“There’s something to be said for old-fashioned values — like that old-fashioned, hard-working grind. And I'm not against that. I'm actually very, very much promoting that,” she said. “But the best contractors do both. They figured out how to work hard, and make this magic strategy around the review generation work.”

Ask For It

When it comes to “flippin’ asking for it,” it’s not rocket science. Those employees who are going to be in front of customers need to be coached to ask customers if they were happy with the service provided.

Then when (and if) the customer says yes, the technician can explain that what would really help them and their company would be if they could leave a Google review mentioning their name and the service provided.

At Town & Country Services in Tonica, Illinois, technicians work hard at getting reviews. It happens both organically and through the technician asking for it. Technicians advise customers that at the end of the call there is going to be a survey, and how it’d help them and their company, especially in a world where business is so heavily driven by reviews, said Joe Goskusky, vice president of Town & Country.

”I think if you just literally asked for it, you really will see [reviews] grow. People want to give a shout-out to someone that helped them solve a problem. So take the opportunity when you’re the hero to get a little something,” Williams said.

However, it’s important to note that it’s OK to use caution when deciding to ask for reviews. For example, an older customer who doesn’t quite know their way around a mobile phone or computer might not be the best person to ask to leave a review.

Make It Easy

INCENTIVE: Ivan Vazquez poses with his prize for being the tech at Atomatic with the most five star reviews during the competition a few years back. (Courtesy of Atomatic Mechanical Services)

Making the review process easy for customers is, well, actually pretty easy. It’s all about providing the survey right then and there when the technician is still face-to-face with the customer, and not days later.

“If you can figure out how to automate that review link going out after each and every home visit, it’s really going to help the homeowner make that decision to leave the review,” Williams said.

When technicians at Atomatic Mechanical Services in Arlington Heights, Illinois, are getting good feedback during a job face-to-face, they ask the customer if they’d mind leaving a review. The technicians can send the survey link — on the spot — to the customer’s email and phone.

Atomatic also asks their technicians to sit with the willing customer while they leave a review, in order to help them through the simple process. They found that if the technician sits with the customer while they leave the review, the customer is much more likely to follow through.

Incentivize

The third way to bring more reviews to an HVACR company is incentivizing technicians to bring them in. This can be done through monetary incentives, incentive plans, quick and easy rewards — really however the contractor pleases.

Jordan Goldenstein, general manager of a residential group at Atomatic, used to incentivize technicians but eventually stopped because of their client base that is made up of a lot of repeat customers.

“We kept asking the same people over and over again for reviews … and now we need to stay relevant on the Googles of the earth, so we need to start [incentivizing] back up again,” Goldenstein said.

The past incentive program at Atomatic was a six-month competition using a tool within Podium. This made it easy for Goldenstein to track which of the technicians were putting the review requests out there, who received positive reviews, and so on. Goldenstein tallied up how many five-star reviews each technician got, and after the six months, whoever had the most positive reviews won a flat-screen TV.

“Looking back, it was probably too long of a timespan because halfway through I could tell some of the guys weren't nearly as motivated, because one guy just ran away with it and was kicking ass,” Goldenstein said.

Moving forward, Goldenstein plans on doing either a one-month or two-month competition, as he wants to make the competition more appealing and keep it top of mind for his employees. He also doesn’t want technicians to bring in reviews just because “management said so.”

“If you want to get new business out there online, Google reviews especially are something that a lot of clients are going to be looking at. So if we don't have any recent or relevant reviews, then it looks like maybe Atomatic was good when the reviews are given, but since there isn’t anything new, potential customers could think we dropped off. I don't want it to be something that hurts us,” Goldenstein said.

Google also likes when a customer uses their site to review another company, and Google trusts a company that has a lot of positive reviews. So good reviews in turn mean climbing a little closer the top of the Google ranks.

Goskusky said technicians at Town & Country are awarded a small spiff based on the reviews they get. They are paid hourly, with commission, but they get an added bonus for every five-star review. If they receive a handwritten note from the customer, which often happens, that also qualifies as a “five-star review.”

The reason for implementing incentives was because of their goal at Town & Country: to always create “five-star satisfaction.”

“We just want our technicians to be conscious about everything that they are doing, in all places,” Goskusky said.

Incentivizing technicians/employees is also somewhat of an accountability thing.

“It’s also just creating that that mindset that when you do do a good job, it doesn't go unnoticed. And that we want to reward those employees who do go above and beyond. Because we know everybody's different and we don't want to create a sales mentality, we want to create a customer-driven mentality,” Goskusky said.

A Win-Win

Williams said technicians can be incentivized in nonmonetary ways as well — like by getting their positive review and their image promoted on social media or the company website or newsletter. Even though technicians themselves might not cry tears of joy over the fact that their remarkable service was shouted-out on social media, their families might. Now there’s a great picture on social media of said tech in uniform (hint, hint: maybe standing beside a company van) that their whole family can repost and share.

“So not only did it get your company get a good review, it was really great for the technician and the customer, it helped with SEO, it boosted your social media. I mean, it's a win-win all the way around,” Williams said.

Another easy step Williams mentioned can happen with any documents a contractor is already sending out to customers: placing a QR code with verbiage to encourage customers to leave a review. It’s really about intentionality.

“You can continue to tell yourself that reviews don't matter. ‘Word of mouth has built me.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that what got you here will not get you there,” he said. “Reviews need to be a part of your strategy for a new client acquisition, new client retention, and also employee acquisition and employee retention. Reviews matter. Trust me — look at the most successful contractors, and you will see reviews are normally a part of their strategy. This ain’t your grandpa’s industry anymore.”