This one’s for the customers, not the businesses. It’s how you can help a small business out here with a review.
A business can pay for a sign or an ad. The one thing they can’t buy is you saying they did a good job. That’s what a review is, and it’s what people read before they book a charter or ring a tradie they’ve never met.
Say something that proves you were there
A review that says “great service” doesn’t do much. It reads like anyone could have written it.
What helps is detail. Say what they did for you and roughly when. Then add one thing only someone who was actually there would know.
“Came out on a Sunday to Dundee in the wet when our pump died and had it going in an hour.”
“Booked a half day charter at Dundee with the kids in July. Skipper was patient with the little one and we came home with barra.”
“Ordered a cake for Mum’s birthday. She dropped it to our place in Dundee Downs.”
That’s it. Two or three sentences and you’re done. Nobody needs an essay.
Where to leave it
Three places, and all of them count.
Their Google Business Profile. This is the one that matters most. It’s what comes up when someone searches the business name or “plumber Dundee Beach”, and a review there helps them get found.
Their Facebook page. Plenty of businesses out here run on Facebook, and a recommendation on their page is what their followers see.
Their listing on Dundee Beach Life. Featured and Premium listings on the site take reviews, so you can leave one right on their page in the directory.
If you’ve got two minutes, do the Google one. If you’ve got five, do all three.
Be honest, and do it while you remember
Honest means honest not rude, cruel or unkind. If the job took longer than they said, you can write that and still give them a good review. People trust a review more when it sounds like a real person weighing something up, and the owner gets something useful out of it.
The trick is doing it before you forget. Do it while you’re still sitting in the car park, or on the drive home while someone else is behind the wheel. Once you get back to the house and the washing is out, it’s gone.
If something actually went wrong, tell the owner first. Ring them, message them, say it to their face. Out here a bad review on a small operator can do real damage, and most of the time the person would have fixed it on the spot if they’d known. Give them that chance. If they blow you off, then write what happened.
The good ones deserve it more than you’d think. Most of the businesses around here are one person or one family, and a review from a local sits on their profile for years, still working for them long after you’ve forgotten writing it.
Who did a good job for you lately that you never got around to reviewing?
