Customers searching for pest control services base their decisions on customer reviews they find online. In fact, almost 90% of all consumers read through online reviews before deciding which pest control company to hire.
If your goal is to capture every potential pest control lead and sale possible in your market, it’s vital that you grow and manage your online reviews.
Let’s take a look at some do’s and don’ts for managing your pest control business’s online reputation:
DO make it easy for customers to leave you a review.
Have a “leave a review” button on your website. Place a QR code linking to your review page on your customer invoices.
DO train your employees on collecting reviews.
Make sure they ask in person after completing a job. Encourage them to let their customers know how helpful it is for the business.
DO incentivize and celebrate your employees who bring in the most online reviews.
Run a contest with your staff and make it fun. Keep a leaderboard in the office to track everyone’s efforts.
DO send follow up emails or text messages to customers after a completed service asking for reviews.
Have a template ready to go with a link to your review site, so it’s fast for you to send to customers and easy for them to leave feedback.
DO respond to all online reviews.
Thank customers for their feedback whether it’s positive or negative. If it’s negative, rectify the issue and ask the customer to update their review.
DO NOT solicit positive reviews from clients with rewards.
It’s actually prohibited in the US to offer incentives for Google reviews unless the review states the review was paid for.
DO NOT miss an opportunity to engage in a timely manner with a customer.
You should attempt to respond to all reviews within 24-48 hours, whether you’re thanking them for their business or needing to resolve an issue.
DO NOT generate false reviews.
Customers are savvy and fake reviews from recently created profiles are easy to spot. It instantly damages your credibility and isn’t worth it.
DO NOT argue online.
If someone is lying, report them to the site administrator. If there is a problem or miscommunication, reach out to the customer and include the resolution in your response. Stay professional.
DO NOT take negative reviews personally.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and try to understand where things went wrong. Maybe they were having a bad day or perhaps they’re right. Either way, do your best to offer a solution.
Managing your pest control company’s online reputation can be a lot of work–so you’re probably wondering, what do you get out of all of this? The ROI is simple: it can significantly reduce your CPL (cost per lead). Building a volume of reviews with positive tones will help drive higher rankings in SERP’s (search engine results page) which will lead to a lower CPL.
Remember, managing your pest control company’s online reputation is important and can have a significant impact on your business over time. So, DO make a plan and DO NOT give up.
