Five years ago, asking a Greensboro plumber what an online review was would have produced a blank stare. Today, a single one-star review on Citysearch or Yelp can cost a Triad service business tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. The shift has been quiet but it is no longer optional to pay attention.
What Has Changed Between 2007 and 2009
- →Yelp passed 30 million monthly users and expanded aggressively beyond restaurants into service categories. Plumbers, dentists, attorneys, and contractors are now reviewed on Yelp in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point.
- →Citysearch and Insider Pages now host reviews of local service businesses with star ratings prominently displayed in Google search results.
- →Google's Local Business Center listings now show user reviews directly on Google Maps and in the seven-pack of local search results.
- →Angie's List has expanded into the Triad, with paid subscribers in Greensboro and Winston-Salem reviewing contractors, electricians, and other home services.
What Buyers Actually Do With Reviews in 2009
Survey research from the past 18 months consistently shows that more than 60 percent of consumers now check online reviews before hiring a local service provider, and roughly 40 percent will skip a business with an average rating below three stars. For higher-consideration purchases like attorneys, dentists, and contractors, the percentages are even higher.
The Three Behaviors That Now Matter
- →Star average is the headline number. Anything 4.0 and above feels safe. Anything below 3.5 feels risky. The gap between those two is real revenue.
- →Review count signals legitimacy. A business with 50 reviews and 4.2 stars beats a business with 4 reviews and 5.0 stars in most buyers' minds.
- →How you respond to negative reviews matters as much as the review itself. A calm, professional, public response often turns a one-star into a recovery moment that prospects respect.
What Triad Service Businesses Should Do Now
- →Audit where you already appear. Search your business name on Google, Yelp, Citysearch, Insider Pages, and Angie's List. You will be surprised how many listings already exist that you never created.
- →Claim every listing. Each platform has a "Claim this business" link. Verification typically takes one to ten days.
- →Set up alerts so you find out about new reviews fast. Most platforms offer email notifications. The 24-hour window after a new review is the highest-leverage time to respond.
- →Build a steady, ethical pipeline of new reviews from genuinely happy customers, instead of waiting for the upset ones to find the platform first.
A High Point home remodeler we worked with last year was running at a 2.7-star Yelp average for a year before he found out the listing existed. After a six-month effort claiming the listing, responding to the existing reviews, and asking happy customers to share their experience, he moved to 4.4 stars and watched estimate requests grow accordingly.
Read the companion pieces on setting up Google Alerts to monitor your name and asking happy customers for testimonials and referrals, or have our digital marketing agency manage your online reputation across every relevant platform.