Yelp Logo

A Free Tool to Connect With
Your Customers

Yelp is one of the most popular platforms for people to review and research companies and many homeowners use it as one of their first tools when starting their search for a roofing contractor. With a monthly user base of over 100 million, if you don’t have control of your Yelp listing, that should definitely be on your to-do list. (Note: we are referring to claiming your Yelp listing which is absolutely free for you to do. We do not advise you paying Yelp for any sort of paid advertising, as a matter of fact, we strongly caution you against using Yelp’s PAID advertising program…)

Yelp Listings

Now you may be thinking, “I did not create a Yelp listing, so I don’t have to worry about this…” WRONG! Just because you did not create a Yelp listing, doesn’t mean that your business is not already listed on Yelp.

Yelp creates pages for known companies even if the company doesn’t set it up themselves, or give them consent. The scary thing about this is that people may be reviewing your page without you even knowing it! You want to claim your business listing and take control of your Yelp presence so that you can make sure your business is being presented to your potential customers in the best way possible.
If you already have control of your listing and you use it regularly to collect reviews from your customers, click the button below to see some ideas on how to collect reviews and how to take control of the content on your Yelp listing.

Claiming Your Yelp Listing

Now, you may come to find that we were right… indeed Yelp may has already created your listing and people already have been reviewing your business on that listing. But fear not! We will show you how to take control of your Yelp listing and make it a very useful tool for your business.

Follow these easy steps below and we will walk you through how to do this.

Step 1: GET STARTED

Go to https://biz.yelp.com/support/claiming
– Click on the “Claim Your Business” button

Step 2: FIND YOUR BUSINESS LISTING

– Do a search in the search bar for your business using your business name and location.

Find Your Business Listing

Step 3: CLAIM YOUR LISTING

– Once you’ve found your business listing, click on the “Claim This Listing” button next to your business.

Step 4: SETUP YOUR ACCOUNT

-Create Your Business User account.

Set Up Your Account

Step 5: VERIFYING YOUR BUSINESS

Yelp may call the number listed on your business page and ask you to enter a verification code. When doing this step, make sure you are able to answer the phone associated with that number so that you can quickly verify your ownership of the business.

That’s it! Congratulations, you now have access to your Yelp Business Listing and you can start managing that page and controlling the conversation about your business. There are many things you can do to optimize your Yelp listing and to help get more positive reviews for your business.

How to Use Yelp

Optimization

Optimizing is a fancy word for saying “make it better.” And we are going to show you a few simple things you can do to optimize your Yelp listing.

  • Check all of your business information. – There may be incorrect or missing business information on your Yelp listing, so cleaning it up and making sure that all of the information is accurate should be your first step.
    • Check phone numbers, websites, addresses, business hours, services, business name spelling… CHECK EVERYTHING.
  • Add your logo or relevant project image as your profile photo. –  If you don’t have any branding on your Yelp page, it will be easy for people to forget you. Add your logo, so that people have something to remember you by.
  • Add photos. – People respond better to visuals so give them something to look at! Upload some high quality photos of your best completed projects, some team photos, pictures of your office and anything else you think a customer might like to see. They are looking at you on a computer, so all of this helps bring your business to life and make you “real.”

Controlling the Conversation

If you are like most other business owners, the mere thought of getting a bad review can be intimidating and worrisome but if you know how to handle negative reviews, you can oftentimes turn them into something positive. This is the time to swallow your pride, set aside your emotions and take a little hint from the famous saying, “The customer is always right.”

Now this doesn’t mean you should just let people lie about your business but Yelp is not the platform to argue with your customers or work out disputes.

Uh oh, you got a negative review, what are the next steps?

  1. Fact check. Look that person up in your system. Do you have records of ever doing business with them? If not, there is a chance they confused you with another company. We recommend promptly, and politely, leaving a public comment saying something like, “You must have us mistaken with another company. We have no record of ever doing business with a [Enter Name Here]. If this review was intended for us, we would love to hear more about your experience and see how we may be able to fix the situation.”
    You just did 2 things.
    1. You politely pointed out that you have no record of working with this person. This shows that you cared enough to search your system and address the issue.
    2. If this is someone that you have worked with, and you just don’t have their name in your system, you offered to hear them out and possibly fix the issue. Both of these make you look good to potential customers researching your business.
  2. Respond Promptly. If you recognize the person leaving a negative review and you know they had a bad experience with your company, now is your chance to make it right and to show other potential customers that you care.
    1. Address their problem head on. Don’t get defensive, don’t push the blame on someone else, hear them out and offer a resolution.
    2. Here is an example of something you could say. “Hi [Enter Name Here], I am so sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your experience. Customer service is a top priority of ours, and it pains us to hear that your experience with us was anything short of spectacular. We would love to hear your feedback and figure out a way that we can turn this situation around. Please give us a call and ask for [Manager/ Owner name] so that we can work to resolve any issues. Thanks!”
    3. Now they may actually call you to tell you about their experience. This is a great chance to fix their situation and turn a negative experience into a positive one. If this is the case, always ask them to update their review to a more positive one. They will often be willing to do it. If they don’t call that’s okay too. You just responded to a negative review in a polite and professional manner and this shows other potential customers how you handle yourself. Both are positive outcomes!

You Got A Positive Review – Yes, positive reviews are great and your first instinct may be to pat yourself on the back and leave it at that but that is the wrong approach! One of your customers took the time to leave you a positive review. The least you can do is take the time to respond to that review and show your appreciation. This doesn’t have to be some elaborate thank you note with balloons and flowers. A simple response like the example below can go a long with with your customers.

“Hi [Enter Customer Name Here], We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed your experience with us. We always aim to provide the best quality product and service to our customers and love to hear that we are doing it well. Give us a call anytime. We would love to work with you again!”

  • That is going to make that customer happy. They already liked the service you provided, now you just added a personal touch and pretty soon they will be telling all of their friends and family about “The best roofing company in town.” That 2 minutes of your time, could lead to some big future jobs.

All this is pretty simple but you have to make sure you make this a part of your process. Don’t let things go unattended. You need to be involved and engaged online so that you can control the conversation about your business and make sure that your business is being presented in the best light possible. People are trusting you with the roof over their head, these things matter.

Like this article and want to learn more about how Roofer Elite can help your business? Schedule a Discovery Consultation with one of our Roofing Growth Consultants to learn about all of the services we offer to help you grow your business.