Author: Chad Diller
You and your team may think that your lawn care or landscaping company is the best around, but your prospective customer may be a little bit skeptical and may not take your word for it.
The great things that your happy customers say about your company carry way more weight than what you could ever say.
So when it comes to getting great five-star Google reviews, are you really leveraging them on your landscaping and lawn care website or other marketing collateral? Today I'm going to show you how to do just that.
(Check out the video with description, resources, comments, etc. on YouTube)
Video Transcription
Hey, what's up? It's Chad with Landscape Leadership. We've helped dozens of mid-sized lawn care and landscape companies all across the country crush their competition and grow a business with a great reputation.
If you're new here, make sure you hit that button in the bottom right corner to subscribe to the channel as I frequently release new landscaping and lawn care marketing tips.
Also all the resources that I mentioned in this video you are going to find below in the description along with some bonus materials that are going to be very helpful.
So far in this video series, we've covered a lot of ground. We've talked about online reviews specifically why and where you should be getting them online. We talked about how to get more of them and also how to respond to them when they come in, whether they are good, bad, or ugly.
But today we're going to talk about what you can do with all those great five-star Google reviews that come in for your lawn care and landscaping company and how to specifically leverage them to power up the marketing for your company.
(RELATED READING: How Client Feedback Can Catapult You into Stardom)
Your Prospects Want to Hear from Your Customers
A recent study showed that 86% of people value an online review just as much as they would value a referral from a family member or friend.
Your prospects want to hear what your customers have to say about you.
I get a chance to talk to dozens of lawn care and landscaping company owners throughout the year and a lot of them tell me that their number one source of leads is from referrals.
So I have a question for you. What is easier? To just magically get one of your customers to give you a referral or to utilize things that your customers are already saying about you? Wouldn't you want to highlight those testimonials in front of an engaged active prospect?
If you've done a good job of getting reviews for your lawn care and landscaping company over time, you can use these five-star Google reviews in your marketing assets and in your sales process.
Let's talk about some of the ways you could leverage them.
Using Google Reviews on Your Website
First, let's talk about how you can leverage these great reviews on your landscaping or lawn care website. You can showcase them on a testimonials page. You can even have links for prospects to go and read even more on those review platforms. But a of caution, it's best to keep website visitors on your website because that's where you're ultimately hoping that they push the button to call you or fill out a form asking for more information.
You can use specific testimonials on specific service pages. For instance, if it's an outdoor pest control page, use one of the five-star Google reviews that talks about how you've helped a customer get rid of a pest that was bothering them and actually started to be able to finally enjoy their property.
Again, if you've done a really good job and you have hundreds of great Google reviews, this is going to be really easy to find very specific testimonials for those pages, but in instances where you want to kind of showcase all that you do, you can choose a selection of these.
Say you have a few primary services, you could create a prominent slider on your homepage or a consultation page that highlights a review from each one of those categories or just talks about how great your company is in general.
You could even include badges on your website with your review count and your rating score, but again, try to keep them there on your website so that they convert into a lead and don't get led astray off in the Internet, alone to wander.
Now, there are many places on your website that you can leverage these five-star Google reviews, but again, remember if you can match the context of the person on your website with this specific service page or blog posts that you're inserting these reviews, that makes it even more powerful.
But other than your website, what are some other places that you could leverage good online reviews in your marketing?
Using Google Reviews on Social Media & Print
Occasionally, you could feature these great online reviews as social media posts. Create a picture, say one with grass in it and add a testimonial over it. There are inspirational quote apps out there that allow you to do this pretty easily or you can customize something and create it in Photoshop.
Don't forget, you can also use these five-star Google reviews in print media that you're already circulating. If you have brochures, direct mail pieces, or other flyers that are getting in front of your prospective customers, be sure to add a piece of social proof by adding one of your great Google reviews.
Using Google Reviews in Landscaping & Lawn Care Sales
Now, a lot of times there is a big disconnect between marketing and sales. Salespeople will try to do whatever is in their power of persuasion to get in front of a prospect and convince them that they should go with their company. But salespeople, you are missing a valuable opportunity to let your happy customers speak for you. Let me give you a few examples.
After your initial meeting, you could send your prospect a text or an email thanking them for their time and explaining to them what the next steps are in the process and what the timeline would be. Give them a link to learn more about what your customers have to say and help them make a great decision that's best for them, not for you.
Heck, you could even get fancy and make a fun testimonial video for your prospects, featuring client reviews about why they loved working with your company so much.
You could even add a line in your email signature telling them where they could go to read more testimonials and reviews, or what I like even better, insert a short phrase to see these reviews. That makes sense to your prospect and compels them to make an educated decision that's best for them and their property.
Using Google Reviews at Home & Garden Shows
Now a lot of you watching this video exhibit at spring home shows or garden shows in your community. You're trying to get in front of prospective customers and convince them that you, not the other landscaper or a couple of booths down, is a better choice for their property.
So as you exhibit on your booth, have a TV in the background that's rotating slides. You could have pictures of your team working, pictures of projects you completed, and you could also insert some of these great Google reviews which are super compelling to prospective customers that are stopping by to talk to you.
The point is this, these are absolute golden opportunities to get in front of your prospects and to compel them into action. So make sure you're treating them like the valuable asset they are.
Don't Overuse Reviews in Landscaping & Lawn Care Marketing and Sales
However, remember that showing off your brand's authority is like salt in a recipe.
A pinch of this makes your message tastes better, but adding too much has the potential to make prospective customers gag. Sprinkle it in wisely, and you won't risk turning them off.
Here's to using five-star Google reviews for your landscaping or lawn care marketing success. Thanks a lot. Have a really great day!
Want regular, practical tips like these to take your lawn care or landscaping business to the next level? Then consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Or if you'd rather read our in-depth articles on Landscape Leadership's website, you can also subscribe to our blog.
Image Source: Oasis Turf & Tree
