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For a home services business, customer reviews can make or break you. Whether you’re helping customers with a home remodel or fixing something after an emergency, home services can get expensive. So, people turn to websites like Angie’s List to ensure that they’re not getting ripped off.
Unfortunately, people are more likely to review a business after a bad experience. To keep a couple of unhappy customers from impacting your business, get in the habit of collecting Angie's List reviews from happy ones. This article covers how you can improve your reputation on the site and how Scorpion can help.
What is Angie’s List?
Angie’s List, which is now called Angi, is an online database that started in 1995 to help people find professionals for their home service projects. Customers can log in, rate your business, and write reviews, or they can look through reviews of companies they plan to hire.
While Angi is free for contractors, the site promotes businesses that advertise. If you have some room in your marketing budget, consider advertising on the site to boost your visibility. Here is how you can get more reviews from your best customers.
How to Get Angie's List Reviews
1. Remind Your Customers to Rate and Review
Successful people on social media often remind their viewers to like and subscribe in every post and video, and you should have the same mindset. Add a line to your email signature reminding customers to rate and review you on Angi.
You could say, “Are you satisfied with your service? Remember to rate and review.” Then include links to your Google My Business, Yelp, and Angi profiles so customers can click through and give their feedback.
2. Just Ask
Don’t be shy about asking for reviews. When chatting with your client after your work is done, ask them to rate you on Angi. You’re a small business, and you thrive on word-of-mouth. Talk to your customers about how positive reviews impact your business and ask them to leave a review.
If they found you on Angi, they probably know how it works. Give them a nudge during phone calls or meetings and ask them to pop over to the site when they get a chance. You don’t have to be pushy. Remind them that you’re a small business with a small advertising budget.
3. Share Valuable Content on Social Media
In the digital world, it’s easier than ever to connect with your clients even if you’re not working with them on a project. More people are likely to follow you when you share fun and helpful tips and content on your blog or your social media feed.
Build on your expertise and share it with your subscribers and followers. Make helpful videos about how they can DIY home projects without ruining their house. Or post seasonal tips like how to keep pipes from freezing or what to do when their air conditioner is on the fritz.
When you’ve built a following, create a post asking people to rate and review you on Angi. Don’t do it every day, but give your network a nudge every once in a while.
4. Tap Your Email List
If you collect emails and use your list to send out newsletters, Angi has a feature you can use to collect reviews. After you’ve completed a job, send out an email with a form link that your customer can use to write an Angi review.
Include a personalized message reminding your customers that reviews are important and that you appreciate their feedback. If you send out a monthly or quarterly newsletter, consider adding a call to action for customer reviews in one or two of them per year.
5. Respond to Negative Reviews
You will get some negative feedback when you’ve been in business long enough. Responding to negative reviews is an excellent way to show other customers that you care about quality and are dedicated to service.
The key to responding to negative reviews is to stay calm. If you know the customer in question, apologize, address the issue, and contact them. Ask what you can do to resolve the situation. When you respond to the review online, make sure you apologize and state what you did to resolve the issue, but don’t be defensive.
You can also respond to positive reviews with a thank you. Potential customers will see how much you appreciate people who use your business.
6. Host a Contest
Send out a blast email to everyone on your list encouraging them to write a review. Come up with a fun prize like a gift card and select a random winner from your most recent reviews. Use your social media to promote the contest and tell customers about it when you’re meeting with them on the phone or in person.
Encourage honest feedback. If someone had an issue with their service, they should share it freely even though they are submitting a review as part of a contest.
7. Contact Your Customers on the Phone
SMS or text messages are a relatively new form of advertising. You might already use SMS messages to confirm appointments and send out service updates. Use your SMS messaging platform to ask customers to leave you a review. In the message, include a link to your Angi profile so your customers can click on it and write the review.
Compared to email marketing, SMS messages had an open rate of 98% in 2021. This is an easy way to connect with clients and remind them to log in to Angi and leave you a review.
8. Advertise
Join the Angi Ads App (formerly Angie’s List Pro) and consider advertising. Although your Angi listing is free, the site promotes businesses that advertise with them more often than those who opt for a free listing.
Although just being visible on the site won’t automatically generate reviews, your business will pop up in more searches. If a former customer is looking for a different business on the site, they can see you and might be inspired to leave a review.
With Angi Ads, you can create an eye-catching post showcasing your best work. If you have professional photos of any past work, build a post about it. Don’t include any client details or anything in the picture that people could use to find the project. But do include a brief write-up with details about how the project stood out.
9. Train Your Techs to Ask for Reviews
One of the easiest ways to get more reviews is to create a culture where people ask for them. Train your techs, dispatchers, and other customer service personnel to ask for reviews at the end of each service call.
You don’t need to ask at each customer touchpoint, but you should have a standardized process for getting Angi reviews. You can have the service techs ask when the project is complete or include a call to action on customer invoices and follow-up emails. Once your employees get into the habit of asking for reviews from every customer, you will likely see more traffic on the Angi site.
10. Automate the Process
One way to get people to leave Angi reviews is to make it easier. Offer a template with standard questions customers can answer. Use open-ended questions for the best feedback. Make sure your customers have places to say what they liked about your service and what you can do to improve.
Most importantly, listen. If you see a lot of customers complaining about one part of your business, see how you can change it. Maybe they are upset with the dispatching process. Figure out if there is software or a type of procedural change you can make to satisfy customers.
When customers have a template for feedback, they can leave a review more quickly. They are more likely to do it because they don’t have to take as much time out of their day.
11. Let Scorpion Help
If you’re not interested in managing customer reviews or your online reputation on Angi, let the professionals at Scorpion help. Scorpion will help you see and respond to reviews, so you don’t have to spend time looking at every website and responding to multiple reviews.
Scorpion can show you how to turn reviews into leads and use your online reputation to find more business. If you’re interested in learning more, contact us.
Shift Your Company’s Culture Today to Get More Angie's List Reviews
Customer reviews on Angi and other websites are key to your business. Customers have all the information they need about your business at their fingertips. They are more likely to trust online reviews from other customers, and most customers will read reviews before they decide to hire you.
Even if you know you provide a quality service, your customers won’t know unless they hear it from others. Use these tips for more Angi reviews to make it easier to find new business.
