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Look Closely For Information, Validity, Choices and Value
In 2003, when we were first putting together the ingredients of The Service Guide that eventually evolved into what you see today, homeowners knew of only a few resources to turn to for help finding reliable contractors or home service professionals in the Twin Cities. At the time, only a small handful of different resources existed, each with similar objectives of trying to connect the homeowner in need to a “good” reliable contractor. Six years later, many other Internet based companies have cropped up in this market, all trying to rally for the connection between the homeowner and their contractor of choice. We find it interesting that so many others also felt the need for a service like that, and also find it interesting to see so many different ways to approach a similar means.
As a Twin Cities homeowner, this provides you with many options. We encourage you to check out any that you may come across, including us. There is definitely a gamut of services out there. Compare us to the others that you find. See what each one can do for you, and how. Look closely for information, validity, choices and value. Here is a little bit about what you will find.
Are you comparing apples to apples OR  apples to oranges?
First off, you have your free services, and you have those that require a membership fee. It’s basically up to you to decide if there is enough information and value provided to determine whether paying the fee makes sense or not. Remember, too, that part of determining value is whether the fee required is reasonable and if there is any sort of value guarantee.
Many operate from out-of-state claiming to have a prime list of great contractors. Important questions to ask are, “How do they really know who they are working with?” Have they had the chance to actually meet the companies they represent? Visit their offices, showrooms, or facilities? See any of their actual work? Or was completing some paperwork and paying a fee all that was required? Why would you contact a company in another state for a recommendation for a contractor in Minneapolis? Do they have reps operating out of Minneapolis, providing a closer local level of service, or are all their operations based out of state?
Some sites claim they “pre-screen” their contractors. This term is important, and should actually be pre-screened, itself. What exactly does this mean? Can you easily locate the particular pre-screening requirements on the site? Equally, as important as having pre-screening criteria, is sticking to them. You can do some spot checking on your own of random businesses on sites where you can see the company listings. Start with checking with our state to see if they are legitimately registered as a business. Companies conducting business in our state are required to be registered with the Secretary of State of Minnesota by law. Second, you can easily check their complaint history with the Better Business Bureau. If that is part of the pre-screening criteria, you will get an immediate sense of the site´s integrity and real standards with this spot check. Ask yourself how many complaints are acceptable to you?
Some sites provide feedback from consumers of the businesses they hire or contact as an extra added value. This can be a helpful tool, provided it is taken in the right perspective. The integrity of the information is what you should look for. See if the site enforces any kind of verifcation of their reviews to ensure validity. See if there are restrictions against family members, co-workers or competitors submitting reviews. Keep in mind the feedback information is simply other people’s opinions. If the site is policing the Review process, your information should be more reliable and therefore more valuable. Reviews are becoming an important and expected feature of sites where consumers can purchase or hire online. Reading Reviews, looking for patterns, a savvy consumer can pick out the higher risk companies from the safe ones.
Some companies offer some sort of a print directory. These are handy resources, without a doubt. Be careful, though, as with anything in print, often the information in them becomes obsolete rather quickly, or can change before the next edition of the directory. Even The Better Business Bureau’s Better Pages publishes paid for ads by members whose ratings went from good to bad due to accumulated complaints or unresolved complaints. Although, these companies were in good standings when the book went into print, less than a year later, these companies represent that high risk a homeowner would want to steer clear of.
How much information can you learn about the companies on each site? Consider information a great plus and a further value to you. Don’t assume because a business is on a list, that they are automatically worthy of being hired. Try and learn as much as you can beforehand. Similar to making a purchase online, hiring services online is no different. Smart on-line consumers expect to find pertinent information they need on the Internet about products or services they are considering. Minimally, when looking for contractors, it is helpful to see license numbers where applicable (you can obtain helpful information about the company´s current status, whether the license is active or inactive with this number), insurance verification, company bio and history, business philosophies, areas of coverage, etc. Every business is different. Although, there are hundreds of plumbers or electricians you can choose from, each one has its own uniqueness. Each one of us also connects with something different. Do you prefer to work with a small, family-owned business or a large company? Maybe longevity of a business, their location, or their experience levels are what you look for. Or is the color of their van, or the friendliness of their photo what connects for you? The more information you can obtain about businesses you might be considering hiring, the easier you will be able to find companies you ultimately click with and ones that you don´t. Check each site for this kind of information. Is it there? Is it pretty basic information, or can you really wrap your arms around the information provided you about each company? Try not to settle for less than you should. If there is not enough information, try and find it somewhere else.  
