This document discusses the importance of online reviews and reputation management for contractors. It provides tips for developing a proactive online review strategy, including setting goals, training staff, asking customers to review in a non-rewarding way, responding to all reviews, and using mobile and alerts. The key advice is to proactively showcase work, aggressively seek high quality reviews across sites, and mandate responsiveness to any reviews. Developing a strong online presence is critical even for referrals-based businesses.

1. Successfully
Managing “Word
of Mouse”
Ratings & Reviews
March 25th 2017 JLC LIVE 2017
Bill Owens & Shashi Bellamkonda

2. Bill Owens
Bill Owens, CGR, CAPS, CGP, is president of
Owens Construction, currently celebrating over
thirty years as a leading residential design/build
firm in central Ohio.
Active with:
National Association of Home Builders
Home Builders Institute
Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing
Studies
JLC LIVE 2017

3. Shashi Bellamkonda
Shashi Bellamkonda is the Chief Marketing
Officer of Surefire Local - Local Marketing
Company for Local Business (Roofing,
Remodeling, Replacement..)
Shashi Bellamkonda is an adjunct faculty
member of Georgetown University,
teaching Marketing Analytics and Digital,
Social Media and Mobile.
Keynote speaker on Digital Marketing and
Small Business.
JLC LIVE 2017
Community called him
“Social Media Swami”

4. Background: Challenges
for contractors
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5. Resting on our laurels
Success
• Do great work
• Clients love the experience
• Have a great team
Problem jobs
• Work out issues with clients privately
• Do right by the Customers - Always to a
mutually satisfying conclusion
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6. “Word of Mouth” has
gone to “Word of Mouse”
Believe the vast majority of our opportunity
is referral and repeat business
But what are we perhaps not seeing?
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7. Make (or at least soften) the
sale even before prospects
reach out to us
Very likely lost opportunity because:
• Search before homeowners contact us
• Potential clients see few or no ratings
• Maybe some average ratings on a few
websites
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8. Understanding
the growing
importance of
an online, social
presence
Challenges
• Tough time getting clients to
engage
• Small number of yearly
transactions (30 to 50 jobs/year)
• Lackluster number of reviews
• How to best excite and
encourage clients to rate and
review us?
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9. Where to
send
customers,
let alone,
where are
prospects
looking?
We know Google is important….confused on what
sites we should be focusing on.
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New 2017
Recommendation

10. Feeling defensive,
insulted and destroyed
by 1 star reviews
Source:
MotherJones
Joshua Tree National Park, CA
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Don’t worry,
people
review
campgrounds
in National
Parks too !

11. How to think about
this….
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12. Reinforce Your
Beliefs
Do excellent work and have
lots of pride in your process as
well as the finished product
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13. Expect that this
could happen
.....because it will…..and that’s OK!
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14. Get ahead of this
● Manage through these
events
● Don’t react emotionally,
internally or in the public
eye
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15. Readjust our thinking
● Spend more on creating satisfied
clients
● Well-developed and properly
channeled reputation
management system
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16. JLC LIVE 2017
Don’t ignore
reviews hoping they
will go away

17. Even if you build your business mainly through
local referrals or word-of-mouth, you need some
kind of online presence if for no other reason than
the help those referral customers actually find
you.
Source:
SmallBizTrends
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18. Understanding the Reviewer Emotion
Warn other Consumers
I want to warn others of bad products
I want to save others from having the same
negative experiences
Venting negative feelings
I like to get anger of my chest
I want to take vengeance upon the company
The company harmed me, and now I will harm the
company
Help me shake off frustrations about bad buys
J.M. Rensink - What motivates people to write online reviews and which role does personality play?
Help other consumers
I want to help others with my own positive experiences
I want to give others the opportunity to buy the right product
Helping the company
In my opinion, good companies should be supported
I am so satisfied with a company and its product that I
want to help the company to be successful
Emotion – Negative>> Positive
Intensity
18

19. Hidden Conversations!
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20. Hidden & Good Conversations!
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21. Hidden & Good Conversations!
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22. Hidden & Good Conversations!
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Tip : Claim your business on NextDoor.

