Homeowners come to HomeStars looking to hire a home service pro they can trust, and your Star Score can directly impact those hiring decisions. The Star Score takes into account trust metrics that we have deemed critical when choosing a trustworthy pro for the job. Our best pros are those who continuously work towards improving and maintaining their score and understand each component. Let’s dive into Star Score further and breakdown all it’s details.
What is the HomeStars Star Score?
The Star Score is a dynamic calculation based on a pro’s interaction with previous customers. It is visible on all profiles and is calculated out of 100%. It helps homeowners determine if a company is providing excellent service and how they’re engaging with current and potential customers.
Example of a Star Score
What Are All the Components of the Star Score?
While positive reviews are one of the most important components that help companies earn a high Star Score, other factors are taken into consideration, including:
Average Rating. When a homeowner writes a review describing their experience with a company listed on HomeStars, they are asked to rank you out of 5 on two key trust metrics: Satisfaction and Recommendation.
These rankings are used to calculate their Average Rating.
Recency. This element measures how long it’s been since a company last had a review published — the more recent your reviews, the more accurate and up to date your profile is to homeowners. Request 2-3 reviews per month with the HomeStars for Pros app to help keep this bar healthy.
Reputation. Reputation is impacted if a company tampers with reviews, bullies homeowners into removing reviews, or if we do not have enough information about the pro such as low review numbers.
Responsiveness. Responding to homeowner leads and reviews is critical for a strong responsiveness score, as it measures how well a company responds to service requests and reviews. While we put the onus on our pros to respond to service requests, expired leads if not in large volumes, will not affect your Star Score. Additionally, responding to reviews in a timely manner will impact this score – we recommend 24 hours or less.
When you manage all the above with timeliness top of mind, your Star Score should maintain steady growth with the help of positive reviews.
What Can Negatively Impact My Star Score?
Inactivity for 3 months or more. Your Star Score will decline if there haven’t been any published reviews on your HomeStars profile in 3 months or longer. You will notice this in your “Recency” bar. Homeowners visit HomeStars looking to find community-reviewed pros, and recent reviews are vital to your success on HomeStars and your Star Score.
Lack of response to service requests and reviews. Pros who don’t often respond to service requests or new reviews may see a ding in their Star Score. Homeowners want to connect with a pro, and they want to connect fast, so try and make responsiveness a priority.
Fraudulent activity. Review integrity is #1 at HomeStars, and if a business is caught writing fraudulent reviews, your Star Score will take a hit. The weight of this penalty is more substantial than other components to persevere the Star Score’s integrity.
Bullying homeowners to remove reviews. While homeowners can change and modify their review at any time, pros who pressure and bully a homeowner into doing so will be penalized accordingly.
Frequent investigations. We provide our pros with the option to “investigate” a questionable review. This feature should only be used if you’re unsure who the review is from, or you think it was left by mistake for another company. Abusing the investigation feature carries a penalty towards your Star Score, so use this feature wisely. If you’re unsure about investigating a review, connect with your Account Manager.
All components of the Star Score are important for building a strong online presence that entices homeowners to hire your business! With all these insights, you’re now equipped with the knowledge you need to continue to build and maintain a healthy Star Score to make the most of your HomeStars membership and build homeowner connections!
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