Members of the Florida Swimming Pool Association have access to a free service that helps generate positive customer reviews and boosts those highly coveted search engine rankings.
FSPA partnered with The Seal, a reputation-management company that lets homeowners quickly and easily rate service providers on websites such as Yelp!, Angie’s List and, most importantly, Google.
The Seal integrates nicely with Google, allowing the contractor to amass dozens -- maybe even hundreds -- of starred reviews, which positively influences search results.
Here’s how it works: After a service call is completed, the customer receives an email requesting to rate the contractor’s performance between 1 and 5 stars. If contractor earns 4 or 5 stars, the recipient will be asked to publish the rating to the service provider’s business profile on Google. If it’s 3 stars or less, The Seal will alert the business owner so he or she can contact the customer personally. If the consumer doesn’t use Gmail, then the email will contain links to the business’s profiles on Facebook, Houzz and Home Advisor, among others. This, however, demands more of the customer, so it’s less likely that they’ll bother. Ed Marchiselli, founder and CEO of The Seal, estimated that nearly 30% of homeowners will publish reviews when requested to through Gmail. Otherwise, the rate drops to about 5%.
“Happy customers will not go through a bunch of steps to leave a good review,” Marchiselli said. “Unhappy customers, on the other hand, will go to great lengths.”
The service also helps business owners keep tabs on their employees’ performance in the field. All ratings can be reviewed and exported to Excel spreadsheets.
The Seal program works to secure a positive review even before the contractor steps foot on a customer’s property. An email is sent ahead of the appointment with the professional’s photo, bio and license number, as well as insurance information.
All that is free for FSPA members.
A background check service also is available at a discounted rate. Through this program, The Seal can investigate the criminal history of company owners and their employees. Once completed, contractors receive a badge with a photo and QR code that homeowners can scan for proof of verification. Those who have committed violent or theft-related offenses within the last seven years will not qualify.
It helps give homeowners peace of mind.
