Below we have summarized common questions we have received in the past from service businesses interested in joining the ValueStar Customer-Rated Program.  Please don't hesitate to email us at SalesTeam@ValueStar.com or call us at 1-888-298-1260 if you don't find your answers here.

• What does it mean to be rated by ValueStar?
• Why should I want customer reviews of my business displayed online?
• How can I benefit from being rated by ValueStar?
• How do I use my ValueStar rating to improve my business?
• What benefits do consumers derive from ValueStar?
• What mechanisms does ValueStar use to rate service businesses?
• Will you give me the results of my customer satisfaction surveys?
• How will my company stand out among the businesses you rate when it becomes ValueStar Customer-Rated?
• How do consumers find ValueStar businesses?
• What happens if a ValueStar Consumer is not satisfied with the work I did?
• Will you post negative reviews about my business online?

A:   Being rated by ValueStar means your business can be trusted.  Both the ValueStar Verified and the ValueStar Customer-Rated programs mean that verified customers of your business have submitted ratings and reviews of your service, and their feedback represents the most trustworthy evidence of your business' performance for prospective customers.  Customers submitting feedback earn ValueStar Rewards points redeemable for cash cards with popular retailers.

Furthermore, if you're ValueStar Customer-Rated, that means not only that your business has been rated by verified customers—and rated highly—but that ValueStar has confirmed your business is properly licensed and insured for the service it provides, has good credit standing (and so is unlikely to cease operations suddenly), and has no pattern of legal judgments against it.  Qualifying to be ValueStar Customer-Rated means we're so confident of your business' service orientation that ValueStar authorizes you to use the ValueStar Customer-Rated seal in your advertising, and customers who submit feedback receive ValueStar's $1,000 Money-Back Guarantee of the services they've purchase in addition to ValueStar Rewards points.

A:  Because your future customers are looking for you online, and online, you are your reviews.  Whether you like it or not, ratings and reviews about your business are being displayed at a variety of websites without you having any influence over them and without any assurance those ratings are from your genuine customers.  You need to get your story out, by displaying trustworthy reviews in as many places online as possible, starting with your own website and with a trusted online directory such as ValueStar.  If you can display positive, credible reviews online, you can distinguish your business from less service-oriented competitors who may have better websites and bigger advertising budgets.  Trustworthy online reviews are the great equalizer.  A growing tide of consumer research makes this quite clear:

• 60% of consumers now look to the Internet for information on local purchases.
• 80% of consumers trust a business that displays online customer reviews more than a business that does not display reviews.
• Consumers are willing to pay more for businesses with higher ratings.  In one study, consumers on average were willing to pay service businesses with 5-star ratings 20% more than businesses with 4-star ratings for the same job.
• 40% of consumers refuse to even consider doing business with a company with a 1-star rating.  If consumers' only knowledge of your business is from a single negative review at a review site and your own website offers no better customer assessment, you're deterring lots of customers, and lots of sales.

A:   A service business that displays ValueStar Verified customer reviews, or even better, is in the ValueStar Customer-Rated program, is a business that consumers can trust—to be reliable and professional, to be focused on quality, and to deliver a high level of customer satisfaction based on the experience of past confirmed customers.  More than 70% of consumers report having difficulty finding service providers given concerns about quality, reliability, and price, so it's easy to understand how the trust and reassurance conveyed by ValueStar ratings and reviews can give your business an advantage in the local marketplace, translating into more inquiries, more prospects, more customers, more loyalty, and more sales.

A:  When your business displays ValueStar Verified ratings and reviews on your own website, at the ValueStar.com website, and at the growing list of search engines and directories partnering with ValueStar, you establish a high level of trust with your prospects that encourages them to pick up the phone—or better yet, visit.  You're also encouraging customers to submit ratings by offering them ValueStar Rewards points redeemable for cash cards with popular retailers, and you receive a customized profile at ValueStar.com.

• Use the ValueStar Customer-Rated seal in your signage and in your print and online advertising.
• Upload photos, videos, and brochures to your ValueStar.com profile for viewing by ready-to-buy prospects, all without the expense you'd encounter trying to display and update media on your own site.
• Offer your customers ValueStar's $1,000 Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee of your services, in addition to ValueStar Rewards points, redeemable for merchandise and gift cards with major retailers, whenever your customers review your services online—that's a 3rd-party backing your company and a loyalty program your non-ValueStar competitors can't match.

A:  First and foremost, ValueStar Verified ratings and reviews give consumers confidence that they have a fair picture of a business' track record as provided by recent customers.  Consumers consistently report that buying a service is risky given the possibility that mistakes might cause damage to one's home, or auto, or health—and present a risk to a family's safety.  Hiring an unreliable service provider often leads to time-consuming, frustrating and contentious supervisory obligations in which the provider might refuse to even acknowledge substandard results.  Consequently, there is huge value to knowing a service business' track record as reported by past customers in an objective, trustworthy manner such as ValueStar's.  That's why 80% of consumers say they trust a business that displays online ratings and reviews more than one that doesn't, and why consumers say they're willing to pay 20% more to a business with a 5-star online rating than to one with a 4-star rating, and why 40% of consumers say they won't consider buying from a business with a 1-star rating

If ValueStar Verified reviews give customers information with which to evaluate a business, the ValueStar Customer-Rated program goes a step further and makes the consumer's judgment all the easier.  By combining reviews from verified customers with credentials checks and the opportunity for a $1,000 Money-Back Satisfaction Guarantee, the Customer-Rated program provides true ease of finding and selecting a service provider and peace of mind that a job will be done properly.

