Remodelers, roofers and other contractors have varying opinions on reviews. Some of them say that they do not care about reviews, mentioning that their work speaks for itself. Others spend sleepless nights worrying about a 1 star review when everyone else has given them good reviews. Hate or like them, you need a strategy for getting reviews and a response plan. We invited three panelists with experience in social media, reviews and reputation to give our readers tips on why people give reviews, how do we handle responses, and best practices.

1. July 12th, 2016
Good Reviews &
How to Get ‘Em

2. Proprietary + Confidential 7/12/16
Surefire Social is the #1 Local Marketing Cloud
Local Businesses
“I need better/easier
coordination of activities
across channels and data to
prove ROI”
Think of Surefire Social when…
● You need more customers through hyper-
local digital channels
● You have no website, you hate your
website, or you’d like to improve your
website
● You need your business to be in all the
places your customers are looking for you
● You need to be able to control, act, and
analyze your marketing all in one place

3. Proprietary + Confidential 7/12/16

4. TODAY’S SPEAKERS
Proprietary + Confidential 7/12/16
Tara Lewis
Regional Marketing Director | Yelp
Topic: Best Practices on Yelp
Chelsea Welsh
National Marketing Manager | Gutter Helmet
Topic: How the Home Services Industry is
Managing Reviews & Reputation
Kami Huyse
CEO | Zoetica
Topic: Reputation Trends & Responding to
Reviews

5. Kami Huyse
CEO | Zoetica
The Latest Trends & Responding to Reviews

6. • 92% of consumers now read online reviews (vs.
88% in 2014)
• 40% of consumers form an opinion by reading
just 1-3 reviews (vs. 29% in 2014)
• Star rating is #1 factor used by consumers to
judge a business
• 68% say positive reviews make them trust a
local business more (vs. 72% in 2014)
• WOM (34%) and Facebook (17%) remain the top
ways that people recommend businesses to
their peers
Importance of
Ratings

7. Mobile Trends
• 38% have searched at least once per month for a
local business
• 58% have searched for a restaurant on a mobile
device
• 50% prefer a mobile internet browser to maps /
apps
• 52% say a physical address is the most
important info
• 38% are put off if there's no map / address
displayed
• 38% are impressed when a local business has a
mobile site
• 61% are more likely to contact a local business
with a mobile site

8. Influence of Reviews on Purchase

10. 31% of
consumers
will trust
reviews as
long as they
believe they
are authentic.

13. Types of “Fake” Reviews
•Businesses write them
•Negative reviews of rivals
•Cherry-picking positive
reviews
•Unpublished (or buried)
negative reviews
•Paid Reviews are not
necessarily fake, but…

17. How to Respond to
Reviews
•Claim Your Listing
•Anticipate Common Issues
•Respond, Don’t React
•Embrace the Negative and
Fix Problems
•Empower Your Happy
Customers
•Try Saying Thanks

18. Kami Huyse
CEO and Founder
713.568.5750
kami@zoeticamedia.com
www.zoeticamedia.com
Linkedin.com/in/kamihuyse
@kamichat

19. Tara Lewis
Regional Marketing Director | Yelp
Best Practices on Yelp

20. Why Yelp Exists:

21. Start Here: www.biz.yelp.com

22. Free Tools, User Views & Customer Leads

23. Optimize Your Listing
Add Photos
Add Basic Business
Information
Describe Specialties
&
Share Your Story
Add your
website &
receive
messages
from potential
customers
Create Gift
Certificate
Or
Deal

24. Respond to Yelpers on the go? There’s an app for that.
biz.yelp.com/support/mobile

25. Connect with Customers & Join the Conversation
Send Private Message
Post Public
Comment

26. Tip #1: Craft Responses You Can Be Proud Of…

27. Tip #2: Respond Promptly
1 Star Review
on 8/5/12
Review Update:
3 Stars
Public Comment
from
Business Owner

28. What Are Recommended Reviews?

29. What Are Recommended Reviews?

30. Provide Great Service
Email Signatures and Business Cards
Create a Check-In Offer & Yelp Deal
In-Office & Newsletter Marketing
Don’t ask for reviews, but…

31. Tara Lewis
Regional Marketing Director | Yelp
Email: taral@yelp.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-lewis-328b432
Twitter: @TheTaraLewis

32. Chelsea WelshMBA
National Marketing Manager
Gutter Helmet
America’s Number #1 Choice in Gutter Protection
How is the Home Services Industry Managing
Reviews & Reputation?

33. Why Respond to Reviews
Turn a negative review into a
positive experience!
1. Show clients you care
2. Demonstrate your passion for
customer service
3. Increase customer retention
4. Increase new customer
acquisition
Reputation

34. 4 Quick Tips on Managing Reviews
1. Pay attention to the reviews you already have.
It may sound obvious, but you can't generate good reviews (at least not legally)
unless you have happy customers to write them. No amount of asking for user
reviews or soliciting feedback will help compensate for a bad first impression.
2. Let people know where to review you
Not good reviews -- just reviews, and not until the end of the transaction. You
don't want to be pushy, but after you've delivered a service or product.
3. Respond quickly to bad reviews.
Resist the urge to defend your company, product, or employee, an approach
that almost always makes things worse. Drive the conversation offline.
4. Make reviews as easy as possible.
Our product has a 'give feedback' button or an area that has links that users
encounter at the end of the process, to leave a review.

35. Home Services Industry + Reviews
How is the Home Services industry managing reviews?
1. Timely - it’s imperative to respond to negative reviews
immediately.
2. Ask - Do not be afraid to ask for the review, at the right time.
Written review or video reviews.
3. Embrace Raving fans - For those customers that have had an
amazing experience with your company, once they post the
review, make sure that you send a thank you!
Here at Gutter Helmet®, we make the review process a part of the
warranty registration process. As the customer registers for their
warranty, we ask them several homeowner satisfaction questions,
which includes a section for a review.

36. Increasing & Managing Reviews
Should a business owner lose sleep over a 1 star review?
• Yes, depending on what that one star review entails. It is
very important to deal with customer issues
immediately. Especially with the increased use of
mobile and online reviews. Address the issues right
away, drive the conversation offline….
• Plan and implement a review strategy
• Make it a part of your routine
• Look for new tools like Tout for video testimonials

37. Elements of a response
1. Always Say Thank You
2. Mention any positive points
from the review
3. Apologize if things went
wrong
4. Suggest contacting you by
phone or email
5. Offer to work with them

38. Chelsea WelshMBA
Email: cwelsh@semetals.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-welsh-mba-850484b
Twitter: @ChelseaView
National Marketing Manager
Gutter Helmet
America’s Number #1 Choice in Gutter Protection

39. There’s an easy way to get reviews
➔ GeoJuice - Mobile App
➔ Desktop
➔ Hyper-local Content that
Google LOVES
➔ More Check-Ins, More
Indexing, Improved Ranking,
Increased Web Visibility, More
Leads
➔ Recency, Frequency, Proximity

40. Team can send customer survey

41. Easy to add reviews to your website

42. 2016
Reviews are part of your digital footprint
Proprietary + Confidential
www.yourdomain.com

43. Proprietary + Confidential 7/12/16
Talk to Lauren!
Recently a customer of ours called in, excited to share
that they had closed a $7K deal by showing the
homeowner recent reviews via the GeoJuice page on
their website.
Imagine the possibilities! I’d love to chat more about
how your team can use this tool - Let’s talk. I can
provide you with an assessment of your digital
marketing.
Lauren Morse
LaurenM@surefiresocial.com

44. /SurefireSocial @surefiresocial Surefiresocial.com
THANK YOU!