about ServiceTitan and discover how you’ll save $3,527 on the start-up and integration fees.
ServiceTitan is the #1 software for managing a home services business. It’s powerful yet easy-to-use platform combines scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, sales, marketing, reporting and more in a mobile, cloud-based platform.
Already using both ServiceTitan and ReviewBuzz? What are you waiting for? Get integrated now and we’ll waive the integration fee (a $527 value!). Call 1-888-WIN BUZZ and we’ll help you get integrated.
ReviewBuzz & ServiceTitan client William and Susan Roberts-Frew from Sunshine Plumbing, Heating and Air helped beta test the integration and saw amazing results. We know you will too. Check out what they said below:
Online reviews matter – your customers are looking at them before calling you – and the more great reviews you have the more calls you are going to get. You know that.
We released the integration to a group of our mutual clients several months ago, so we could test the integration and make sure it was bulletproof before releasing it to the general public. And these clients saw astounding results.
The early release clients averaged 133% more online reviews and their weekly office staff efficiency increased by an average of 30%!
With the integration your team won’t have to book and close jobs in two places. It’s all done for your team. Automatic and hands-free! And with your team getting more reviews, they will be earning more points and prizes through ReviewBuzz’s one-of-a kind Employee Fun & Happiness Program. A recognized and rewarded employee is usually a happy employee. And happy employees? Well, they make your customers happier.
With your team more productive and happier, they can focus and do a better job where it really matters – with your customers. And since all the reviews and customer feedback you collect in ReviewBuzz are connected to individual employees, you can correct service issues quickly.
Plus, with the proven ReviewBuzz trust-building email automatically sent to customers before the service team arrives, your customers will be more comfortable, more trusting and happier with your service technician.
Not yet using ReviewBuzz? Request a free 30-day trial of ReviewBuzz and we’ll waive the set-up and integration fees (a $724 value).
Not yet using ServiceTitan? Request a demo now of ServiceTitan and you’ll save $3,527 on the start-up and integration fees.
Already using both ServiceTitan and Reviewbuzz? What are you waiting for? Get integrated now and we’ll waive the integration fee (a $527 value!). Call 1-888-WIN BUZZ and we’ll help you get integrated.
One mistake many small to medium-sized home contractor businesses make is thinking that back-end business management software is just for the big dogs. This is simply not true.
It makes sense that a large residential home service business would benefit from having software to track a large number of workers, phone calls, time on job, billable hours vs. non billable, leads vs. conversion and how many leads were lost in the pipeline. However, a small to mid-sized business can potentially benefit even more from SaaS that can streamline its business practices and fine tune its sales processes on a smaller scale.
But what exactly should operational software be able to accomplish for your residential home service business? Here are five things to look for:
Andrew Loschert is Manager of Marketing Analytics and Optimization for ServiceTitan.
ServiceTitan is the #1 software platform for managing a home services business, incorporating the industry’s best practices to help you run a better business, lower costs, improve sales, provide a better customer experience, and manage your business more easily.
Coming Soon: ReviewBuzz and ServiceTitan are soon to be seamlessly integrated, giving ServiceTitan clients a hands-free way to get 5-star online reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, Facebook and more. To learn more about ServiceTitan, click here.
Like many small business owners, I started my career with a less than encouraging start. Unexpected pitfalls and incredible obstacles blocked my path to success.
When I started my home services business I was 23 years old with a family of five crammed in a 800-square-foot apartment.
My first office was my bedroom closet with the doors removed, and it was there that I sat in the wee hours of the morning planning my business strategy next to my tie rack.
Then, shortly after starting my business I experienced the greatest adversity. My apartment had a new echo because all that was left was my desk, the bed, and my clothes. The pressure of my entrepreneurship was too much for my wife. She was gone.
In spite of being a single dad and a “closet” entrepreneur, I used my newfound knowledge of internet marketing to gain traction in my market. 1800Anytyme.com was dominating SEO rankings for all of San Diego County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Denver.
I was also ruling Pay Per Click (PPC) in my local market with powerful PPC campaigns that were making my phone ring off the hook.
