Last Updated on August 24, 2023 by The ZenMaid Team
This article was updated May 2022.
Living in the digital age
Our world is becoming more and more reliant on technology for our daily needs. Whether we want to shop for groceries online, find a physical therapist near us, or deposit a check without driving to the bank, we canβt escape the digital age we live in.
Consumers live, breathe, and die by online proof before they make any sort of decision on who they hire or what they purchase online. Why? Because consumers constantly check online reviews.
Sometimes this is a bad thing β we spend too much time on our phones and not enough time with real people. But on the flip side, technology has made our lives easier and helps us navigate a complex world to connect with a variety of people and services.
The platforms that consumers use have changed over the past few decades and will probably continue to do so. Angiβs List pioneered the service and customer industry at first. Then, TripAdvisor stepped in, and Yelp eventually outcompeted it. Now, Google Ads and a few other platforms dominate the industry.
No matter what, we canβt go back in time. Our businesses need to keep up with the latest digital marketing strategies to survive. However, this doesnβt have to be a negative process. Your online review presence can be an exciting journey where you come out on top!
Why we need online reviews
Just like every other dimension of technology, online reviews are a game-changer. If you want to scale your maid service and out-compete your competitors, you need a GREAT online review strategy.
There are a host of reasons why you need to focus on reviews:
- Good reviews boost your sales by 18%
- Millennials trust online reviews more than they trust traditional forms of advertising
- If you and your competitor have similar services and pricing, customers will choose whichever business has better reviews
- A survey from a few years ago shows that 97% of customers use reviews when they decide to buy a product or service
If a customer needs to invite you into their home for a service, they want to be sure that you have a trustworthy reputation. This is why good reviews are SO much more important for cleaning businesses than other services.
Online reviews are no longer an option β theyβre imperative. To scale your business you need to be proactive with your online reviews and do everything you can to maintain them. Plus, you need to consistently get new reviews in order to compete in todayβs online business environment.
A real case study to show you the importance of online reviews
Becht Pride is a cleaning service in Indianapolis. In 2015 their company had:
- Zero Google reviews
- Two Facebook reviews
- 375 Recurring Customers
- They were on page 6 when clients would search for cleaning services on Google
Griffin Smith worked with them on marketing and online reviews strategy to improve their business.
Before online reviews
First, the team (Smith, the business owner, and other management) gathered a list of recurring customers. Then, they searched through this list to find some of their top customers who were in good standing with Becht Pride. Once they found some of their favorite customers, the team sent them an email where they asked for help. Hereβs what it said:
Dear valued customers,
As you know, Becht Pride has finally decided to join the 21st century. We have recently upgraded our website and joined Facebook and Twitter. We now need help getting more online reviews. Please click here to review here to leave us a review on google.
We would also really appreciate any support you can give us by βlikingβ our Facebook page or following us on Twitter.
www.bechtpride.com
www.facebook.com/BechtPride – Like us on Facebook
@Bechtprideclean – follow us on Twitter
Thank you for your business,
Your Becht Pride Team
Becht Pride Cleaning Services LLC
βWe take pride in everything we do!β
Fast forward to today. The company has over 400 reviews on Google. Plus, the reviews have resulted in tremendous growth for the company. Now, they have a top ranking in Google maps.
After online reviews
As you can imagine, the business has grown significantly. Now, Becht Pride has even more opportunities for growth.
Becht Pride opened an additional location in Chicago-Land, bought a residential carpet cleaning company, and acquired extensive commercial and janitorial cleaning contracts.
The best part about this case study is that your business can see this type of growth too!
Becht Pride isnβt a βluckyβ business that stumbled upon something great. They wanted to scale their business and they found a strategic way to do so. You can have the same outcome for our cleaning services.
How you can get online reviews easily
So, how can you get reviews without pestering your customers?
Ask first: Have your team leads ask your customers if itβs okay if they send them a satisfaction survey. This is important because it gives your customers a sense of accountability to follow through.
Follow up: Nine times out of ten, your customers are more than willing to leave a review. They simply need a nudge in the right direction.
Your customers are busy people. After all, thatβs probably why they hired you in the first place. They donβt have time to clean their houses and they need you. So, if you need a review from them, you may need to hold their hand and guide them through the process.
Use software tools: You can automate this process with tools like ReviewSpreader, MailChimp, Active Campaign, Zapier, ZenMaid, and Gmail. There are thousands of tools out there that offer you an easy and efficient way to reach out to your clients and follow-up with them. (For more resources about software tools, check out this article.)
ReviewSpreader is a great option because it is geared toward mobile technology use. More people use a cell phone these days than a desktop computer. This simple technology sends a text that prompts a customer to leave a review after a scheduled clean.
If you want to take a more traditional approach, ReviewsSpreader offers a template for emails. This way, you simply send your customer an email which provides them with a link to submit a review.
After you implement the right technology you need to decide your target goal in numbers.
How many reviews do I need to build a good reputation?
If youβre looking for a magic number, itβs not quite that easy. There are many factors at play here. One main factor is that your maid service is probably different from others. You have different values, locations, employees, mission statements, and clients.
Nevertheless, if you have less than 20 reviews, your businessβs online presence will suffer. More than twenty reviews show that your business has a good reputation and that you have numerous clients who can vouch for you.
Contrary to popular belief, you donβt exclusively need 5-star ratings to be successfulβin fact, a few negative reviews can boost your business.
What rating do I need for my maid service?
Donβt be scared of a negative review. A few negative ratings show that your business is real. If you google a pizza place near you and you see that it has 200 reviews and every single one is a five-star review, you might start to get suspicious, right?
On the other hand, a pizza place with 200 reviews and 4.7 star rating sounds more reliable. More people will come to your business if you have a rating between 4.5 and 4.9 than if you only had 5 stars. People want authenticity and that includes how you present yourself online.
Plus, negative reviews allow you to understand what issues you have in your business and how you can resolve them.
You can respond to people on google to offer an apology and reconcile the issue. Your potential clients see this and know that they are in safe hands with your cleaning business. When you show integrity as a business owner, people notice.
Next Steps
When you spend your time and energy investing in your online presence, youβll see the results. Your reputation increases, your clients flock to your services, and you are able to scale your business like never before. Weβve got a ton of great articles about this topic at ZenMaid Magazine. Feel free to check them out next, or save them for later!
If you found this article helpful for your maid service, you may also like:
- The Day I Said Goodbye to 9-to-5: My Journey to Starting ZenMaid
- Cleaning Business Supplies: What You Need for Residential and Commercial Cleaning
- How to Market a Cleaning Business: 10 Strategies that Actually Work
- How to start a cleaning business in Kansas
- How to Start a Cleaning Business in Mississippi
About the presenter
Griffin Smith is the co-founder of Review Spreader, a software that helps business owners get more great online reviews and feedback. He helps companies across the United States with marketing, operations, sales, and customer service, and has been working in digital marketing for over a decade.
To hear Griffin Smithβs full talk from the Maid Summit, click here.Β
This talk first aired at the 2019 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 youβre on our email list to find out how to get free tickets to the next event.
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