How to Grow Your Construction Business with Online Reviews

Brad Fehler VP of Demand Generation at Archdesk

Types of online reviews

The most popular sites in the UK to leave online reviews are:

• Google
• Trustpilot
• Checkatrade
• Amazon
• Which?
• Bazaarvoice

Contractors are often ranked on sites like:

• HomeAdvisor
• Angi (formerly known as Angie’s list)
• Houzz
• Amazon Home Services

If your company offers technology or software solutions, you can use:

• Capterra
• G2

A review form Capterra.com 

How to get reviews?

If you’re a small business or you’ve just entered the market, you might not have many reviews. How to get them, then?

• Ask for a review in your after-service email 

Once you’ve finished a project for your client, it’s a perfect time to ask for feedback. 

Your clients will remember your work and give you a much more in-depth view of what went good/wrong and how satisfied they are. 

Try to keep this email short, but highlight that you value their opinion and that their honest feedback will help you improve and deliver better work next time. 

• Call your clients 

Construction is built on relationships. Probably by the end of the project, you’ve been through hell and back together.  

That’s why, if you have a good relationship, you can call your clients to ask for feedback. Just remember to be patient and not overwhelm your clients with calls. 

Some people also choose SMSs, but it’s a tricky one. SMS might work well as a follow-up to your previous conversation, but as a separate request for feedback might feel too long and a little bit out of the blue. 

• Offer a small incentive for submitting a review 

We tend to make things much faster when we have little motivation, right? To motivate your clients, offer them a small present for submitting a review: gift card, voucher, etc. 

Remember to limit the offer period so that your clients do it as soon as possible. You can set a limit of reviews that will be awarded or a date when a special offer ends. 

Also, if your potential customers read online reviews mainly on Google, you can prioritise this source and give gifts only for reviews submitted there. 

• Create an email sequence 

If you’re managing different projects, probably gathering online reviews is not your most important task during the day. Luckily you can use email sequences to automate the task. 

You can set up different email templates, and the app will automatically send the correct email depending on the triggers. 

There are many tools to automate your emails. For example, Mailerlite.com is free to use for up to 1000 subscribers- definitely worth checking out. 

In Archdesk, we combined an incentive with an email sequence, resulting in many submitted reviews. 

• Offer a discount for your next product or service 

It’s another type of motivational bonus that you can offer. For example, 10 or 15% for your future product/service.

Such a reward has an extra positive outcome for your business. It motivates clients to make another purchase or hire you for another construction project. 

• Follow-up comments on Social Media

Online reviews don't have to be elaborated. Sometimes, clients can write on social media that they like your product or service. The comment alone it's not a great review yet, but it's a great start to a conversation. 

When you receive such comments, consider replying. You can thank them for an opinion and ask for more details: for example, which features of your product they like the most.

If you have a small profile on social media with few comments, consider writing a direct message to your client, as it will increase your chances of getting a reply.

• Use professional support 

Professional systems to manage online reviews help contact clients, gather feedback, and present in a way that will make your business grow.

The most popular apps to gather and manage feedback:

• Reviews.io, 
• Feefo.com, 
• Reevoo.com,
• Verified-reviews.co.uk.

At the same time,  these systems are not indispensable in managing online reviews. So, if your resources are limited, it's better to spend them on different marketing or sales purposes. 

Do's and Don'ts with online reviews

Once you get reviews, there are a few rules on dealing with them: 

#Do track new reviews 

Regularity matters. It makes a huge difference if you reply to a review after two weeks or two years. 

Of course, you don't have to check it out every day but consider booking some time monthly to read and answer new online reviews.

Some websites, like Google, inform a business owner whenever a new review is submitted, so half of the job is already done. 

#Do answer reviews

There’s no better way to show your clients that you listen and value their feedback. You should comment on every review.

The answer doesn’t have to be long. Just thank them for their opinion and show that you’re glad the product serves them well or that you’ll keep improving thanks to their remarks. 

Add a personal touch by using the reviewer’s name or referring to the feedback. It shows replies aren't automatically created, but there’s a person that cares about their opinions. 

#Don’t fight with negative reviews 

Negative reviews happen, even if you try your best. Sometimes it’s just a misunderstanding.

If you receive a negative review, don’t fight. Don’t argue in the comments or delete the message. Just reply that you’re working to improve your services.

According to numbers, 62% of clients won’t buy from brands that censor online reviews. Keeping a bad review shows your clients that you’re honest and trustworthy. 

(Of course, if there are a lot of negative reviews, it’s a sign that something bad is happening in your company and that shouldn’t be ignored).

How to use reviews to win projects?

Online reviews on review sites will already positively impact your business. But, to benefit from them even more, you can use them to: 

• Show reviews on your home page

Obviously, you promote your business on your home page. Support this with testimonials from your clients It reinforces your message and increases credibility.

Choose a few positive reviews and show them on your site. You can also add logos of companies you collaborated with in previous projects. 

Thanks to that, you’ll position your business as an industry professional that many companies want to work with. 

• Analyse reviews to see your best & weak points

You can see what worked best for your clients and what they liked the most in your offer. Later, you can use that knowledge to promote your business as fully adapted to the industry's needs. 

If there are particular things that your clients didn't like or complained about, you have a great starting point in improving your services. 

Finally, note your competitors' names appearing in the reviews. It's also great information on what you could do better to win future clients.

• Include reviews in your emails 

Do you send a newsletter to your potential customers? Or sales emails? If yes, you should include online reviews in them. 

Of course, try not to make it too pushy, but demonstrate that you helped another client improve their business.

Even if your emails don’t have a direct intention to sell, such positive reviews stay with your readers, making them easier to turn into clients.