How to Generate More Online Reviews for Pest Control

Let’s say you needed a new service to cut your lawn, what’s your first step? Unless your cousin owns a lawn care business, you’re likely headed to Google to search for local options. However, even once you find a company you’re interested in, you won’t just buy blind. You read the reviews, right?  

Online reviews have become a key step in the modern buying process. By 2021, 77% of consumers report “always” or “regularly” reading reviews when evaluating a local business. That number is up from just 60% in 2020. Positive online reviews reassure homeowners that a business is trusted and reliable.  

Moreover, online reviews elevate a company’s visibility in the marketplace. The more reviews you have, the more likely you’ll rank highly in Google searches. This translates to more customers, because today, 50% of service shoppers who use mobile search call the business directly from the search results.  

So, it’s critical your pest control business consistently generates positive reviews. In this article, we’ll discuss four proactive steps you can take to get more online reviews for your pest control business.   

 Provide Exceptional Service To Earn Rave Online Reviews 

Okay, okay. We know this one is a little obvious, but its importance can’t be overstated. The first step to generating online reviews —at least positive reviews— is delivering exceptional service. Here’s the good news, customers are actually MORE likely to leave a review after a positive interaction. That’s right, 67% of customers report they would consider leaving a review after a positive experience compared to just 40% who would after a negative experience.  

So, how to deliver exceptional service? It’s two-fold. First, get the job done right. You’ve got that part covered with your team of trained technicians who have the equipment and the know-how to tackle any project. The second part is trickier. You must create an excellent customer experience. A pest control CRM software, like Briostack, can help you do just that.  

CRM software gives you the tools to streamline the customer experience at every stage. From keeping homeowners in the loop through automated text reminders of appointments to simplify billing with digital payment processing via the technician’s mobile device or 24/7 through an online portal.  

Have Your Pest Control Technicians Ask For Online Reviews 

Are you underutilizing your pest control technicians? In many ways, your techs are the face of your business. They’re in the field, speaking directly with customers. You can harness their direct line to homeowners to generate online reviews by making it a standard part of their workflow.  

When a technician finishes a job, have them ask homeowners to write a review of their work. More than likely, they already have standard talking points they need to cover with customers. It’s easy to add in language around asking for reviews. Be clear in the ask of the customer. Let them know your preferred review platform. There are a lot of options to choose from between Yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook, and so many others. Finally, make sure technicians know when to avoid asking for reviews. If a homeowner is clearly dissatisfied with the service delivered, better to avoid the conversation altogether.  

Automate Review Request Messages To Customers 

The easiest way to get more online reviews? Make it easy for customers. You can do this by sending them follow-up messages with a link to write a review. This removes 90% of the extra steps in the process and gives customers a simple, quick way to knock out a review.  

You can also make it easy on yourself by automating review request messages with a CRM like Briostack, which is integrated with a customer experience platform like Swell. With the integration, Briostack users can trigger automatic messaging to their customers based on technician and branch. This strategic partnership allows pest control professionals to set up automated text messages, reminding clients of scheduled appointments, and providing a photo of the scheduled technician. After the appointment, pest control professionals can activate Swell’s feature to send a text message, asking the client to leave a Google review or submit a private NPS survey. Texts are entirely customizable and can be configured to send at optimal times for the highest possible open rate. 

As a result of this integration with Swell, Briostack users have a centralized inbox for all their client communications and features a chat function, which allows teams of salespeople or technicians to coordinate via group or individual chat in one easily accessible location. 

Launch A Review Campaign 

You can collect a lot of online reviews quickly by launching dedicated email campaigns that directly ask customers for reviews. For best results, list the sender of the review request email as a specific person on your team, like a customer success manager. Further, use your business management software data to only send the campaign to homeowners actively engaged with your services. More importantly, make sure they haven’t recently submitted complaints to avoid inadvertently generating negative reviews.  

Find New Webpages To Include Online Review Requests 

Increase your odds of netting new online reviews by including review request links on highly trafficked pages. You could include review requests on your website, payment portals, social media pages, and even the receipts of your invoices. The more opportunities you create, the better your chances of catching a satisfied customer when they’re ready to leave you a 5-star rating.  

Next Steps 

Consistently receiving positive customer reviews online is critical to reaching new homeowners and growing your pest control business. Luckily, it’s within your power to amplify the number of reviews your business receives. It takes delivering exceptional service (which you always do), leveraging your techs’ direct communication with customers, using a CRM to automate review request emails, and incentivizing homeowners to review your business.  

Want a partner in motivating more customer reviews? Schedule your demo of Briostack to see our email functionality —and so much more— for yourself!  

About Swell  

Swell is a customer experience platform that empowers local businesses to modernize their customer journey and grow their business. Swell puts customer interaction front and center and uses messaging tools to automate every touchpoint, tap into powerful consumer insights, and generate reviews that bring in new business. Learn how Swell is shaping the future of customer experience for local businesses.