No two pros on HomeStars are exactly alike. Whether you’re an appliance repair pro aiming to take on four jobs per week, or a general contractor who defines success as six large-scale renovation projects per year, your HomeStars journey will always be tailored to your individual experience.
Nevertheless, when you look at the best performing pros on HomeStars — regardless of size and category — it’s easy to identify a few patterns in their approaches that further their success. These are the pros who hit the ground running in their first year with HomeStars, and keep the momentum rolling in subsequent years by adjusting their strategies carefully. Whether you’ve been with HomeStars for less than one year or many, there is value in comparing your experiences with these pros’. It’s a great way to double check whether you’re taking all the right steps at present to get the most out of your HomeStars listing. Here’s a quick overview.
Year One: Trust the Process (Reviews, Reviews, Reviews)
The primary thing HomeStars’ most successful first year pros have in common is a general understanding that HomeStars is more than a job-winning tool — it’s a reputation building tool that helps pros win jobs. They acknowledge that building a great HomeStars listing — much like building a great reputation — takes time. If you signed up for HomeStars a few months ago and haven’t immediately started meeting your goals, there is no need for concern. You’re right where you’re supposed to be.
Treat your first 12 months with HomeStars like these pros did: build your reputation by getting Verified immediately and start requesting as many homeowner reviews as you can. Getting Verified will bump your Star Score up so you can start receiving more leads, and adding reviews to your listing will help you close these leads when they’re sent your way. Homeowners consider reviews above all other factors when hiring, so the importance of reviews cannot be overstated. Our best performing pros start requesting reviews from previous happy customers the moment they sign up for HomeStars to start populating their listings on day one. If all goes according to plan, these pros start seeing meaningful results just a few months into their HomeStars journeys.
Year Two: Reap the Rewards
By the time their second year rolls around, pros who did all the right things in their first year with HomeStars will have already started to see the fruits of their investments. The ones who succeed the most, however, understand that they can’t take their feet off the gas pedal just because they’re landing jobs. They understand that homeowners don’t just look at reviews, they also look at the recency of these reviews, so they make it a point to continue requesting reviews after the completion of each job.
More than that, though, they make it a priority to respond to each review they receive and display these reviews widely with tools like HomeStars’ handy review widget. Through taking these steps, these pros continue to boost their Star Score, and start to meet the criteria for HomeStars Best of Awards, both of which help keep their momentum steady.
Year Three and Beyond: Keep the Good Times Rolling
Our data shows that pros who make it to this point in their HomeStars journeys tend to stick with HomeStars for good. These are the pros who best understand what steps they need to take to get the most of their HomeStars listings, and who’ve made taking these steps into an everyday habit. They’ve perfected the art of asking for homeowner reviews, the art of responding to leads, and the art of maintaining their online reputation. But they also make it a point to refine their strategies over time. They use HomeStars to take on different types of opportunities when they notice slowdowns. They widen their categories on HomeStars to weather seasonal downturns. They add HomeStars signage to their vehicles and stationery to spread the word about their listing. They continue to put the work in, because they’ve seen how their work has paid off in the past with interest.
How Does Your HomeStars Journey Match Up?
Now that you know what a typical HomeStars experience looks like for our best performing pros, you can take a look at your own and see how it stacks up. Locate the gaps between your strategy and theirs and address them by taking the steps outlined in this article. Remember: whether you’re in your first year or eighth, success on HomeStars is all about reviews. Start requesting reviews via HomeStars desktop application or mobile app today.
