The HVAC industry has historically thrived through word of mouth. This has been the lifeblood of the industry for many years. Modern times bring changes, and word of mouth advertising is transferring online to create a digital alternative to traditional recommendations. A good online presence can significantly affect your business growth and enhance new customer attraction. This makes online review management a vital component of your HVAC business.

What is the importance of online reviews?

More than half of all end users utilize different search engines to research heating and air conditioning when they need to find one. What’s more, the vast majority of those customers highly value online reviews as a means of determining the professionalism of a company before hiring them on to do the work. 

However, it doesn’t stop there. Here are some more interesting statistics that illustrate just how important online reviews have become for customers: 

• The majority of potential customers say that it's necessary to have a rating of 4.5 or more for them to hire an HVAC company. 

• Most potential clients trust online reviews as much as traditional word-of-mouth recommendations. 

• Major part of your clients will leave an online review if you politely ask them. 

How do online reviews impact an HVAC business?

Online reviews can mean the difference between a customer choosing your company and looking elsewhere. Most potential clients will see online reviews as the first information they have of your business, making them crucial to your success. Here are some ways online reviews impact your business both negatively and positively:

Negative impacts

Poor online reviews can: 

• Lower your search engine rankings

• Put your company at risk of developing a bad reputation

• Push potential customers away

• Stop you from growing your heating and air conditioning business

• Cause significant revenue loss

Positive impacts

Good online reviews will: 

• Improve the reputation of your business

• Boost your search engine ranking

• Drive service purchases through better social proof

• Increase your online visibility

• Improve your trustworthiness

• Expand the conversation about your company

• Positively impact your revenue

How do I manage online reviews?

Now that you’re familiar with the reasons behind the rising importance of online reviews and familiar with how they can affect your business, it’s time to focus on implementing proper management strategies. The following four tips will enhance your review management and give you the knowledge on how to respond to different types of reviews you receive. 

Embrace your reviews

First of all, it’s important to embrace all your reviews and refrain yourself from deleting any potential negative reviews. Also, many times it’s impossible to delete reviews, so acknowledging even the negative ones is a must. 

Such actions could make your company seem inauthentic and cause customers to look into your competition. Negative reviews inevitably occur, and it’s best to address them and minimize their negative effect by responding promptly to each one you get, good or bad. 

Asking for reviews

In order to increase the number of reviews of your company and boost your credibility and trustworthiness, you need to ask your customers to leave an online review. There are three helpful tips on how to do so: 

• Make sure to ask your customers to post a review when they seem the happiest with your service. 

• Ask your customers to leave an online review as soon as your technicians finalize the service. This way, they’re more likely to write specific information and leave a more detailed review.

• Instruct your technicians to always ask your clients for feedback. This way, the process is less intimidating for your customers and the technicians get a chance to immediately address any negative feedback before your client posts the review.

Responding to positive reviews

Receiving positive reviews is great motivation to carry on with the good work. What’s more, they leave a great impression of your company, driving more customers to seek out your service. However, that doesn’t mean you should leave positive reviews as they are. You should respond following this advice: 

• Thank your customer for leaving a positive review.

• Mention the precise service you rendered in your response to make it more precise. 

• Sign off your review by inviting your customer to share their great experience with others. 

• Share your review on your social media accounts and your website. 

Responding to negative reviews

Not all reviews are going to be positive. As we’ve mentioned, you should not delete unfavorable reviews but rather address them accordingly. If your company receives a negative review, this is how you should react:

• Reach out to any team members that may have more information about the review, so they have the most accurate account of what happened before responding to the review.

• Acknowledge the issue and thank the customer for bringing it up.

• Apologize to your client and show that you truly care about providing a better service.

• If necessary, provide additional information that could help clear up the misunderstanding.

• Offer to resolve the problem in person or over the phone. 

Partner with the Gustave A. Larson Company & start getting good reviews!

It's very important to pay close attention to your online customer reviews and to learn how to successfully manage them. Also, make sure to pay attention to other important aspects of your operations. First, keep track of important business metrics that affect your company's growth. Then, adopt strategies for attracting new HVAC technicians to your team. Finally, learn how to successfully organize your inventory and manage shortages. 

But before all that – find a reliable wholesale distributor to work with such as the Larson Company. We are the leaders in the Midwest, the Plains, and the Mountain States and we’re here to help you stock up your inventory and secure positive online reviews. What’s more, we offer access to advanced training opportunities and provide a selection of cutting-edge software solutions for further boosting your operations. Give us a call today!