Why Customer Reviews Matter for Your Cleaning Business and How to Get Them in 2024
When my business partner suggested starting a cleaning business, I had no idea how tough it would be to get customers. We tried just about everything, and by the end of the year, we had only made $30,000 in revenue. By most accounts, that would be considered a failure, but we kept pushing forward until we found something that worked. The next year, we were up to $30,000 a month in recurring revenue!
While I often talk about how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) played a big role, we wouldn’t have realized its full impact without reviews. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the strategy we used to get reviews was probably the single most important factor in growing our business.
Studies show that 97% of people read reviews before making a purchase, and 68% of consumers are more likely to choose a local business with positive reviews. In this article, I’ll explain how reviews can impact your business and share the strategy we used that helped us scale to $60,000 a month in revenue within two years.
Why Are Customer Reviews Critical for Your Cleaning Business?
Reviews are important because they act as social proof for your business. Simply put, social proof is the idea that when we see others doing something, we’re more likely to think it’s the right thing to do and follow along. It’s like choosing a restaurant with lots of 5-star reviews—you assume the food must be good. Or when you read reviews before buying a product, you trust the opinions of others because their experiences make the product seem reliable. For your cleaning business, providing this proof helps customers feel confident in choosing you over the competition.
Beyond building trust and credibility, reviews are also crucial for SEO. SEO helps your website appear higher in search results. When people search online, they rarely look past the first page of results. SEO is about making sure your website has the right content and setup so search engines find it useful and show it to potential customers. Search engines, like Google and Bing, know how important reviews are, which is why the number of good reviews your business has is a key ranking factor.
In fact, even without doing much else for SEO, we were able to land a $17,000-a-month contract simply because Google favored our business due to the number of reviews we had.
Reviews also help influence customer decisions. When a decision-maker is comparing two proposals, they’re likely to go with the one that has more positive reviews. Studies show that businesses with more favorable reviews are much more likely to win contracts.
Now that I’ve stressed the importance of reviews, let’s go over how to get them for your business.
How Do You Get Reviews for a New Cleaning Business?
Alright, so you understand how important reviews are, but if you’re a new cleaning business, you might be struggling to bring in enough clients. Without new clients, getting reviews can feel impossible, right?
If you already have a base of customers, start there. Reach out to everyone you’ve cleaned for and ask them to leave a review. But don’t just ask—make sure to explain why it’s important. We found that customers are much more likely to leave a review when you explain how valuable it is for your business. Try something like this:
“Hey [Customer Name], could you take a moment to leave a review for [Your Business Name]? It may seem small, but it would make a huge impact on my business. Here’s the link.”
If you’re completely new and struggling to get clients, you may need to try a different approach. I recommend using your preferred method—whether it’s phone, email, or door knocking—to reach out to potential customers. Ask if they’d allow you to clean something for free, like their bathrooms, kitchens, rugs, or floors, in exchange for a review (if they think you earned it).
Pick something that would benefit them and that you can do effectively and efficiently. This will help you build your sales skills while also collecting reviews and social proof. You might even land paying customers this way! If they like your work, offer to provide a quote for your services. This strategy not only helps build up your reviews but also gets you working and growing your customer base.
How Do You Get Reviews for an Established Cleaning Business?
For established cleaning businesses with a larger customer base, automating the review process is essential. Once we started growing, we realized we no longer had the time to personally ask for reviews. Instead of letting reviews slip through the cracks, we figured out a way to automate the process.
Here’s our strategy: After a customer signs up, they’re added to an automated sequence that sends out text messages and emails asking for a review. The best part? The automation follows up with them two more times. If they leave a review, they’re removed from the sequence and receive a thank-you email. If someone leaves a bad review, our team gets an internal notification to follow up and try to fix the issue.
This setup may sound expensive, but it’s actually included in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, which costs less than $100 a month. You can run a multi-million dollar cleaning business automation system at startup prices. If you’re interested in setting this up, feel free to reach out to me.
