Log in 
Wim van der Helden, owner of the eponymous construction company Van der Helden, has been active in collecting reviews for over 5 years. To date, this has had a positive effect: with a 9.3 out of 10, they score very high within Bouwnu – the independent comparison website for residential construction. This has even earned them the title of ‘Best Remodeler’ in 2018! Wim is happy to open up about his experiences with reviews.
Before joining the Bouwnu website, the construction company had already started using customer stories on their website. “…the section ‘customer tells..’, with this we tried to elicit reactions from the customer with which we could go public”, says Wim. Bouwnu came around the corner at the moment when they wanted to make this more accessible for their customers. They were very enthusiastic about the formula of the reviews “because in a very short space of time customers can be told how they experienced the cooperation”.
To get an overall picture of this, Van der Helden invites every customer for a review: “whether the construction went well, badly or mediocre, makes no difference to us”. After each completion, they personally ask the client to leave a review and as a reminder they send out an email afterwards.
Subsequently, the construction company receives mostly positive reviews. Have they ever had a negative review among them? Yes, this can always happen. According to Wim this is not a problem: “the reviews we receive are all super positive, but how credible are you then?”. This critical assessment, together with all the praise from the others gives a reliable picture of the company.
To bring out this image, Van der Helden uses its obtained reviews in various ways. Wim tells us that he highlights projects on his Facebook page by means of the accompanying reviews and some nice pictures. In addition, he displays his obtained grade on the website by means of the widget.
These displays of the reviews and the grade also have a positive effect on the employees. It is very popular with them: “this raises the bar and encourages the employees to finish the job with a high enough score“. The owner likes to use the reviews internally. For example, he always lets them come back during the end-of-year speech: “they have certainly earned that pat on the back”.
Not only employees but also potential customers are positively influenced by the reviews. Wim says that consumers actually use the reviews in their decision-making process. He often hears from customers that, in addition to the appropriate range and the extensive website, they have chosen Van der Helden precisely because of the excellent reviews and the rating on Bouwnu.
Because of the fact that new customers base their choice on good reviews, Wim definitely recommends companies to use reviews. “It also forces you to solve problems to keep the customer satisfied”, “It is a bit of a stick behind the door”, adds the owner. Up to now, Bouwbedrijf Van der Helden has certainly not regretted collecting reviews via Bouwnu: “It is nice to strive for a good review; a good end result”.
Start collecting reviews now, just like Construction company van der Helden. The listing on Bouwnu is free for every building and contractor company! Besides this free package there are also several interesting extra features to get even more out of the reviews. Already curious about the other packages? Check them out here.