A:  When considering applications for ValueStar Customer-Rated status, ValueStar has access to numerous governmental, commercial and proprietary databases to help verify license, insurance, and financial status, and current legal judgments.  For both the Customer-Rated and Verified programs, ValueStar continuously updates ratings of participating service businesses using telephone and online surveys of verified customers.

ValueStar gathers ratings from a business' confirmed customers in three ways.  First, if a business requests it or is applying to be ValueStar customer-Rated, we survey a business' recent customers by telephone, selecting them at random from a complete customer list provided by the business.  Second, customers can submit feedback at the ValueStar.com website and, if you'd like, at your own website using the easy-to-insert "Powered By ValueStar" computer code.  In this case, ValueStar confirms with you that the person submitting feedback is truly a customer before the feedback is accepted as legitimate.  Third, when consumers register with ValueStar, they have the option of registering one or more of their credit cards with ValueStar, permitting us to send them an email survey whenever they use their card with a ValueStar business (there's never a charge to the consumer for this service; in fact, they earn extra benefits for participating in the credit card program).

A:  Yes! As a ValueStar business you will have online 24/7 access to ValueStar ratings to obtain ongoing feedback about your customers' experiences with your company.  If you apply for ValueStar Customer-Rated status, you will be provided with a comprehensive summary report of our initial independent telephone survey that outlines the findings with your specific score overall and for each question.  The names of your customers who participate in ValueStar's random phone surveys are confidential, and when ValueStar needs to confirm that online feedback is coming from a genuine customer, it does not share the customer's name and feedback simultaneously.

A:  On the ValueStar website, ValueStar Customer-Rated Gold Service Providers will be listed first in all search results pages, followed by ValueStar Customer-Rated Service Providers.  Businesses in the ValueStar Verified program are listed thereafter.

A:  Consumers identify ValueStar businesses in several ways:

• When you join the ValueStar Verified program, you can insert a page of ValueStar Verified ratings and reviews on your own website, and that page in turn links to your profile at ValueStar.com which confirms the authenticity of your ValueStar reviews.  If you qualify for the Customer-Rated program, you can include the Customer-Rated seal and links to your ValueStar profile throughout your website.
• For ValueStar Customer-Rated businesses, consumers can see the ValueStar Customer-Rated seal in your offline signage and advertisements as well as on your website, and ValueStar can provide brochures and other materials to distribute to your customers.
• ValueStar's website provides consumers with access to the most recent listings of ValueStar service providers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Over time, ValueStar's listings and ratings of your business will be available at a growing list of search engine and Internet Yellow Pages publishers.

A:  Free dispute resolution services are available to help settle disputes between ValueStar Consumers and ValueStar Customer-Rated service providers.  Consumers will always be encouraged to contact you first to try to resolve any issues.  If unsuccessful, ValueStar Consumers may contact ValueStar for help resolving customer satisfaction issues.  ValueStar strives to provide ValueStar Consumers and ValueStar Customer-Rated businesses with a simple, fast and fair process to work out mutually acceptable resolutions, and to resolve most complaints within 10 business days.

ValueStar also stands behind our Customer-Rated service providers with the ValueStar $1,000 Money-Back Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, activated when a consumer submits feedback on the business to ValueStar.  If a service provider generates too many requests for mediation or for the customer satisfaction guarantee, ValueStar will re-evaluate a ValueStar service provider's rating.  Please see our Service Provider Terms and Conditions

A:  Consumers trust ValueStar because we keep our ratings as open and transparent as possible, which is what gives us the credibility to say your business is more reliable and quality-focused than your non-ValueStar competitors.  So, yes, we will post customer comments that you might find uncomfortable.  Keep in mind, though, that ValueStar offers important safeguards for businesses:

• we display ValueStar ratings in order of their score, from highest to lowest;
• you have the option of displaying a reply to any customer feedback you feel is unfair or inaccurate;
• we manually review every customer comment to ensure it is not offensive or makes disparaging comments about identified individuals; and
• If you are ValueStar Customer-Rated, your initial customer reviews must already be overwhelmingly positive, and in the unlikely event that one or more negative comments depress your satisfaction score to less than the Customer-Rated standard, your profile will be removed and your status reviewed with you.

All that is in addition to the display of 25 reviews if a business requests a telephone survey of recent customers (automatic for applicants to the ValueStar Customer-Rated program)—more than is displayed at almost any other review site—and our process ensures those reviews are highly representative of your customers. Rest assured, we're not in the business of highlighting negatives, we're in the business of helping trustworthy, quality-focused companies get the credit they deserve, but in a manner consumers will trust.

Take a quick online tour of our benefits for services businesses.