How to Respond to a Good Review: Tips for Home Service Pros

A positive customer review is more than just a compliment on your services. It’s a valuable opportunity to boost customer loyalty, impress leads, and contribute to your business’s online reputation. But to really make it count, you need to know how to respond to good reviews the right way. 

Use these tips to make the most of positive customer feedback to encourage repeat business, engage prospective clients, and stand out from the competition.

They don’t have to be glowing reviews, either. Even a neutral review can count, as long as it mentions something that highlights your skills, workmanship, or customer service. 

Whether your feedback is short, detailed, or neutral, it’s best practice to respond. Taking the time to acknowledge customer comments shows them you care. That goes a long way in building trust, loyalty, and confidence in your business and brand.

READ MORE: How to ask for a review

1. Have better customer relationships

Thanking customers for positive feedback shows your appreciation and genuine gratitude. It’s an effective way to add a personal touch to interactions with clients and shows there are real people behind the services you offer. 

That goes a long way in creating connection, which leads to repeat business, referrals, and loyal customers.

2. Enhance your online reputation

Review responses are a big part of reputation management. They’re a way for you to highlight your values, showcase your customer service skills, and demonstrate your professionalism. 

While you may already respond to negative reviews, addressing positive feedback is just as impactful. It’s one of the best ways to manage your online reputation by showing new and existing customers that you:

• Monitor your online platforms
• Run a responsive business
• Care about what customers think
• Value customer interactions
• Keep your business active and engaged

When prospective customers look at your reviews to assess whether to hire you, they’ll see a caring, appreciative, and attentive business, making them more likely to choose you over a competitor.

3. Boost local SEO

Local SEO helps your website and Google Business Profile appear in search results when a potential customer googles something like “plumber near me” or “Boston lawn care.” 

Fresh content, like reviews on your website and Google Business Profile, keeps your online presence active and up to date. Responding to them shows you care and keeps your profile from looking outdated or inactive. It signals to search engines that you’re a legitimate business with real, satisfied customers. 

That can make a big difference in whether search engines show your business to potential customers. Search engines, like Google, prioritize results that are accurate, relevant, and up to date. The more reviews you have and respond to, the easier it is for search engines to see that your business is current and active, boosting your chances of appearing in results.

4. Build trust

Potential customers pay close attention to reviews when considering which service business to hire. While good reviews are a positive on their own, your responses to them also play a part in a lead’s decision. 

Polite and professional responses immediately build trust with prospective clients, giving them a feel for what to expect from working with you. They show off your personality and add a human touch to your online presence, making you more than just another business. 

This builds trust before you work together, making them feel confident about choosing your business to get the job done.

5. Encourage more reviews

Reviews and testimonials help you book more jobs, but getting happy customers to leave them isn’t always easy. 

By showing your gratitude and appreciation whenever a client takes time out of their day to share positive feedback, you encourage more customers to do the same. They’ll see that you care about what they think, even after the job is done. 

Think of it this way: if you were considering leaving a review for a business, would you be more likely to do so if they were responsive and always acknowledged other customers? Or would you still want to share feedback even if they never showed their appreciation? 

Every time you respond to good customer feedback, you’re building momentum for more 5-star reviews.

6. Recognize employees

Responding to positive customer reviews gives you an opportunity to call out individual employees and teams, boosting morale and recognition. 

That way, you give credit where credit’s due, highlighting the employee who made an extra effort or embodied your core values. It demonstrates to both customers and staff members that you notice and appreciate hard work and take pride in your team.

1. Use the reviewer’s name

If the client included their first name in the review, make your response conversational by using it in your reply. It keeps the tone friendly and personal and strengthens your connection with the customer. 

To protect their privacy, it’s also best practice to refer only to the first initial of the reviewer’s last name, such as Lori M. or Greg C.

2. Say thank you

Show your appreciation for the good review by thanking the customer in your response. A simple “thanks for your feedback” or “we appreciate the kind words” is enough to express your gratitude and acknowledge the client’s efforts.

3. Personalize your response

When possible, personalize your response by calling out specifics you remember from the job. 

Just make sure you keep it professional and polite. Stick to general information that isn’t too personal or private.

4. Keep it short

Short and sweet messages are the best way to respond to a good review. No need to write multiple paragraphs or discuss the job in depth.

5. Be professional

Review responses are a way for you to showcase your business’s personality. It’s fine to keep things casual, but in a way that reflects how you want people to see your business. 

For example, avoid slang, inside jokes, or crass language so you don’t accidentally offend, alienate, or confuse someone. 

Aim for a friendly and professional tone, and check for typos and spelling errors before posting your message.

6. Highlight your business values

Positive customer review responses are natural places to mention your business values, so potential customers see them off the bat. It drives home what makes you a good service provider to work with from a client perspective, without feeling forced. 

Prospective clients will not only see a good review that says you were on time, but that it’s something you aim for with every job.

7. Encourage repeat business

When you respond to a good review, sign off with an invitation to work together again.

It doesn’t have to be a hard sell. A simple, polite message is enough to remind customers to book your services again down the road.

8. Respond quickly

Don’t wait too long to respond. Make an effort to respond to reviews at least once a week so customers don’t feel like an afterthought. It helps to show you’re attentive and on top of things, and it helps to keep job details fresh.

9. Turn neutral reviews into positive ones

It’s easy to turn a neutral review into a positive one with a response. 

It focuses on what you did well and promotes your business values, making neutral reviews less lukewarm and more engaging.

10. Make each response unique

Generic, copy/paste responses won’t impress anyone. Each time you respond to a customer review, it should be unique and customized to the client and job. 

But monitoring, customizing, and responding to good reviews takes up time you may not have to spare. That’s where review software like Jobber Reviews comes in handy. It automatically collects reviews and stores them in one place, so you can respond to them all at once. 

For each review, Jobber uses AI to provide a suggested response you can edit and adjust as needed. That way, you can spend less time worrying about word choices while providing thoughtful, personalized thank-yous to customers.

1. Short and sweet 

For simple or neutral reviews, a short and sweet response is often the best way to go.

2. Value-based 

If a customer mentions specifics related to your values as a company, your response is the perfect place to drive home the message.

3. Job-specific

If you want to add a personal touch to your response, add something you remember about the job. 

4. Upsells

Depending on the service you provided, review responses can work well for upsells.