3 ways to increase reviews for your trades business.
1. ASK.
Sounds obvious.
But unless you ask, you can’t expect clients to always think to leave one. Even if they are singing your praises when you complete a job, your reviews are likely not at the top of their minds. So ask!
Don’t panic if you’ve got past clients that you think would have given you a great review and you’ve missed the opportunity. Reach out and ask them. You can say you’re catching up with some of your most favourite jobs of the last few years and would be delighted if they would take a few minutes to leave you a review. Theirs might even say something about how you completed the job 2 years ago and it still looks fantastic. Always worth an ask!
2. SYSTEMISE.
When you’re finishing up a job with a very happy client, you might take the opportunity then and there to ask if they’d be happy to leave you a review. Likelihood is then and there isn’t the best time for them and once you’ve left their home or business - with every good intention - they might forget.
Set yourself up an email template that you can use again and again to save you time. Include the links of the places you’d like them to leave their review - maybe it’s your Facebook page - and give them a few pointers as to what would make a great review for you. What problem they had, how they came about finding you, the quality and service you gave and what this means for them now.
Diarise 5 minutes at the end of each day to send out your email template to all of today’s finished clients. Way to keep on top of all those business changing reviews!
3. AUTOMATE
If you have a high turn over of clients each week or you have a big team out on the road, remembering to ask every single one for a review can be tricky.
If you use invoicing software, such as Xero, why not adapt the automated messages that goes out with the invoice? You could include a link to your Facebook, Google or other review platform that you are trying to build to make it super easy for them. That way, you’re asking every single client that you deal with, without lifting a finger. Epic.