For cleaning business owners like carpet cleaners, house cleaners, window cleaners, and pressure washers, reviews are crucial for building a strong reputation and attracting new clients. In today's digital age, customers rely heavily on online reviews to make informed decisions about the services they choose to hire. In fact, studies have shown that 91% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and 84% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

You can ask customers to leave reviews in a lot of different places, but I recommend that cleaners focus on: Google, Facebook, and Yelp.

Here are a few reasons why reviews are so important for growing your cleaning business:

Reviews Build Trust With Potential Customers

When potential customers are searching for a cleaning service, they want to feel confident that they are making the right choice. Reviews from previous customers can provide valuable insights into the quality of service a cleaning business provides, as well as the professionalism and reliability of its staff. Positive reviews can help build trust with potential customers and reassure them that they are making a wise investment.

They Provide Social Proof

Social proof is a powerful psychological concept that describes how people are influenced by the actions of others. When customers see that a cleaning business has many positive reviews, they are more likely to trust that business and choose it over competitors. Reviews provide a sense of social proof that can be very influential in the decision-making process.

Quick note on how many reviews you need: you DON’T need 2,000+ reviews in order to win customers. I have noticed that most cleaners can start to pick up more customers and grow their business after getting just 10 or 20 reviews on their profile. So don’t wait, get started now! It doesn’t take long to get an extra 10 or 20 reviews on your Google Business Profile.

Reviews Can Even Improve Business Operations…

Reviews are not just helpful for potential customers – they can also provide valuable feedback for the cleaning business itself. Reviews can highlight areas where a business is excelling, as well as areas where it could improve. By paying attention to customer feedback, a cleaning business can make changes to its operations and improve the overall customer experience.

I have a personal experience with this: when my carpet cleaning company was struggling to grow past a certain point, we took a look at all of our reviews. Based on those reviews, we figured out that customers mostly cared that our technicians 1) were friendly 2) showed up on time and 3) didn’t charge extra fees. You’ll notice that none of those things have to do with cleaning carpets… customers were more interested in good customer service. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from that story, but we can get into it another time…

For now, remember to take a look at your reviews and look for patterns. What do people like and dislike about your cleaning service - according to the reviews they left?

They Can Help With Search Engine Optimization (Seo)

Reviews can also help improve a cleaning business's online visibility. Google and other search engines take into account the number and quality of reviews when ranking businesses in search results. By encouraging customers to leave reviews, a cleaning business can improve its search engine optimization (SEO) and increase its chances of being found by potential customers.

Again, you don’t need thousands of reviews to get found on Google. Try to establish a slow & consistent trickle of new reviews on your profile, and you will start to rise in the rankings.

Lead To More Referrals

Positive reviews can also lead to more referrals for a cleaning business. When current customers are happy with the service they received, they are more likely to recommend that business to friends and family members. This can lead to a snowball effect, with more and more referrals coming in over time.

Actually, I noticed that once I crossed about 100 reviews on my Google profile things really started to speed up. It wasn’t long after that before we had 300 reviews.

What’s Next?

At this point you probably agree that reviews are crucial for the success of cleaning businesses. They build trust with potential customers, provide social proof, help improve business operations, help with SEO, and lead to more referrals.

If you own a cleaning business, you need to make a concerted effort to encourage customers to leave reviews and monitor your online reputation closely. By doing so, you can build a strong reputation and attract new customers in today's competitive marketplace.

Looking for ways to grow your cleaning business? Book a call with a cleaning industry marketing specialist today!