The Duality of online Reviews

[Pinkape404]

I am generally new to the field of SEO and my way here was one of self education for my own business ventures which lead to helping a few friends, then a few more, and more or less is a glorified hobby.


One of my current projects is a pest control business which does a fair amount of Bed Bug work. Bed Bugs are extremely difficult to exterminate and take several treatments as well as detailed involvement on the client's part to be effective. The service involves a pretreatment in depth discussion with the client followed by an email leading up to the main visit. Services are rendered, payment receive, thank you email sent to summarize steps to take and a follow up visit is scheduled for 2-3 weeks after. Also worth mentioning is that there is a 3 month service warranty for the said treatment.

Is the exterminator successful - id say yes and genuinely knows his game. Courteous, timely, maintains good CRM, very personal with the clients (almost too close / friendly).

We've tried the email reminder "hey rate us" approach - sending a post card in the mail, to almost damn near having the technicians jam an iPad at the client asking for a grade - any grade good or bad. We are trying to see what works and what doesn't.

At request of business owner we conducted a survey of random clients by telephone - The result is as such - "well we don't know if the bed bugs will actually go away - so we will review you 3-5 months after treatment" or "yes they were great..aces ! But no review"

Not even bad reviews !!!!!

Here is my opinion - people are very embarrassed about the bed bugs and would rather forget about the said service, regardless how friendly or effective, then to go and make a yelp or google review.

Guys what are some tips / strategies to get My exterminator project some movement.








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[leadjoint]

I thought of incentives (10% off on your next visit if you offer a review), but then that would lead to too many positive reviews that Google will hate. This is less of an SEO problem and is mostly a marketing problem.

If the clients are being friendly, then being open about the need for reviews will help ("you know, the more reviews I get on Google, I will get clients to come across us on search") - maybe communicating this to customers will get at least some of them to help you out. Also, unhappy customers too will take up on the offer which will help maintain an organic balance between the good and bad reviews.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I thought of incentives (10% off on your next visit if you offer a review), but then that would lead to too many positive reviews that Google will hate.

Well not only would Google not like all the positive reviews, but offering incentives for reviews is a violation.

I don't think 10% off would be incentive anyway because no one thinks or wants to think they'll ever get bed bugs again.

Some industries it's just really hard to get reviews, like BK attorneys and bail bondsmen. Folks don't want their name tied to certain services in case friends would find out. Not sure what the answer is.

 

[painperdu]

Pest control, like certain other services, carry stigmas and people don't like to publicize it.

The good news may be that the reluctance for customers to leave reviews should be industry wide and this may equalize the lack of reviews for your client. I'm sure Google knows what the ratio of reviews should be for certain industries and they use this to catch businesses trying to game it.

 

[Pinkape404]

I'm completely against offering any incentives. Aside from being a google violation it is needy behavior and displays low value. Once those morals and ethics begin to slip it can be the downfall of the organization. Do your best, Don't beg for it, it will come.

Across the industry it varies - I am generally seeing review activity. But then again - Yelpers will review something every time the wind changes direction.

What about this guys - I was thinking getting one of those independent 3rd party product review services. Those you see employed by major online retailers?

As for going forward - will continue to employe a standard CRM through all phases. Perhaps rewording feedback sheet to touch on general scorecard / benchmark goals versus end result.


Thanks


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[Laustin1878]

I've found that many people take the path of least resistance, and that is usually no path at all. If people have to create accounts which have too many steps for their liking, they likely won't want to be bothered.

One approach you can try is to find review sites that allow you to use either Facebook or Gmail logins. Try to determine which platform the clients customers may be more inept to use and display those review sites so it requires them to sign into FB or Google and simply leave a review.

You can also try this tool from a very well trusted and respected member of the forum: The 3-Site Review Handout for Yelp, Google, and Other Reviews | LocalVisibilitySystem.com. This handout can go on the website, be handed to clients when the technician leaves and even emailed to the client at the 3-5 month mark.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Bankruptcy attorneys get reviews all the time. If people aren't afraid to mention they were in bankruptcy, I think bed bugs will be fine.

Also, when did a lot of positive reviews become bad for Local SEO?