A study by BrightLocal — an online agency, providing local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools — showed that nearly 9 out of 10 consumers read reviews to determine the quality of a local business, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from someone they know.

There is no doubt that your online reputation is important. However, many builders are not taking control of the situation.  If you’re not actively working to get new online reviews, you’re likely to see a few bad reviews overshadowing your hard-earned local reputation.

There are at least 3 reasons you should actively try to get reviews from your customers.

·As stated above, customers are looking at online reviews to decide whether to choose you as their builder. If your reviews are worse than your competition, you might lose a prospective customer.

·Reviews affect rankings in search results.  As you get more positive reviews, you will see rankings for your website increase in Google search results, as well as the rank of other sites with reviews about you.

·If you do not bolster your online reputation with honest, positive reviews, a few bad reviews may tank your reputation.

The following tips will help you get more reviews and take control of your online reputation.

1.     Meet and exceed your customers’ expectations, and provide them with a positive buying experience. The buying experience will give them something to talk about. Make sure they have plenty of great things to say about the process, and are not leaving the situation with a bad taste in their mouth.

2.     If you want reviews, you have to ask for them. Remember to follow the terms and conditions of all the websites for which you solicit reviews.  You can ask for reviews on most sites, except Yelp, and in no circumstance can you offer compensation for reviews. However, it’s always best to check the guidelines of a review site first.

3.     Determine strategic points in the buying process to ask for reviews. These opportunities will usually come at the peak of buyer excitement. For instance, customers are excited just after executing the purchase agreement and again, after the home delivery.  These are some of the best times to ask for reviews.

4.    Decide the best ways to ask for reviews.  For example, you can mention the review verbally in person, and also include a reminder in your next email with a link to the page where you’re hoping to get a review.

5.     Include links to your preferred review sites — like your Google Plus, Yelp and Facebook page — in your email signature.  For every email you send, this will subtly remind the client that they have multiple opportunities to review you.

6.    Be specific on what you would like the client to review (Sales process, Warranties, etc.), and make it easy on the client by sending them a link to the specific review site in question. To build a strong reputation across multiple review sites, ask different buyers to write reviews on separate sites.

7.    Ask open-ended, yet specific questions that are likely to lead to longer, more detailed reviews that will help your rankings. For example, you might ask, “Could you share your home buying experience on Google +?” or “Could you tell us how we did throughout the delivery process on Google+?”

8.    NEVER ask specifically for positive reviews, as this violates the nature and integrity of online review sites.

9.    Turn all feedback into a review. If a customer gives you praise via email, with the client’s permission, use that as a testimonial on your website or sales collateral.

10.  Send a follow up survey to your customers. Make sure there is a place for them to leave comments along with an opt-in agreement that authorizes you to use the comments in promotional materials. You can then post these comments to the reviews section of you website.

11.  Don’t be afraid of reviews that are not 100 percent perfect. The home building process is a long, complicated and human business. Honest reviews that reveal minor flaws will feel more authentic to the future buyer.

While all these tactics are great ways to garner reviews, implementing all of them may leave your customers feeling bombarded by sales people asking for reviews. It’s crucial for you to look over these tips and choose that ones that work best for your business. From there, you can determine how, and when, to implement them into the sales process.

Developing a great reputation comes from hard work, and years of experience. However, selling that reputation in the online sphere is easy. With these simple tips, you will start to see reviews popping up throughout the web, building a strong foundation for your online reputation.  Need help managing your online reputation?  We can help! Contact us at info@thebdx.com.