There is so much more to a review than whether or not it was positive or negative. Reviews might seem black or white, particularly if you are the one receiving them, but even among good reviews some are better than others. And let’s face it; nothing is as certain to close a sale like the good testimonial of a satisfied customer.
Reviews, according to Gitomer, should clearly demonstrate the value or “specific enhancement” that was provided in the service leading to the good word posted.
Beyond demonstrating value, explains Gitomer, a good testimonial will also include four additional and crucial elements: it will “show action”; dispel concern or risk; “reinforce a claim”; and end in satisfaction.
She opens with “Approachable and no nonsense saleswomen – good pricing, with extra information given – no pulling teeth! Installation was done on schedule, in a day, and with full clean up”, which to Laura is clearly a value.
In selecting a contractor, many homeowners aren’t just concerned about the immediate needs, but how problems are handled related to the work that might arise at a later date. Laura dispels such concerns attesting “A month later I had some concerns and they returned in a very timely manner to assist with questions I had.”
Laura reinforces the claims made by Harding Heating & Air Conditioning in writing, “Couldn’t have asked for better service! I’m so glad I had 4 estimates, and even happier they made the biggest impression and lived up to it.”
Throughout all of her review, Laura is demonstrating action and also a high level of satisfaction for the services rendered. In all, it is a great review.
So the next time you are thinking to praise someone for their good work, or solicit a customer with a pre-crafted review, consider Gitomer’s elements of a great testimonial.
We receive a lot of reviews about decks and patios this time of year. Some reviewers describe great jobs and send in photos to match. Photos so good we wish weren’t sitting in an office looking at them.
So instead of stewing in our chairs about the perils of being indoors this time of year, we thought we’d take the opportunity to share some of the great outdoor spaces created by contractors and homeowners on our site.
This beautiful space was built off of Lillian in T.O.’s home by Master Deck and Contracting. Lillian says she had to wait awhile for Master Deck to have availability, but that it was totally worth the wait considering the fantastic results given her permit restrictions. They even built a privacy wall to make this a real sanctuary… and so she doesn’t have to look at her neighbors (heh heh). This looks like great spot for relaxing Lillian, hope you’ve had some time to really enjoy it.
Kevin in Toronto wrote in to sing the praises of his deck contractor Falco Landscape Design. We love a before and after shot and this one is no exception. They’ve really created a lot of privacy where there wasn’t much before and Kevin says the backyard now gets use everyday.
I love this space. I have a pear tree (whose fruit is inedible) and a picnic table in my backyard, Halo in Laurelwood has a backyard that looks better than most provincial parks! This space was created by Roger at Pond’s & Patio’s. Roger installed a waterfall feature and also has been a great source of information for Halo’s koi ponds.
Dimo in Pickering had this inviting space added to the back of his house with a little help from The Franmac Group. Frank from Franmac went above and beyond, building a bench and gate for this project which Dimo was very pleased with. Loving this nighttime shot; hope you’ve enjoyed some great summer evenings with friends this summer Dimo!
There’s still time to update your deck or patio this season so be sure to check out our Patios & Decks category for your area. Lots of people build their own decks, or may try to, but professional jobs can really make a big difference to your outdoor living space. Check out more tips for finding the best decking company for your backyard here in Allen Britnell’s article in the Subury Star.
If you’ve hired someone already and have not yet written a review for them please do! And please add photos, it keeps us inspired (and a little jealous)!
We saw this great video from our friends at Drainworks.
In the video Terry Cord, the owner says that his company is the most reviewed company in North America. It’s quite a claim, but with 925 reviews as of this morning, it’s a lot of reviews. We did find a Yelp listing for a Santa Monica burger joint called Father’s Office, with 1084 reviews, but they probably serve a lot more burgers than Drainworks does plumbing jobs. Are there any other plumbers or even home services companies with more reviews? We don’t think so, but let us know!
We got another letter from a company listed on our site. He suggests that he doesn’t want to be on our site because a competitor, who he claims is worse than him, is on the site.
Here’s a paraphrase of his note:
You are using my Company and name to help {company X} sell his bogus service. I see you now have over 50 companies in my category. You should know there are less than 10 good ones in all of BC.
