Real Remodeling Reviews, False "Filtering"?

And speaking of online reviews ... does Yelp have something against small companies? 

A remodeler writes:

"We as a company have been asking our clients to review us online at various sites like Yahoo, Google, Houzz and Yelp. We have had two new reviews on Yelp's website in the past couple months, only to find that those reviews have been “filtered” by Yelp because they say these are fake or “less relevant” reviews. Although I have responded to Yelp with the clients' information (phone, address, project pictures, etc.) I cannot get even a response back.

"Some companies have noticed that only companies who pay to advertise on Yelp get to 'keep' all their reviews. This website has a link to a petition for the attorney general to investigate Yelp. Could you could rally the troops and gain some support for us and other remodelers around?"

Here is how Yelp describes "filtering," by the way.



So, what say you, remodelers:

Has Yelp filtered out any of your "less trustworthy" reviews? How have you responded? Please comment below.



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"Like an Online Review on Steroids"

Remodelers luv Houzz. At least that's the sense from many of the remodelers I speak with.

(Ummm, what's Houzz? It's not too late to get on board. Here are two d5R articles providing an overview: Remodelers on Houzz: a "Case" Study. Also: Houzz Party, Remodelrrss Invited.)

This week the site has awarded its 2013 "Best of Houzz" awards to some of the many thousands of contractors that have profiles on the site. One winner is Renewal Design Build of Atlanta, which won two awards, for design and customer satisfaction. Here's a screenshot of the company's Houzz profile.


Peter Michelson, Renewal's CEO (and also featured in this d5R article about online reviews), sent me this email last evening:

In many ways these two awards are like an online review on steroids. It's Lance Armstrong in his prime! Now don't quote me out of context, but if you think about it, winning this award is a highly respected third party that is heavily followed saying:  "You guys rock!" So I am absolutely thrilled to have my amazing team recognized for their excellence in design, craftsmanship, and customer service. 

We have been using Houzz for at least two years.  We direct almost every one of our clients to the site to create and share an inspiration book.  This allows our designers to understand and appreciate our clients' sense of aesthetics.  Conversely, our designers also create inspiration books to share ideas with clients, to ensure during the design and selections process that we are all in alignment.

As a business owner, I am deeply awed and inspired by the brilliance of the Houzz.com site. They have monetized an idea that is a free service to both consumers and professionals. They have found a way to motivate thousands of builders and designers to spend large sums of money (we spend about $1,000/project) on gorgeous architectural photography, upload it to the sight, and remain engaged with the general public. I was at a Houzz event last month in ATL. The room was packed with designers and builders, all begging to offer high quality content to the site with the hopes of using it as lead generation. What they have created is profound.  Truly brilliant.

What about the rest of you, remodelers? Do you have a profile on Houzz?



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Is Yelp Mostly Irrelevant to Remodelers?

Remodelers might come out smelling like roses or stinking like rot when they're reviewed on Yelp -- as on Angie's List or Kudzu or Google + or so many other sites where consumers can post reviews of businesses. Over at GuildQuality, Geoff Graham makes a compelling case for why Yelp isn't terribly relevant to the building and remodeling industry. Which is not to say that remodelers shouldn't be aware  of what's being said about them.

"... Yelp works well for prospective customers seeking feedback about businesses with a large volume of customers. Restaurants (their biggest market) may serve hundreds of people in a day. With a very large volume of customers, over time a business will attract a meaningful number of reviews on Yelp. This is good for customers, and it's also good (in the long run) for elevating professionalism in the restaurant industry. It shines a spotlight on great restaurants, and makes it tougher for less-than-great ones to attract customers."

"...Yelp, Google, Angie's List, and others all face the same problem: the way they gather information and communicate quality is inherently biased in favor of businesses with large volumes of customers and against those with small volumes of customers." 

Read the rest of Geoff's post here.

In the meantime, we at d5R have covered online reviews a number of times, most recently tracking the story of a DC-area remodeler who sued a client for posting inflammatory reviews. (See that thread here.) And on Wednesday, we'll publish a big story about the potential hazards of online reviews: how to get good reviews, how to avoid negative reviews, and how to mitigate the damage of negative reviews when and if they happen.

If you'd like to share your experience in avoiding and mitigating damaging reviews, post a comment below, or email me: leah@daily5REMODEL.com.



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