Last week, we shared our findings on the methods that homeowners employ to find home improvement contractors. This week, we are taking one step further and exploring how homeowners perceive the various methods for finding home improvement contractors.
Survey respondents were provided with a list of eight methods used to find contractors and asked to rank them based on how much they trust each method. The average ranking for each method was compiled and displayed in reverse order in the following bar graph:
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) was ranked as the most trusted consumer method for finding a home improvement contractor, followed closely by Angie’s List. Google trumped Yelp, the Yellow Pages and ServiceMagic while Craigslist received the lowest ranking.
Results were then filtered based on respondents overall satisfaction with the home improvement contractors they had hired in the past year and compared side-by-side.
Highly satisfied homeowners were slightly more likely to trust the BBB and personal referrals while highly dissatisfied homeowners were slightly more likely to trust ServiceMagic and Yelp.
Is there any detail as to who commissioned this survey?
It either seems extremely biased towards BBB or needs a lot more respondents to remove any doubts as to it’s accuracy.
This was an independent survey. We were interested in learning more about our user perspectives to further refine the user experience on the site as well as our ranking algorithm.
As noted, the sample size was N=546 and non-random. Respondents were BuildZoom users who had hired at least one home improvement contractor in the past year. There are methodological shortcomings associated with both the sample size and the sampling method.
We’re in the process of compiling our findings into a report in which we will delve deeper into the methodological shortcoming of the research initiative and also provide recommendations for future initiatives.
The best lists for finding trustworthy contractors are usually through portals that provide matching services to homeowners and contractors. It is very hard to find a good portal system that works and is used by customers daily. Craigslist is the closest concept that is available. However, growing websites are developing and expanding to provide service similar to craigslist.
I would like to think that referrals are ones best approach but state required licenses is a good way to prove one is a legitimate contractor.