As a consumer, you can operate in a number of different ways, depending on which website or service you choose. If you are the e-mail type, there are those where you can type out your project description, click on submit, and wait for the calls to come to you.
If you are the type that prefers to speak to a real person, there are referral services that will take your calls Monday through Friday and match you with a contractor in your area.
If you are the type that prefers to operate independently or anonymously on your own time, there are sites that provide you with some information where you can do just that.
Whichever mode you choose, the only “guidance” we can offer you is to always remain the smart consumer. Smart consumers do their homework and, usually, it pays off. Remember, just because a company appears on a "list" does not reveal anything about their quality, reputation, or legitimacy. In most cases it simply means they paid an advertising fee to be there. You need to make sure the contractors you ultimately end up considering have the credentials they are actually required to have. Take “pre-screening” seriously, but definitely pre-screen the pre-screening. Go so far as to contact the owners of a few businesses on each site you are considering and ask them what they had to do in order to be included on that site. You judge the legitimacy and value of the site / service from there.
Bottom line, if you establish a comfort level with any of the sites, hire the companies you personally click with and see what transpires. If you have a good experience, use the service or site again. If you don’t, take a moment and contact the site / service and inform them of your experience. The way they handle your feedback will be the most telling to you about who and what is behind the company.
When we set out to create The Service Guide, we decided way back then that we wanted to create the very best resource for homeowners to find trustworthy home service companies in the Twin Cities. Not just a good service, but the best! The Service Guide combines what works the best for both consumers and contractors. Over the past five plus years our service and our company has experienced phenomenal growth in both visitation to our site, and usage of our service. We can see that what we have created is effective for the thousands of homeowners that use our service every month. But, we always want to know how we can be even better! We listen to what consumers and contractors tell us they want and don’t want. Our goal is to provide what you want, and to provide it better than everyone else does. We invite your feedback at any time to let us know what we are doing right in your eyes, and what we can be doing differently to provide you with the best service ever. Give us your feedback!
 
The Service Guide, both consumer and contractor friendly, works well for these reasons:
· We keep it clean! All of our Customer Reviews are verfiried for legitimacy before they are
posted. As consumers are looking towards this kind of information to help make smarter
and more informed hiring decsions, it is important to be able to trust the information in
our Reviews. Homeowners are able to dependably have positive, quality experiences with
companies they hire from our site every month
· We keep it real. We have required credentials… licenses, insurances, and bonds for the
businesses we promote, actually on file
· We verify that the information we receive from the businesses we promote is true and
accurate before we post it, so consumers can trust the integrity of the information they are
reading. Because of the nature of advertising, in general, most other advertising alternatives
do not confirm or verify truthfulness or accuracy beforehand. A high majority of the ads you
see and hear are fairly true to form, but as a consumer, you might be surprised at the number
of ads that contain false, inaccurate, or deceiving information. Being able to decipher the true
from the not so true can be hard, but even so, this kind of information is up to the consumer to
research. The only way you would really know is to do some checking yourself.
· We are a local company working with other local companies and local consumers
· We offer basic services for free, keeping the doors open to everyone. For those interested
in additional tools and information, we offer membership benefits that include access to
detailed Company Profiles, as well as Ratings and Reviews from local consumers who
have hired businesses on our site, special member discounts, coupons, and more.
· We offer flexibility by providing three different ways to use our service
2. E-mail us with your project descriptions and wait for response from
qualified companies in your area - available to members, only
3. Call us directly for help or for a contractor recommendation - available to
members, only
· Our information stays current on our website, eliminating the possibility of out-of-date
information
· We provide lots of information about each company you will find on our website.
As a member, you have access to detailed company profiles, plus consumer Ratings
and Reviews from local homeowners to help you get to know each business and to
learn about how they can help you achieve your service needs and project goals.
· We offer two coupon / savings programs that help homeowners hire “good,” reliable
contractors, plus save hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars on their home
improvements and repairs. See more....
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