Get More Google Reviews for Your Cleaning Business

These days, it’s not a secret that when someone is looking for a service, they Google it. The second step of finding a new business to work with usually involves reading what other people have said about the companies they’re searching for.

Let’s dive into the importance of asking customers to review your business and why Google is the best platform to be collecting them.

Why are reviews important?

Customers trust reviews from other customers. So much so that 90% of customers think reviews are more important than other marketing or sales information the company gives them.

Having a lot of good reviews also helps you build a defense against bad reviews. If you have 50 excellent reviews from happy customers, this can help cancel out any bad reviews if you receive them. It also enables you to stand out against your competitors. Someone searching for a cleaning business in your area will notice if your company has significantly more reviews than other companies.

When you have a good reputation online, you’ll also end up getting more for your money if you are doing paid ads or promotions. Having a good reputation will work in your favor if people see your ads and decide to search your company to learn more about your business.

Having a library of good reviews on your business can also make for great social media content. Screenshotting good reviews and posting them on social media can give you more social proof and build more trust with your audience. Not to mention, these types of social media posts get great engagement on sites like Instagram and Facebook.

Why Use Google Reviews?

There are plenty of third-party sites that you can use to collect reviews for your maid service. You might already be using another site like Yelp to collect reviews or asking people to review your Facebook page. If you’re already receiving reviews on other sites, that’s great! But prioritizing Google reviews over other sites can substantially increase your reach online and attract more customers.

According to BrightLocal, Google reviews are the biggest driver of clicks in local search results. That means when someone in your area searches for something on Google, they are more likely to click on a business based on their Google reviews. This is because people trust reviews from other customers and trust Google as a platform to show them the best services in their area.

Plus, the more reviews you have compared to your competitors, the higher your business will appear in Google search results.

In short, more Google reviews = more customers.

How to get more Google Reviews

Set a specific goal

When you’re trying to achieve any new goal, one of the most impactful things you can do is write it down. Come up with a very specific number of how many new reviews you want to get in the next thirty days. If you have 40 repeat customers, you can make it a goal to get 20 of those customers to leave you a review.

Once you’ve come up with your number, share it with your team, and share your excitement around that goal. This will boost morale and inspire everyone on the team to help you work towards that goal.

Provide a great service

We know…”way to state the obvious,” but we can’t advise on how to get reviews without emphasizing the importance of first doing a good job for your customers. This means having a great team that values growth and learning, and giving your customers an experience worth talking about.

Ensure that you have a reliable quality management process so that every cleaning is up to par and your customers are happy every time.

Create moments of delight

You want to make the experience as memorable as possible for your customers. Find opportunities for your team to do something that stands out and makes them remember you. Things like leaving a sweet note, a chocolate on the pillow, or a flower on the counter can really make your service stand out and add an extra level of delight to the service.

Your customer will remember these small moments when you ask them to leave a review. Then, when you ask them for the review, you’ll be able to capture the authenticity of how your customers feel about your service.

Ask in person or over the phone

When asking for a review, Daisy recommends asking in person if you can. The best time to ask is right after the cleaning, when your customer is experiencing that moment of delight.

When asking for the review, be honest in expressing why you want a review. It’s okay to share that having good reviews will help your business and mean a lot to the cleaner. People tend to respond positively to this honesty and will want to help your business.

If you can’t ask in person, the next best way is to ask over the phone. Give the customer a friendly call after the cleaning.

Position the call as a way to ask about their experience and get feedback. If they express delight with their cleaning, then it’s the perfect time to ask if they can leave you a review on Google.

Leave a personalized note

If you don’t have the resources to call or ask in person, you can have the cleaner leave a personalized note behind. This process works well if the customer’s house is being cleaned while they aren’t home.

Leaving a hand-written note makes the process of asking for a review more humanized. It reminds your customers that there are actual people behind the scenes who want to make sure they have a great experience.

On this note, you should leave clear instructions on how to access your Google review page. Use a site like bit.ly to create a short and easy link that people can type in to access the page. Then, include step by step instructions on how to leave a review.

Follow up

You need to be persistent and follow up with your customers multiple times. It’s likely that your customers won’t leave a review after just the first ask, so the follow up is key. After an initial phone call to ask for a review, it’s best to follow up via email.

According to research conducted by Daisy and her team, here’s how the likelihood of receiving a review changes after each follow-up email:

Customers are 30.4% likely to leave a review if you ask in person
If you send an email two days after the cleaning, that likelihood goes down to 23.1%
Send a reminder one week later, and there’s a 15% chance they’ll leave a review
If you send another reminder two weeks after that, the likelihood goes back up to 31.4%

You might be wondering why the percentage suddenly goes up after that fourth follow-up. This is because their team’s strategy is to make that fourth follow-up as personalized as possible. When sending follow-up emails, the first three can be automated and templated.

That fourth email comes from the company CEO and emphasizes just how much customer reviews mean to their business. It’s sincere and authentic, which prevents it from sounding like you’re bugging them after three previous emails. This honesty creates a spike in people leaving reviews.

Quick tips for getting even more reviews

Now that you know the complete strategy for asking and receiving more Google reviews, here are a few ways to get some quick wins when you first start gathering reviews.

Add a link to the review page on the footer of your emails and in your signature.
Review other businesses that you work with. This creates good karma, and if those businesses use your service, they’ll likely leave you a review back.
Reply to every review you get. It shows you are engaged, and it looks great on your page.
Send potential customers a link to your Google reviews to check out before booking an appointment. This sets the tone that others love your service and incepts that idea in their mind to leave you a review because a lot of others have.

As long as businesses have been operating, people have been reviewing them. Years ago, this looked like comment cards and word of mouth. But these days, getting reviews online, especially on Google, can give you leverage that puts your maid service ahead of your competitors.

By following these tips and setting up a system to manage your reviews, you’ll not only get more reviews on Google, but you’ll build closer relationships with your customers. You’ll also end up with a process that attracts more customers and ensures that you have a glowing reputation online.

For more of Daisy’s tips on how to get more Google Reviews for your cleaning business, check out her full talk from the 2020 Maid Summit.

About the presenter

Daisy Foster is the founder of Digitool and is committed to helping business owners win more work, earn more money, and save time. In this post, we’ll share Daisy’s top tips on how to get more Google reviews, win more cleaning customers, and turn your cleaning business into a profit-boosting machine.

This talk first aired at the 2020 Maid Service Success Summit.

The Maid Summit is an annual online event that brings together the most successful leaders in the cleaning industry, like Debbie Sardone, Angela Brown, Courtney Wisely, Amy Caris, Chris Schwab and more. Get free access to masterclasses and workshops that will help you to grow, scale and automate your cleaning business so you can get more leads and create more profit. Make sure you’re on our email list to find out how to get free tickets to the next event.

Check out these other great articles on ZenMaid Magazine: