A remodeler with fewer than ten Google reviews is in crowded company. Here is this week's work.
A large share of remodelers have fewer than ten Google reviews. What that means for winning bigger projects, and the five things to do about it this week.
A homeowner planning a $60,000 kitchen is going to compare three or four contractors before they let anyone into the house. If your Google profile shows six reviews and the next one shows forty, you may never get the call, even if your work is better.
That situation is more common than most contractors think. Here is the number, what it means, and what to do about it before the week is out.
The number
Across the 116,602 general contractor and remodeler listings we track, 51.3% have fewer than ten Google reviews. 14.3% have none at all. The median listing has 9.
At the other end, getting into the top quarter takes about 31 reviews, and the top tenth sits around 92. Only 9.3% have a hundred or more.
So the gap between "a few reviews" and "clearly established" is not hundreds. For most remodelers it is a couple dozen. The benchmark report breaks it down by state.
Why it matters more for remodelers
Remodeling is a high-trust, high-ticket purchase. People are handing over a deposit and their house for weeks. They look for proof that other people did the same and came out fine.
Remodelers also have a slow review problem built in. A handyman finishes forty jobs a month. You might finish four. That makes every finished project worth more as a review, and every project you forget to ask about a bigger loss.
There is a website link too. The median listing with a website has 14 reviews, against 2 for listings without one. Contractors who invest in one usually invest in the other.
This week's work
Five tasks. Most take under an hour.
1. Make a list of every finished project from the last two years
Name, phone, email, what you built, when you finished. Skip anyone with an open warranty issue. For most small firms this is twenty to sixty names. That list is the fastest path from the median to the top quarter.
2. Send each one a personal ask
Not a blast. One text or email at a time, with a real detail.
Hi Rachel, it is Joe from Oakline Builders. I still think about how that basement turned out, especially the built-ins by the stairs. If you have two minutes, a Google review would help us a lot as we head into next year. Here is the link. Thanks again for trusting us with your house.
Past customers who were happy will often write a long, specific review when asked well, and long specific reviews are exactly what a nervous homeowner reads. The reviews guide has more scripts, plus how to ask at the final walkthrough so you never have to chase a review again.
3. Reply to every review you already have
Thank them by name and mention the project. "Thanks, Rachel. That basement was one of our favorites this year." A reply shows the next reader that a person runs the company.
4. Add project photos with captions
Upload five to ten photos from recent jobs to your Google profile. Put the town and the scope in each caption: "Kitchen remodel in Naperville, wall removed, new island." The Google Business Profile guide covers categories, services and photos.
5. Build the ask into your closeout
Add one line to your final walkthrough checklist: "Ask for the review, send the link before leaving the driveway." One habit, every project, and you will not be back in this spot next year.
What not to do
Do not buy reviews or trade discounts for them. Google's policies prohibit incentivized reviews, and a cluster of new five-stars with no detail looks fake to homeowners anyway.
Do not ask family and friends who were never customers. It is against the same policy and puts the whole profile at risk.
Do not ask everyone at once from a review tool on day one. A sudden spike looks unnatural. A steady few a week from real customers is what you want.
A hypothetical
Say you have eight reviews today and a list of thirty past customers. If one in three leaves a review after a personal ask, you are at eighteen within a few weeks. Add one review from each project you finish going forward, and you pass the top-quarter mark well inside a year. Your exact pace will vary. The direction will not.
Frequently asked
Should I ask customers from three or four years ago? Yes, if they were happy. Mention the project so they remember you.
What if someone leaves a bad review? Reply calmly, once, with facts and an offer to talk offline. Readers judge the reply as much as the complaint.
If you want someone to run the review outreach or any one service for you, the free 14-day trial needs no card. See the free trial page or text or call (385) 899-2246.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, general contractors and remodelers among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor