How My Fertilizing Company Uses Reviewbot for Five-Star Reviews

Case Study: My Fertilizing Company

50

5-Star Reviews

24

Hours

About My Fertilizing Company

Industry: Lawn Care and Fertilization

Plymouth, Michigan-based My Fertilizing Company was founded in 2014 by co-owners Ryan Shiplett and Andrew Walsh. In that time, they’ve grown from around 150 customers to more than 2,000, servicing primarily residential properties in the Detroit metropolitan area. They have been a RealGreen customer since they started their business and a Lawnbot customer since 2019.

The Challenge

Positive online reviews are essential for any business in 2021, but especially for high-competition services businesses like lawn care and fertilizing. Customers will start their search online, and they will make their decisions at least partially based on the reviews they see. “They look up five competitors in the area and they compare how many stars you have compared to those people – and how many reviews. I mean, you might have five stars but only 10 reviews. If you have 4.8 stars but 150 reviews, that’s much better,” says Walsh. My Fertilizing Company was already happy a Lawnbot customer, so they signed on to Reviewbot with some reservations, particularly about the additional cost. But, keeping online reviews current is important – 85% of customers consider local reviews older than three months to be less relevant.

Getting online reviews is essential; asking for reviews is time-consuming
Most customers think older reviews are less relevant and will discount them when making their decision

The Solution

My Fertilizing Company uses Reviewbot to send an email to customers offering them a credit towards new services in exchange for leaving an honest review. “We send out a message saying ‘We love you, do you love us,’ with emojis in the subject to catch their eye,” says Shiplett. Customers click through, answer a couple of simple questions, leave a star rating and give permission to post the review on Google. Bad reviews are filtered out and sent directly back to My Fertilizing Company so that they can address the customer’s concerns before a negative review gets posted. “Customer service is the most important thing. This gives us an opportunity to address the situation and hopefully keep the customer happy,” he continues. My Fertilizing Company uses Reviewbot intermittently throughout the year, finding that they have the best response towards the end of the season when the grass is green and growing, and lawns look their best. In addition, Reviewbot automatically refreshes reviews older than six months to keep everything current.

Reviewbot sends automatic emails that make it easy for customers to give reviews
Negative reviews are sent back to the company so issues can be addressed

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“In one email blast, we got 50 five star reviews — overnight in a 24 hour period.”

Ryan Shiplett
My Fertilizing Company

The Value

Shiplett and Walsh both note that the response they received through Reviewbot was immediate and effective. “In one email blast, we got 50 five star reviews – overnight in a 24 hour period. It was awesome,” says Shiplett. Walsh agrees, noting, “I do all of the finances, so I was a little against it at the beginning because of the cost. But: If I can pay x amount of money for this many reviews, it’s worth it. Reviews are probably the most important factor in terms of customers making online decisions.”