Now that you know how to select a pro on HomeStars to complete any home improvement project on your to-do list, your next step is learning how to compare companies. By using HomeStars exclusive features such as Star Score, Verification and Reviews, you will be able to research pros so that you hire the right company for your project.
Once you have composed a list of a few different potential companies for your project, you might be wondering how to narrow it down to just one? The home improvement market is a competitive one, which makes it difficult to select a company based on quote alone. HomeStars provides quantitative data that can help you narrow down your selection with confidence. Star Score, Reviews and Verified Badges are very important factors to consider when looking to hire a company through HomeStars.
Star Score
You will see a Star Score meter on every company’s profile page. Star Score is a dynamic calculation based on a company’s past interactions with clients and data provided to us through reviews. This unique calculation represents how a business is likely to interact with future potential customers. The meter includes: Average Rating, Recency, Reputation, and Responsiveness. These four elements are what will raise or lower a company’s Star Score depending on their actions. At HomeStars, we believe that these four areas are most important areas when homeowners are considering hiring a professional.
Average Rating:
Each homeowner writing a review gets to rate the company on a total scale of 10. 5 points are based on satisfaction and 5 points are based on recommendation. A company’s average rating is the average of the total score of all of their reviews, weighted by factors such as the age of the review.
Recency:
Recency is how long it has been since the company has had a review published. This score is important because it allows you to feel confident that the score is based on the most recent work done by the company in its current state.
Reputation:
A company’s reputation will be negatively impacted if HomeStars becomes aware of any unscrupulous activity, including tampering with reviews or bullying homeowners into removing reviews. It will also be negatively impacted if HomeStars does not have enough information on the company to sufficiently recommend it to homeowners.
Responsiveness:
The responsiveness of a company is based on how well they are interacting with homeowners via service requests and reviews. This score will allow you to feel confident that you will receive a response from the company that you are looking to hire.
Verified Badge
When looking to hire a company to do work on your home, you want to feel that you are able to trust them. HomeStars Verified is there to help you hire safer and smarter. To ensure this, HomeStars provides a rigorous screening process that a company has to go through in order to obtain our HomeStars Verified Badge showing proof that they have passed the screening. The verification process includes a Criminal Background check, Credit Check, HST Registration, and proof of Professional Licensing.
Criminal Background:
Inviting contractors into your home can be an unsettling feeling, that is why we give you piece of mind by conducting a background check to ensure you and your home’s safety.
Credit Check:
Home improvement projects involve spending your hard earned cash, conducting credit checks allows you to feel confident that your money will be handled properly.
HST Registration:
When looking for a company to hire, seek out properly established and legally recognized Canadian businesses.
Professional Licensing:
Putting your own time and money into your project should reap benefits. Expect a job-well-done by hiring licensed professionals who possess required certifications to perform the task at hand.
Reviews
HomeStars Star Score and Verified Badge are based on quantitative data, however, qualitative data is just as important. HomeStars recommends always reading a company’s reviews before hiring. All reviews are written by homeowners like you, sharing their genuine experiences with the company. By reading several reviews, you will be able to gain a general feeling of how the company acts, the work they perform, and whether or not the homeowner was satisfied in the end. HomeStars has a very strict moderation process in order to insure all reviews posted follow HomeStars Review Guidelines.
It can be difficult to make a decision about who to hire, that’s why HomeStars is here to help make that job easier. HomeStars provides you with the right tools to evaluate companies and make a safe, smart, and confident decision when hiring for your next home improvement project. When you’re ready to select a pro, be sure to check their Star Score, reviews and look out for a Verified badge on their profile.
