Online reviews have become the new currency of your online reputation. With the right plan in place, you can use reviews to drive significant traffic to your online presence. In this session, we'll walk through everything you need to know about building the ultimate reviews strategy for your business.

1. Digital Marketing
Essentials Boot Camp
for Contractors
Everything You Need to Know
About Online Reviews and
Getting Found Online

2. 2SurefireLocal.com 2SurefireLocal.com
Session Leader Part 1: Building a Great Reputation with Online
Reviews
Online reviews have become the new currency of your online
reputation. With the right plan in place, you can use reviews to
drive significant traffic to your online presence. In this session,
we'll walk through everything you need to know about building
the ultimate reviews strategy for your business.
Shashi Bellamkonda
Chief Marketing Officer

3. 3SurefireLocal.com 3SurefireLocal.com
The latest stats & trends
with online reviews

4. 4SurefireLocal.com
“Today, customers know more
about the business than the
business owner themselves.”
Mark G. Richardson

5. 5SurefireLocal.com
Reviews Are the Currency of Your Online Presence
Every time a homeowner leaves a review, it checks off all the major local ranking
factors that Google and other search engines look for in your online presence.
R P
R P
Where are you in relation to someone’s
search...does Google know you service
the area that person is searching from?
Proximity
Do others link to your website as a
source for knowledge and expertise?
Prominence
How often are you publishing new
content on your website,
directories, and social media?
Recency
Is what you’re creating valuable and
useful? Does it provide answers to the
questions people are searching for?
Relevance
NEW!
Availability
Are you open and available
during the time of their search

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Search Results Based on Ranking & Availability

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Google Trends & Online Reviews
Over time, online reviews have become increasingly more important

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Homeowners Pay the Most Attention to
60%
44%
38%
33%
26%
Star Rating # of Reviews Sentiment Recency Responses

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The Numbers Tell a Compelling Story
91% of people trust online reviews as much as personal referrals
94% of people will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating
90% of people say that their decisions are influenced by positive online reviews
97% of people will search online for a local business
According to the 2018 Online Reviews Survey, 94% of consumers say an online
review has convinced them to avoid a business

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Understanding a Homeowner’s Mindset When Writing a Review
Venting negative feelings
Get anger off my chest
The company hurt me, I want to hurt them
Want to warn others
I want to warn others of bad service
I want to help others avoid the same negative experience
Want to help the company
Believe good companies should be rewarded
I’m so happy with my experience that I want to help the
company succeed
Want to help others
I want to share my positive experience to help others make
their decision
I want to give others the opportunity to have a similar positive
experience

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Online Reviews Affect Revenue
That's like one negative review costing you 30 customers
+1 star
increase
+5% to 9% in
revenue

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Requesting & responding to
reviews

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Requesting Reviews
When asking for reviews, always position the request as an opportunity for sharing
feedback
It might also be smart to ask customers for reviews at all stages of the customer
journey - from the very beginning of the project to during the process and then
after the project is complete
That way, your online reviews
can help tell the entire story
and experience a homeowner
could have with your business
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
New
Customer
3rd Visit
Midway Through
Project
Project
Completion
Past Clients

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Strive to Get Online Reviews Across a Few Channels
Not All Review Sites Are Created Equal
Focus on trusted sources that’ll have the
biggest impact on your online presence
Trusted sources have high domain authority
High domain authority means more influence
in search algorithm

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Thought Process for Responding
● Take a deep breath
● Reread the review with an open mind
● Reach out internally to get the other side of the story
● Draft a response, then sleep on it
● Post the response
● Await the response to the response

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Before Responding
Before you post a response, you’ll want to figure out
● Is this a legit review?
● What went wrong?
● What can be done to resolve the
situation?
● How can you prevent this situation
from occurring again?

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Why Respond At All?
You can turn a negative experience into a positive, a positive experience into a
customer for life!
● Shows your client that you really do care
● Demonstrates your passion for customer service
● Increases customer retention
● Increases new customer acquisition

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How Quickly Should You Respond?
In general, the sooner the better as that review is top of mind for your customer
But don’t rush, take the time necessary to craft a fitting response… especially when
it’s a negative review. Aim for under 24 hours
It’s okay to respond to older reviews. Google is
now notifying customers when a business
responds to their review!

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Dealing with Negative Reviews
● Respond promptly
● Be real and admit fault (if it's warranted)
● Come to a resolution
● Write like a human being, not a business
● Take it offline

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Managing and executing a
reviews strategy

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Set Goals & Objectives
Work with your team to establish a proactive strategy for making online reviews a part
of your online strategy
Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to strive for nothing less than a 5-star
rating!

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Create the Plan, Work the Plan
Set responsibility
Who’s the primary person to request a review? Respond?
Monitor >> Respond >> Resolve

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Empower Yourself & Your Team
Training is important
Every member of your company can
help with your review strategy
● Define the experience
● Explain the process
● Reinforce importance of reviews
● Set the rules of engagement
● Provide service standards
● Power of conversation and eye contact

24. 24SurefireLocal.com
Set Expectations from the Get-Go
When meeting with clients,
frame the conversation from
the beginning with these
questions:
● What does a successful project look like for you?
● What’s your worst case scenario? (Yes scary to ask but
good to know!)
● What could we do to make you feel comfortable?
● What would make you a customer for life?

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Don’t Be Shy - Ask for Feedback!
Always position the review request as an opportunity to share feedback so that you
can continue to improve.

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Share Your Online Reviews
Online marketing
● Website
● Social Media
● Email newsletter
● Create videos
● Check-ins
Offline marketing
● Flyers
● Community boards
● Business cards

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Create Marketing Material : SmallThanks.Google.com

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Setup Google
Alerts
Social Media
Mentions
Set Up Alerts for New Reviews
Reputation
Management
Tools
Partner with a
Company

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Google My Business Reviews Increase Your Presence

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Follow Up
After a 1-star review has been addressed and resolved, it's okay to go back to that
customer and ask if they'd be open to updating their review to reflect the changes.
They’ll either give a better star rating or delete the negative review altogether.

31. 31SurefireLocal.com
Takeaways
Encourage your customers to become involved in the community by leaving reviews
of other businesses, so when they write a review of you, it’s more powerful.
One of the best things you can do to attract new customers is to maintain a
high-star rating on the most popular review sites.
One of the most important things you can do to attract new customers is to take
control of your online review score.