Your website implies it has vetted the listed companies. Client referrals implies the service provider has happy customers, it’s easy to intimidate clients to write a testimonial, most have no yardstick to compare services so it’s easy to say “great guy, great service”.
Let me start by saying it seems, from our perspective reading his reviews, that this company is doing a good job at what they do, but we are far from experts in his field. Our job, as HomeStars, is to provide as comprehensive a list of companies as possible, so homeowners can find and rate the good and the bad. So it’s our responsibility to list all companies, and our author, we think, should be honoured to be listed with his less than perfect competitors.
While many of us at HomeStars have done renovations on their own homes, we are by no means experts; and I’ve looked over our site to try and find any implication that we’ve “vetted” anyone on the site. Apart from having read reviews from many, many homeowners, I still probably couldn’t tell a good contractor from a bad one, and that’s not our job. It’s not what we’re good at, and we’ll let experts at that do their job.
Our job is to provide a platform to let homeowners tell their stories. We think we do a pretty good job at that.
Good companies will get bad reviews, and bad companies will get good reviews. In the end, the bad companies will be ‘vettted’ by the users. If you have a bad experience with a company – or find someone who does – make sure that review gets up on the site, such that next time someone is looking for that company they will know about someone’s past experience.
We had a good question come in a few days ago, and I thought one that we’d like to answer for everyone, rather than just respond directly to the company.
I will paraphrase the question as follows:
I can’t understand why “Company Name” got the Best of 2009 award in “Category X”?
If you read their reviews, most of them are about work performed in a different category?
To top if off, the only review about their winning category isn’t actually good.
To me there is no common sense in this…
I think that’s a great question, and a bit of a tough one to answer. I’ll walk you through how we determine our awards, which is almost completely mathematical. As with great mathematical theories, the reality doesn’t always fare perfectly with the math.
The “Best of” awards are determined by looking only at reviews for that particular year. While prior years’ reviews are used in the overall average and ranking, only the reviews for that year are used for the awards calculation. How we determine the ranking on the site is how we determine the winner. We have an algorithm which combines both the number of reviews, and the ratings themselves into a single number. That is number we are using to determine winners.
There are, however, two complexities to the situation, geography and categories.
Geography, so far in the growth of the site, has been a relatively simple. We use the original address and service area of the company to determine which geography the company wins in. A company like Tender Touch Moving, will compete with moving companies in Toronto, as it’s their home base, even though they are listed in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Tender Touch, using our current rules, isn’t eligible to win in their other service area cities.
Categories, which is the concern of this user, is more complex. Our premium listing allows companies to list themselves in multiple categories for more visibility and because they often do many things. It is one of the privileges of paying. (and, yes, we need to makes some money to keep making the site better). When we’re determining winners, we look at all each category individually one-by-one, and sort everyone listed in that category by the # in the algorithm. The leading company in that category is then chosen the winner. One of the rules we put in place was that a company can only win in a single category. So a winner who is listed in multiple categories, once they have won in that category, becomes ineligible for further categories. So as we go down categories we determine winners in each based on this method. It’s as best we can make it to be determined by pure numbers.
In this case, the company in question was listed in multiple categories, and they do not have a lot of reviews in the category they won in. That’s where good theory and reality collide. They won on the math, as we do not ‘choose’ winners. Winners are chosen by our readers, based on their experiences with the companies. The particular company in question, although they may not to a lot of the jobs in the category they won in, they do want to be listed in that category, thus they are eligible.
In order to keep the Best of awards as customer chosen as possible, we need to use the math, rather than start reading each review and deciding which categories it falls in. Even in that case, many reviews fall in multiple categories. We have a lot of reviews to look at – in the many 10s of thousands each year, so it would be next to impossible (with our resources) to analyze each one. Even if we did, many reviews fall in multiple categories. Many reviews talk about a range of projects a particular contractor did, in many categories.
Yes, we know it’s not perfect! Probably not even close to perfect – and to a large extent, our questioner is right on – it lacks a bit of common sense. But it’s the closest we can come right now.
Should we do it differently next year? Tell us how in the comments below.
