Hiring a landscaping company requires a lot of trust. After all, your work has a direct impact on the curb appeal of a home or business. That’s why reviews are so important in the landscaping industry.
But, getting those five-star reviews can be tough. This is unfortunate since many people won’t even consider working with a local business unless they have at least a four-star average on review sites.
Luckily, there are many things you can do to get more positive reviews and build a strong reputation for your landscaping business.
Here are five tips for getting five-star landscaping reviews:
1. Train your team properly
This one is simple — if your team provides great service, you’re more likely to get positive reviews.
Make sure your employees know the importance of providing top-notch service, and that they have the tools and knowledge they need to do their jobs well.
It’s important to remember that training isn’t just necessary for new employees. Ongoing training can keep your seasoned employees sharp and up-to-date on new methods, products, and procedures.
While employee training requires time and money, it has a direct impact on the service you provide your customers, and on your landscaping company‘s reputation.
2. Make great customer service a priority
For better or worse, your landscaping reviews are a reflection of the customer service you provide. That’s why it’s important to make sure your customer service is top-notch, every single time.
Start by treating every customer with respect, regardless of whether they’re calling to ask a question or are already a paying customer.
It’s also important to be responsive to customer inquiries and concerns. If you don’t address them in a timely manner, they’ll likely take their business elsewhere — and leave you a negative review in the process.
Make sure your team is prepared to handle customer service inquiries by providing them with the training and resources they need. This could include anything from product knowledge to conflict resolution skills.
Last but not least, it’s important to set the right expectations with your customers. If you know a project will take longer than expected, let them know as soon as possible. That way, they won’t be left feeling disappointed or frustrated when the work isn’t completed as quickly as they thought it would be.
Proactively managing customer expectations is an important part of providing great customer service — and it can go a long way in preventing negative reviews.
3. Ask for landscaping reviews
It may seem obvious, but one of the best ways to get more positive reviews is to simply ask your customers to leave one.
This can be as simple as including a statement on your invoice that says, “We would appreciate a review on Google or Top Rated Local®.”
You can also include links to your review profiles on your website or email signature, or include printed instructions or a QR code on your invoice on how to leave a review.
One of the easiest ways to ask for landscaping reviews is by creating an automated email marketing campaign for gathering feedback.
After a landscaping service has been completed, send out an email asking for feedback. Ask them to indicate whether they have a negative or positive experience with simple thumbs up and down buttons.
Send customers who indicate that they had a positive experience to your Top Rated Local or Google profile, where they can write you a review. And, send customers who indicate that they had a negative experience to an internal feedback form where you can address the problem directly.
By using an automated email marketing campaign, you can make asking for landscaping reviews part of your regular business process, and ensure that every customer has the opportunity to leave feedback.
4. Make writing reviews easy
The easier you make it for your customers to write landscaping reviews for your business, the more likely they are to actually do it.
That’s why it’s important to make sure your review profiles are easily accessible, and that the process for writing a review is as simple and straightforward as possible.
After creating or claiming your Top Rated Local profile, be sure to include links to it on your website and email signature. You can also include printed instructions or a QR code on your invoice on how to leave a review.
You should also consider embedding the Top Rated Local reviews widget on your website. This widget displays your most recent reviews, and makes it easy for website visitors to click through to your profile to write a review.
Last but not least, don’t make your customers hunt around for your review profiles. Create and claim your local listings across all of the most popular local sites, directories and apps. This allows your customers to use whichever site is most comfortable for them.
5. Respond to your reviews
It’s not enough to simply collect landscaping reviews — you also need to interact with the feedback that you receive.
When customers take the time to write a review, whether it’s positive or negative, they’re giving you valuable insight into how your business is performing.
Make sure you’re monitoring your review profiles on a regular basis, and that you’re responding to both positive and negative reviews in a timely manner.
When customers write positive reviews, take the opportunity to thank them for their feedback. A simple “Thank you for your review!” goes a long way in showing your appreciation.
And, when customers write negative reviews, don’t ignore them or delete them. Instead, use them as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to customer service.
Address the issue directly in your response, and take the conversation offline if necessary. By responding to negative reviews in a professional and constructive manner, you can turn an unhappy customer into a lifelong fan.
By following these five tips, you can make sure that your landscaping business is getting the reviews it deserves — and using those reviews to attract new customers and grow your business. Landscaping reviews are an important part of any landscaper marketing strategy, and should be given the attention they deserve.
The Marketing 360® Reputation app gives landscapers everything they need to get more five-star reviews and build a reputation that makes them stand out. And, it’s just one of the many marketing tools available to landscapers with Marketing 360.
The Marketing 360 landscaper marketing platform has everything a landscaping company needs to build a convertible website, drive exclusive landscaping leads, master SEO and content marketing, harness the power of social media and so much more.