Pro Tip: Run a campaign for your existing customers. Let them know you’re holding a raffle for a $50-$100 Amazon gift card for anyone who leaves a review. You can automate this too, and it’s a great way to gather reviews from all your previous customers.
What Are the Best Platforms for Cleaning Business Reviews?
In the cleaning industry, there are three key platforms you should target for reviews: your Google Business Profile (GBP), Yelp, and Facebook. It’s important to gather reviews on all of these platforms because you never know where your potential customers will be looking. Your GBP reviews show up on Google, but when customers search for you on Microsoft search engines like Bing, they’ll see your Facebook reviews. Yelp is also important because it can show up in search results on any platform.
Besides helping customers find you, reviews from all three platforms play a role in improving your SEO. Having a well-rounded review strategy across these platforms will greatly benefit your business.
Another perk is that it’s easier to get reviews when you let customers choose the platform they prefer. We make this simple by providing links to all our review platforms when we ask for feedback. If a customer has to create a new account, they’re less likely to leave a review, so offering multiple options makes it more convenient and increases your chances of getting reviews.
How Can You Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews?
Here’s a list of ways to encourage reviews for your cleaning business:
- Timing Your Review Request: Ask for a review soon after completing the service, while the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind. The sooner you ask, the higher the chance they’ll leave a positive review.
- Making the Review Process Easy: Provide direct links to review platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook in your request. The easier it is for customers to leave a review, the more likely they are to follow through.
- Incentivizing Reviews Through Raffles: Run a raffle where customers who leave a review are entered to win a prize, like a $50-$100 Amazon gift card. This encourages participation and makes the process fun for customers.
- Explaining the Importance of Reviews for Your Business: Let customers know how much their feedback helps your business grow. When they understand the impact, they’ll feel more motivated to help.
- Following Up on Review Requests: Sometimes customers forget or need a gentle reminder. Send a follow-up message to those who haven’t left a review yet to increase your chances of getting feedback.
- Automating Your Review Process: Use an automated system to request reviews through emails or texts, follow up with reminders, and thank customers when they submit a review. Automation saves time and keeps the process consistent.
How Should You Respond to Customer Reviews?
Responding to reviews is one of the best ways to show that your business is active and cares about customer feedback. Not only does it build trust with your customers, but it also sends a strong signal to search engines like Google, helping with your SEO. Engaging with reviews regularly tells both potential customers and search engines that your business is responsive and values customer interaction.
When it comes to negative reviews, the key is to handle them with professionalism and grace. Start by acknowledging the customer’s concerns, apologize if needed, and offer a solution or invite them to discuss the issue further offline. This shows that you’re committed to making things right and that customer satisfaction is a priority. The way you handle negative feedback can actually win you future business because potential clients can see how well you address problems.
It’s also important not to stress too much when you inevitably get a bad review. No business is perfect, and having zero bad reviews can actually seem suspicious. A star rating in the 4.2 to 4.8 range is ideal because it shows that your business is reliable but not trying to appear flawless. Customers never expect perfection, but they do expect honesty and responsiveness.
Negative reviews give you a chance to show how you handle customer concerns, which can often be more impactful than a perfect 5-star rating. Responding thoughtfully to all reviews—both good and bad—demonstrates transparency and helps build a stronger relationship with your customers.
Concluding Thoughts:
Reviews are a powerful tool for growing your cleaning business. They provide social proof, build trust with potential customers, and boost your SEO, helping your business stand out online. By implementing strategies like timing your review requests, making the process easy, following up, and even automating your system, you can start gathering valuable feedback from your clients. Incentives, such as raffles, can give your efforts an extra boost as well.
But remember, consistent quality service is the foundation for positive reviews. No amount of clever review strategies will work if your service isn’t up to par. Focus on delivering excellent results, and the reviews will follow. Start applying these review-gathering techniques today, and watch your cleaning business thrive!
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