As Content Manager here at HomeStars I read well over a thousand reviews a week. I can get a real sense of satisfaction from some reviewers, others have an interesting story to tell or a funny way of telling it and these are the types of reviews that will really make my day. I’ve decided to share some of the reviews which have managed to catch my eye throughout the week and I will continue to do so every Friday.
“I have two dogs, and two cats, both hardwood and carpet in the house. I was getting fed up with vacuuming and then moments later finding hair on the hardwood….”
Cute title, great description of the benefits. Pet hair on hardwood? Nightmare? Yeah, it would be, I feel you JJ. Glad to hear that your Dyson has it all under control now.
Helen in Willowdale also caught my eye with her review of Rent-A-Son. I’m guessing it caught my attention because it sounds like my own mother wrote it:
“After moving into our new house, my husband & sons wondered WHY I had to hire Rent-A -Son,when they could have done all the work….yes they could have..but over several months. In several hours the two “rented” sons moved boxes,rearranged furniture, moved a huge carpet from one room to another, cleaned our garage, unpacked boxes of books and generally made me feel that the huge weight of moving was at least. partially lifted. They were efficient, hardworking and very pleasant. I will hire them again”
Sure she has sons, but why not rent one who will do the job in a fraction of the time? Do these guys do dishes too?
“Within an hour of calling, a plumber showed up and clearly explained my problem (a toothbrush lodged in the trap of my toilet!). George worked quickly, efficiently, and respectfully. He sorted us out and I will call them again without hesitation – but hopefully not for the same reason! Thanks!”
“The Raccoons in our neighbourhood are like ninjas. No matter how securely you lock up your bins, they will come and bring chaos to your order. Enter Bin Solutions. Their solid sheds are both stylish and secure. They came by, assembled, and were gone in less than 45 minutes. Absolutely fantastic. It looks great in my yard and fits very well in the space that we have. Thanks folks!”
You know where to find the right company for the job. And don’t keep the experience pent up inside! Share it with your neighbors! Write a review! You just might end up being featured on my Reviews of the Week!
Hello to the Homestars .com community! I’ve been a part of the Homestars team since January of this year and it’s high time I finally introduce myself as the Content Manager here at Homestars. Content Manager? What the heck does that mean? Well please allow me to explain.
As the Content Manager I am responsible for a lot of things, from blog and forum posts to twitter and facebook activity. I also write newsletters! But most importantly of all I read ALL of the reviews. I work very hard to ensure that the information on our site is useful for homeowners and that reviews are from authentic customers of the company for which they are written. This process is not always 100% but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve for validating reviews.
In a recent planning session here at homestars, we identified trust as one of the key factors that will impact the success of our website. We are now developing new features for the site that will allow for more transparency around the review process and investigations we do on a daily basis. We are committed to making this site a trusted source for homeowners and home contractors. If you ever have any questions regarding any of the things I have mentioned here, please email me at colleen@homestars.com. (or here @colleenhomestar)
In other news: FUN FACTS: Did you know that the saying ‘in a heartbeat’ has been used in over eighty-five reviews on Homestars .com? I did. The word ‘disaster’ also appears in over 220 reviews, while the phrase “would hire them again” shows up in over 350 reviews. I’ve got a million of them!
I will be blogging here more frequently from now on so check back to see what’s up. If you have anything you would like to see more of or any feedback for me please comment here or send me an email to address above.
It’s too nice outside – we need some rain! I thought I was in Vancouver . We are having a great show this weekend and homeowners are showing up to chat to contractors and home improvement services despite the gorgeous weather outside.
Shannon Wong and I have walked around to visit the various exhibitors to learn about their business. Back this show is Bruce Hunter and his daughter Lara Hunter from Hunter Landscape Design. I met them at the Langley show a few weeks ago. They are a talented father and daughter team that offer landscape design services as well as a full nursery called Selections Nursery & Design Centre located on 176th Street in Surrey.
Lara Hunter from Hunter Landscape Design
Rita Hunter from Selections Nursery & Design Centre
Greg Hazelwood from Energy Miser Solutions also has participated in several shows in the lower mainland. Energy Miser provides top quality windows, doors, vinyl siding, insulation and furnaces – with a focus on saving us money on our energy consumption. He has a cute bulldog as their brand mascot.
