It's no secret with my clients and anyone that has read anything I have written in the past few years that getting an online reputation is massively important to building a quality remodeling business. It plays such a vital role in several key ways that it can really be the difference between surviving and thriving in your local market. It's not really even an option any longer for local businesses to have no reputation online or a poor web presence. Not having this is risky to your business and those that depend on your success.
Today we are going to focus on why it's so important to helping you land/capture more offline referral deals and why it's foolish to assume that you are capturing every referral that is generated offline without working on your online reputation.
How Important Are Having Reviews Online and How Do You Manage Them?
The reality is that local businesses face high stakes when it comes to online reviews, and according to a Bright Local study conducted last year:
- 72% of consumers surveyed said they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
- 52% said that positive online reviews make them more likely to use a local business
When businesses look to engage with their clients and prospects online, social media is overwhelmingly the avenue they pursue. While social media is an excellent way to develop a relationship with clients, it is extremely hard to build a big, loyal following for most remodeling businesses.
Also, most people just don't go to Facebook or Twitter to consult with their friends on who they hired for their latest remodeling project. Referrals just aren't happening like that for most remodeling contractors. Social media is still an important part of your overall marketing strategy, but having reviews online is more important.
Generating lots of quality reviews on sites like Yelp, Google + (Places), Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Citysearch, Angies List is much easier to do for a remodeling business than build 1,000 followers on Facebook. Not only are these reviews vital to validating your top prospects decision to hire you, but they are largely considered "social signals" and can play a big role in how you rank in organic and local search.
Actively managing online reviews and implementing a "reputation marketing" strategy is often overlooked and much more sales-targeted method of prompting engagement. Not only will having lots of quality reviews push your online prospects to contact you vs your top competitor, it will help you close more deals from all your marketing, especially your referrals.
Who would you do business with if two friends referred you to two different businesses?
The local business with 25 reviews and an overall 4 out 5 rating on a variety of review sites, or the business with ZERO reviews and little information about the quality of the service they deliver from their past clients. It's clear how important this is, so why aren't more remodeling businesses doing this?
Offline Clients and Referral Prospects Go Online!
I have consulted with countless business owners who claim that they don't need a great online presence because 95% of their business comes from offline referrals (past clients, friends, family, community members, associates, etc). The biggest mistake most remodeling businesses make is depending on referrals alone to fuel their business, but that's a story for another day.
The point I want you to realize here is that your offline referrals, those who were referred to you by someone that knows you, 90% of them go online to research your business. If you don't have awesome information on the 1st page of Google, you risk planting a seed of doubt in that prospects mind. Or worse, your competitors are on page 1 and their information/reviews look better than yours.
You are losing referral business if you don't have a great reputation and online presence. That I can guarantee. If you depend on referrals to survive, one of the smartest decisions you can make this year and into the future is implementing a reputation marketing strategy and getting a quality web presence beyond just your website. If your website is bad. Fix it! If you have no reviews. Get some! If you have no information about your company on other websites. Get it done! One of the best ways to get more business is by having a business that people can actually learn about online.
Need more help growing your remodeling business? Take advantage of all the FREE resources I have on www.RyanPaulAdams.com and download my "3 Killer Ways to Grow Your Remodeling Business" today.
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