Clients share their appreciation in many different ways. Sometimes it’s a phone call, others an email to say thanks for a job well done.

It feels good to receive praise for your work, but the benefits of positive reviews don’t stop there. 72% of consumers say they use online reviews to decide whether to trust a business.

You should absolutely be leveraging positive feedback to build trust and generate more business. Here’s how.

Use Yelp and Google Reviews

If you followed our advice about finding work as a home inspector, you’ve already got Yelp and Google Reviews set up for your business.

The next step is to ask your satisfied customers to leave their reviews there. It only takes a minute to log in and say a few positive words.

Let your customer know that their positive review will go a long way to helping others find your service.

Send a follow-up email

Not every happy customer makes an active effort to let you know they’re satisfied. Use a follow-up email to ask how you did.

Use SurveyMonkey to set up a quick questionnaire about your performance, and include links to the aforementioned review sites for clients to visit.

You might even offer an incentive for people to share their feedback, like entry into a monthly or quarterly drawing for a small prize.

Use quotes in your marketing materials

Pull one of two key customer quotes to use in brochures and fliers. Be sure to ask the customer’s permission before using their name.

Shoot a testimonial video

Video consistently outperforms every single other type of digital content.

If you have a client who’s gung-ho about appearing on camera, shoot a short testimonial for use on your website and social media.

It doesn’t have to be fancy; you can shoot it on your smartphone. Be sure you hold the phone horizontally rather than vertically for a more professional look.

Ask a couple different questions, or the same question a few different ways to get the best, most concise response. Use open ended prompts, for example:

• How do you feel about your choice to use Friendly Home Inspectors?
• What was your inspector like?
• How did you feel about the results of your home inspection?

Then, cut out everything but the best 30-seconds using an editing app like Replay Video Editor (available in the App store or Play store).

Upload the video to your website under a ‘testimonials’ section and post it to your social media channels.

Are you using client testimonials to your advantage?