It took me years to build the brand and reputation of my Atlanta-based decking company, Peachtree Decks & Porches, which made a big difference when I decided to sell it a couple of years ago. That was before the explosive growth of social media, which has made it faster and easier to create a business reputation, but trickier to maintain and protect it. Because a good reputation gives your company a better chance to be successful while a bad one could spell the beginning of the end of your company, “Brand Reputation Management” is a concept that needs to be taken seriously.

Like it or not, a high percentage of customers do their due diligence online. They’re not only searching for contractors in their area, but also trying to determine which ones are reputable and trustworthy and to what degree their past customers are happy or unhappy. In large part, this determination is made by reading past customer reviews.

References vs. Reviews
When I first launched my deck-building business in 2007, potential customers would typically ask for references after our initial sales call. Now, thanks to online reviews and posted surveys, they can get the equivalent information before we ever meet with them. Compared with the past, when most contractors could always provide a few good references, now there is less control over what customers can read about your company.

It’s estimated that 85% to 90% of consumers read and are influenced by online reviews, while only a small percentage actually post them. Even so, I’ve met plenty of contractors who not only don’t have any reviews, but also consider themselves too busy to even worry about it. But here’s the problem: At some point, you or your company will cross paths with an unreasonable customer who no one can make happy, and they’re going to ding you with a bad review. So even if 99% of your past customers are satisfied with your work, if your only review is a negative one and you have no “Stars” lit up, you’re going to look toxic as a contractor. How many potential customers do you think will contact you at that point?

Timing Is Important
When I ran my former company, my simple approach for protecting my business reputation started with me being committed to actually leaving everyone satisfied. And once the project was completed, we mailed our company’s warranty to our client, along with a simple in-house survey, a review request form, and a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope. Today, of course, this could be done as one email document with all three forms included in one PDF.

Our survey form included five or six brief statements, and asked the customer to rate us on a 1-5 scale. At the bottom of the survey, we included a section for comments; we often took these comments and transferred them to the “Customer Reviews” section of our website. A quicker option now might be to ask a customer to send you a review via a text message, which could then be transcribed onto your website. This won’t help with online reviews, but it’s convenient and will still have a positive impact on your website.

On our review request form, we explained why the review was important to us and included a link with directions to the site. In our market, the most popular review site is Kudzu.com, but there are other sites – including Angie’s List – that might be more applicable in your market. It’s not necessary to ask for multiple site reviews, but it’s a good idea to vary your requests to build up a foundation in each one.

In addition to this first packet, I also made it a point to follow up with a personal email thanking them for the opportunity to work with them. In my email, I included Before/After photos of their project to remind them of the changes to their home we created and – again – to hopefully inspire them to post a review.

It’s at this point, when the project is just completed, that our clients are likely to be as happy as they’re ever going to be (outside the fact that this is also when they have to write us the last check for our services, of course). Everything’s new, they haven’t even had to clean it yet, and all the lights still work. So now is the perfect time to press for the review, before the happiness factor fades.

Protect Yourself
Building a foundation of good reviews creates a kind of insurance policy for the day when an unreasonable customer posts a bad one. Good reviews don’t make the bad one go away, but it won’t have the same impact as it would if it were the ONLY review. Your 5-star rating may drop to 4.5 or 4.75, but it won’t sink your ship.

Most potential prospects understand that no one’s perfect, and when they see 20 good reviews and just one bad one, you’ll get the benefit of the doubt. Even better, follow up and address the bad review in an unemotional and professional manner, which will likely negate the bad review altogether. You may be upset with what you believe to be an unfair post, but it’s not important that the negative reviewer know what you really think of them; the important thing is that future prospects see that an issue has at least been addressed. Most can read between the lines.

Look at it this way: It’s either 20-1 in your favor, or 1-0 against you.

Reviews Influence How Much Clients Will Spend
Another interesting statistic (I've learned much of this information through my participation in Remodelers Advantage) is that nearly one third of consumers will spend 31% more on a contractor with solid positive reviews. Now, I can’t prove this, but it makes sense when I look back on my years as a contractor. In my market, I was almost always the highest-priced option, but I think this helped rather than hurt my business, because my company was perceived to be the lowest-risk option.

A consumer is making a substantial investment when choosing a deck builder or remodeler, and who they select to do the work reflects on their appetite for risk. We know they’ve heard contractor horror stories, and the truth is that there have always been sub-par contractors out there, creating uncertainty about what a consumer's experience will be and how a job will be delivered. So, faced with spending a substantial amount of money anyway, many risk-averse customers will decide to spend a little more on an established contractor with a history of satisfied customers and strong reviews.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for the Review
I know from experience that it can be challenging to get even the most satisfied customers to go through the hassle of going online, creating an ID and password, and posting a review. And unfortunately, unhappy people just seem to be more motivated to do this than satisfied ones. So, how do you convince those happy customers to let others know how awesome you are?

Again, a lot comes down to your relationship and communication with your customer, which should occur throughout the project, not just at the start or when you want a progress payment. Make sure they understand that you are committed to making them happy, and that you are going to ask them to take the time to help you by doing a review. Acknowledge that it may take 10 to 15 minutes to set up an ID and password, but leverage off your established relationship and ask a second and third time if that’s what it takes.

It Impacts Google Rankings
From what I’ve read, customer reviews impact how Google ranks you in SEO searches. Google algorithms are ever changing, but it seems that surveys are part of the current SEO recipe and can impact rankings by as much as 10%. Maybe this is due to the “fresh content” factor, but whatever the reason, it’s good motivation for securing those reviews from your clients.

Or, think about it this way: If you’re out of town and Googling for a restaurant “near me” and some have reviews with four or five stars and good comments and others have no stars and negative comments, where are you going to eat dinner? If survey results for something as inexpensive as a meal are a factor in your decision, it certainly makes sense that survey results are going to be a factor in a $20,000+ deck or remodeling investment.