Greg Hazelwood with EnergyMiserSolutions.ca
Brent Klemke from Benchmark Painting – a top rated painter by many homeowners in Vancouver - has the most active booth. Brent holds instructional seminars throughout the show with various designers discussing how small changes like paint and decor can really enhance the look and enjoyment of your home. See my photos of their seminar from the Langley show. They are also offering a great special -3 rooms for $299. That’s a great deal!
Brent, Benchmark Painting
True Green Geothermal was our neighbour mentioned geo-thermal installations is on the rise in existing homes that have decided to invest in green energy. More than 50% of their installations are now with homeowners renovating, vs new builds and they tell me they can install these with minimal disruption to your landscaping (my concern as we recently build a deck and stone patio).
Stewart Schmidt at True Green Geothermal
It was great to see Lynn and Jennifer (a super nice mom and daughter team) from Budget Blinds again as well - having met them at the Langley Home Show. Their booth was also crowded throughout the weekend. They offer shutters, wood blinds , and draperies, servicing Surrey, Langley, White Rock and Abbotsford. So far they have two happy reviewers in Vancouver.
Jennifer Morgan: Budget Blinds
Walking by our booth were a couple of Bathroom renovation experts just moving into White Rock. With a name like Calvin Klein I was all ears. Calvin and his wife Kathy Klein have been in the design and renovation business for over 15 years and have decided to move from Victoria to White Rock. Their company is called “Bathrooms by Home Services”. I checked out their web site and they have some really nice work. They are choosy on who they take on – having built a loyal following of happy customers.
HomeStars is in Calgary for the Calgary Home Show, which is one of Western Canada’s biggest home improvement expos. While we we’re here we’re also celebrating the great work of contractors who’ve earned the trust and admiration of their customers who’ve written reviews on them on HomeStars. These are the Best Contractors of 2009 in Calgary. We invited our contractors out to share a few beers, some food and collect their prizes.
and Kyle from ClearView Plumbing, who is cleaning up the Calgary plumbing market:
Other winners who couldn’t make it were Cabinets by Sindora for Kichen and Bathroom – Cabinets and Design and Sortit FULLSTOP for Organizing Products and Services.
If you’re in Calgary and you want to come by and see us, we’re at the show for the next few days – Booth 1708. Don’t forget to write a review and get 50% off your Home Show pass.
This weekend HomeStars is proud to be presenting and a partner at the International Home Show. Get $5 off each ticketwhen you write a review now. Come out to the International Centre on 6900 Airport Road.
The International Home Show has some great presentations this weekend weekend. Check out:
Our HomeStars Best of ’08 Favourite Melissa Maker of Clean My Space, will be presenting “Go Green in Your Clean.” Monday, October 12: 11:15am
Marissa McTasney, from Moxie Trades, is presenting “Women in the Workshop” Friday, Oct. 9th at 6 pm Sunday, October 11, at 4:30 pm
Mark Nazar of HomeStars Rated Artistic Contracting is presenting “Renovating – Where to spend and Where Not to” Sunday, October 11th at 3:30 pm
Melissa Maker Marissa McTasney Mark Nazar
There are over 200 exhibitors are the show this weekend but we’d like to point out some of the rated exhibitors that have received comments from their clients.
About HomeStars
We got another letter from a company listed on our site. He suggests that he doesn’t want to be on our site because a competitor, who he claims is worse than him, is on the site.
“After moving into our new house, my husband & sons wondered WHY I had to hire Rent-A -Son,when they could have done all the work….yes they could have..but over several months. In several hours the two “rented” sons moved boxes,rearranged furniture, moved a huge carpet from one room to another, cleaned our garage, unpacked boxes of books and generally made me feel that the huge weight of moving was at least. partially lifted. They were efficient, hardworking and very pleasant. I will hire them again”
“Within an hour of calling, a plumber showed up and clearly explained my problem (a toothbrush lodged in the trap of my toilet!). George worked quickly, efficiently, and respectfully. He sorted us out and I will call them again without hesitation – but hopefully not for the same reason! Thanks!”
Our HomeStars 
