How to get online reviews for your business

Did you know that over 92% of consumers now read online reviews? What’s more, research has shown that over 72% of consumers will take action only after reading a positive review.

What does this mean for pest control businesses?

If your online reputation is next to non-existent, chances are you’re losing out to your competitors! The good news is, Syngenta want to help all pest controllers build their reputation both on the job and online, so we’ve put together a few tips to help get your business noticed online!

Before you start asking your customers to write reviews following an experience with your business, you need to make sure you’ve created places online for them to easily leave reviews. The two most popular platforms customers look to for online reviews in 2019 are on Google and Facebook, and it’s never been easier or quicker to create a presence for your business on both these platforms.

Remember to follow all the steps and fill in as much relevant business information as possible, including contact details, hours of operation, services offered and some photos of your pest control business and your team. The more information you provide, the more your customers can learn about you, which will ultimately influence their buying decisions.

Once you’ve got your Google My Business listing and Facebook Page set up and complete, it’s time to start encouraging your customers to leave reviews.

How to encourage more online reviews for your business:

1. JUST ASK!

If a customer has had a positive experience with your business, they will most likely be more than happy to write up a positive review. Be mindful to make sure you're soliciting customer reviews at the right moment in their journey with your business to get optimal results. Usually your customer wants to see the effects of a pest control treatment working over time, so it’s probably not a great idea to ask for a review immediately after a treatment.

Ask for customer reviews after positive moments along the customer journey, like:

• After they experience or demonstrate success with your product or service
• When they re-purchase or re-book
• After they tag your business in a post on social media
• If they are spending time on your website browsing other products or services
• If they refer another customer to you

These are just a few examples of signs that your customer is satisfied enough that they would leave a positive review of your business.

2. MAKE THE PROCESS AS EASY AS POSSIBLE

Satisfied customers are usually more than happy to leave positive reviews, but if the process of physically leaving the review is complicated and time consuming, the odds are that they’ll give up pretty quickly. When asking your customers for a review, make sure to provide a direct link to both your Google My Business page as well as the reviews section of your business’ Facebook page.

You also need to make the process of asking for reviews easy for yourself, otherwise you may find it falls to the bottom of your to-do list. Create an email template for your review request so you can easily refer to it when it’s time to ask for reviews. Don’t forget to always edit your automated template to include personalised details about the particular job and customer. This adds a personal touch to your request.

3. FOLLOW UP

If your customer doesn’t give you a review within a certain amount of time, don’t be afraid to send a gentle reminder – just don’t be too pushy. And after a couple of reminders, it is probably best to leave it there. You don't want to annoy them!