But my success soon began fading. Traffic to my site was holding steady, but my call count was slipping, and slipping fast. Panic set in, I scrambled to figure out how to stop the bleeding.
Here are the three things that turned it all around for me – and they can do the same for you.
1. It’s Who Your Potential Customer Trusts that Counts
The most important lesson I learned was that the best tactic for converting that traffic to calls and those calls into sales had nothing to do with traditional marketing where you shouted your name as often and as loudly as you could.
What I discovered was that potential customers would come to my site, they’d read my self-serving marketing message and then they would leave, likely moving on to my competitor’s website.
Why? Because they didn’t trust me, or anything I had to say…
…and they don’t trust you either.
Your potential customers aren’t listening to you any more. In fact, they are actively trying to tune you out. They sort their mail over a trash can and quickly toss out your direct mail pieces. They fast forward through your tv spots, and they turn down the volume on your radio ads.
However they are listening to your past customers. Those that love you, and those that don’t.
Your potential customers are online – all the time. And the Internet has revolutionized how your people make purchase decisions. Before they make any purchase decision they go online and they look at reviews – yours and your competitor’s.
How does your company stack up online?
Your potential customers don’t trust you. They trust your past customers – and what they say about you on sites like Yelp, Facebook, Google+, Angie’s List, YP.com, Yahoo and many others…
It’s clear that online reviews are critical to the success of your business. People will choose you over your competition because your reviews are the catalyst for their decision. So the question then is…
“How do I get great online reviews – and how do I get more of them?”
2. Make Online Reviews Part of Your Company Culture
I quickly realized that the road to great reviews began and ended with my people.
I knew that without great service I would never get great reviews. Obvious, right? But too many business owners this still hasn’t sunk in yet. And that’s great news for you, because if you can beat your competitors to the punch by giving great service and getting great online reviews, you will absolutely crush it in your market. guaranteed
Like is said – it all starts with people. I’m curious…is the first contact a customer has with your company impressive? Are they extremely happy with the service you provided? Not just satisfied, but truly happy, ecstatic? Is the post-sale contact from your company respectful and courteous?
Let’s face it, in the service industry, your reputation is not about your company, it’s about your people. Your people are your products, and products are profitability game changers. No matter how good your company is, if your product is a failure, you will not last.
And the secret not many know is that your customers are motivated to write reviews about your people not about your company. Your people are the source (power) behind your reviews. They are the ones delivering the exceptional service, and they are the one’s your customers want to praise.
So, it’s critical to get your employees on board with reviews – to get them motivated and excited about asking for and getting reviews. Without that, your journey to 5-star online reviews goes nowhere.
Here are the keys to getting employees excited about only reviews.
Find the most influential front line personnel and focus most of your energy on getting their buy-in to the philosophy of winning reviews. The rest will follow.
Build solid and consistent communication and training about the process of winning reviews, not just asking for reviews, but winning reviews.
Reward and recognize great service. When there’s more accountability to provide great service and a new level of confidence that the great service will be rewarded and recognized, you will get 100 percent of someone’s effort.
3. Make it Easy for Customers to Write Online Reviews
If it’s difficult to give a review, your customers won’t do it. Even if they were over-the-top ecstatic about your people and their service, they won’t review if it’s difficult.
So you need to make it easy for your customers to post reviews. You may think it’s simple to post a review, but to some people it’s much the same as learning how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. So let’s make it as easy as possible for them.
You should have your business listed on every single social media site, review site and directory, plus any appropriate industry-specific sites such as HomeAdvisor or Angie’s List and then offer your customer an easy way to access the review site of their choice.
Give customers a direct link to your review pages so they don’t have to go looking for them. Then, give them clear and simple step-by-step instructions on how to post a review. Customers are often wary of creating a new account on a review site, so give them a few options.
Throughout the growth of my company I discovered the all- important link between top-notch customer service, online reviews and word-of-mouth marketing.
If you reward your team for outstanding service, make reviews part of your company culture, and make it easy for your customers to give reviews, I guarantee you will transform your company and dominate your marketplace.
If you’re curious about how you’re stacking up against your competition online, get a free analysis of your online reputation right here.
Thanks, and stay remarkable.
Mike