23. JLC LIVE 2017
Positive Reviews: While seems not necessary, it is good
practice to respond and thank
Negative Reviews: You need to respond 100% of the time
No Review Left Behind
Tip: Go back and respond to older reviews that appear fro your search results

24. JLC LIVE 2017
1. Show clients you care
2. Demonstrate your passion
for customer service
3. Retain existing customers
4. Increase chances of new
customer referrals
WHY Respond?
Turn a negative review into a positive experience!
Tip: People will gain respect for your business if you respond to the
comment in a pleasant and helpful way

25. JLC LIVE 2017
1. Thank them for the review
➔Be humble and appreciative,make the person
feel heard and acknowledged.”
2. Explain the future changes
➔How are you going to prevent this from
happening again?
➔Draw attention to your business's many
positive qualities
Assume Positive Intent

26. JLC LIVE 2017
1. Publicly
➔ Shows both other, and potential, clients that you care
2. Privately
➔Address and resolve the client’s issues
Respond Professionally
• If you are angry
step away from
your phone or
computer!
• Get a review of
your response
from
friends/peers

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➔The sooner the better
➔Aim for under 24 hours
➔OK to respond to older reviews
Timely Response Shows Character

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➔Setup, implement, and manage your company's
reputation plan long before a problem or crisis
strikes
➔You can really change/regain your reputation
➔Get back the business you are losing because of
your reputation
Key Points

29. JLC LIVE 2017
Your Reputation Plan

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➔A proactive strategy to get reviews is
required for all businesses
➔Create a well-defined strategy
➔Mission: “We will strive to get nothing
less than 5 Stars”
1. Goals & Objectives
• In Production
Reviews
• Team “ If you see
something Say
something”
• More Owner –
Customer
interaction

31. JLC LIVE 2017
➔Set responsibility
• Proactive : Getting Customer Reviews
• Reactive : Quickly Act on Reviews
➔Monitor >> Respond>>Resolve
2. Plan
Customers look for:
• Who to contact
• Easy to find
• Empowered team
• Wow experience !
• Right Expectations

32. JLC LIVE 2017
Every member of your company can help you with your
review strategy
➔ Define the experience
➔ Explain the process
➔ Reinforce importance of reviews
➔ Set rules of engagement
➔ Provide service standards
➔ Power of conversation, eye contact
3. Training
Customers look for:
• Who to contact
• Easy to find
• Empowered team
• Wow experience
• Easy Digital Tools

33. www.yourdomain.com
4. Be in places your customers are
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Build your community even before you need it

34. 5. Remind customers where they can
review you
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35. 6. Ask but don’t reward
➔Use Messages like
“People on Yelp like us!”
or “People love us on
Yelp!”
➔DON’T offer incentives
for reviews
➔Use review tools
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36. 7. Engage
➔ Claim your business pages
➔ Increase your chances by non-
review type engagements
➔ Increase check-ins, photos, like
and add tips
➔ Create Ideabooks on Houzz
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37. TITLE
8. Go mobile
➔ Reviews can be done from
anywhere including on the
phone
➔ Use SMS to send customers
links to reviews with their
permission
➔ Take pictures and send to
your website
➔ Use Geo Location check-ins
to add reviews and location
data to your website
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38. 9. Get alerts for new
reviews
➔Google Alerts are free
➔Other tools like
Mention.net
➔Reputation
Management Tools
➔Agency
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39. 10. Respond to all reviews
➔New prospects can come across old
reviews
➔Customers form opinions on company
response
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40. JLC LIVE 2017
Recap
➔ Focus on showcasing all substantial projects on social
media and your website
➔ Aggressively seek more and better quality ratings and
reviews on specific sites
➔ Mandate responsiveness to any reviews by all company
representatives

41. Why?
➔ When potential customers are searching for your business
online, you compete with every other similar business in
your area.
➔ Prospects do a quick Google search before making their
decision, you only have a short amount of time and a limited
amount of space to convince them to choose your business
over others.
➔ Monitor how your business appears in certain search pages
and add information to your site data that can help you put
your best face forward online
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42. Conclusion
Setup, implement, and manage your company's reputation plan
long before a problem or crisis strikes
You can really change/regain your reputation
Get back the business you are losing because of your
reputation
JLC LIVE 2017

43. Bill’s Advice,
“from the trenches”
Proactively-
Focus on showcasing all substantial projects on
social media and your website
Aggressively seek more and better quality
ratings and reviews on specific sites
Mandate responsiveness to any reviews by all
company representatives. JLC LIVE 2017

44. Thank You
Shashi@surefirelocal.com
Bill@owensconstruction.com
JLC LIVE 2017