Do “rating & review” sites influence moving industry customers?

By Eric Anders • Sep 18th, 2011 • Category: Social Media Marketing, THE CHANGING FACE OF RELOCATION

Last week the father of a recently divorced mother of three asked “What is the best rating and review site to pick a mover?”.

“The truth is there aren't any.”, I replied.

“There aren't any good movers?”, he asked.

“No, there's plenty of very good, very capable movers. Just not a lot of worthwhile resources for sorting and selecting dependable candidates online”, I responded.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Apparently my visitor was trying to help his daughter and her family plan their move back to Virginia from their home in Southern California.

She started her search at several of find-a-mover business lead aggregators found online – then quickly abandoned her effort after she was inundated with scores of pesky phone calls from overly aggressive sales people.

Dad, meanwhile, took a different tack. He decided to visit several of the popular online “word-of-mouth” venues that depend on user generated rating and reviews to collect customer feedback. It didn't take him long to figure out he'd waded into deep doodoo.

While most of the popular user generated “rating and review” sites like Yelp.com, Epinions.com, Kudzu.com and Citysearch.com are great for picking a neighborhood restaurant, nightclub, or dry cleaner, they're really not very dependable for picking a mover – especially if relocating interstate or internationally.

How Do Consumers Measure Mover Quality??

Many of the highly rated moving companies my new guest initially selected, for instance, only performed local moves. Their “Five Star” ratings, it appears, were influenced by their highly transient (and very prolific) younger local customer base. According to their advertising or Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration household goods motor carrier profile, some only use two-axle straight trucks – way too small to move a fully furnished 3200 sq. ft home.

For most of the reviewers, it seems, vendor quality is determined by price. Service was subjectively defined by arrival and finish times. Overall value was invariably measured by relationship of final cost to the original estimate amount. Once again, in an inexperienced consumer's mind, price usually trumps quality performance.

Some of the most highly rated man-and-a van companies no longer existed, apparently driven out of business by either the lack of customers, state regulatory authorities, their poor quality service, or unbelievably low cost business model.

Unfortunately, most folks move so infrequently, they don't know that. And with more and more companies abandoning their traditional corporate relocation or move management programs in lieu of lump sum distributions, increasingly inexperienced, uninformed consumers are left on their own when selecting a mover.

Due to their extreme popularity in today's online marketplace, these types of 'rating and review' sites are frequently where many shoppers begin their search for local products and services – especially among younger, less experienced users. As use of these WOM sites increases among older, more seasoned customers, however, some local vendors have begun catering to the online rating and review business model.

“Word of Mouth” Drives Demand

In a recent article entitled Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com, Michael Luca, a researcher with Boston University's Department of Economics, demonstrated that:

A one-star increase in a Yelp rating leads to a 9% increase in revenue
This effect is driven by independent restaurants; ratings do not affect restaurants with chain affiliation, and
Chain restaurants have declined in market share as Yelp has penetrated the market.
Consumers do not use all available information and are more responsive to quality changes that are more visible, and;
Consumers respond more strongly when a rating contains more information.

Although his research focused primarily on eateries, the impressive financial results generally suggest that online consumer reviews have become a more prominent substitute for more traditional forms of business reputation in the virtual marketplace.

If true, that would mean that those small, independent local movers, brokers or other relocation service providers who aggressively cultivate their online performance rating and reviews as part of their internal CRM or Web 2.0 social media programs are effectively undermining the traditional sales and marketing efforts of much larger national van lines and their established affiliated agents – especially in the local moving niche.

Finding a Reputable Mover

“What is the best way to find a dependable mover then?” asked the now worried father.

“Search through this list of national van lines, find their local agents, and ask at least three of the most reputable companies to provide in-home estimates to your daughter”

Interstate Household Goods Motor Carriers	U.S. Dept of Transportation Number
Allied Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 76235
American Red Ball Transit	DOT#: 125558
Arpin Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 49922
Atlas Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 125550
Bekins Van Lines LLC	DOT#: 76029
Budd Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 185771
Covan World-wide Moving	DOT#: 256677
Graebel Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 220843
Joyce Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 247771
Mayflower Transit LLC	DOT#: 125563
New World Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 258748
north American Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 70851
Stevens Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 72029
United Van Lines LLC	DOT#: 77949
Wheaton Van Lines Inc	DOT#: 70719

“Then forward your daughter a copy of the Moving Cost Estimate Comparison Tool. Have her collect and record the information from each company she is considering or salesperson who visits her home. Finally, have her read How to Find a Reputable Mover: A Professional Guide."

Yesterday, the daughter presented me with a list of three established moving and storage companies.

Each are affiliated with a large national household good carrier.
The estimates were close … and competitive! Two were binding; one was based on actual weight.
All three have been in business at the same location for five years.
Two have received their van lines highest customer service awards in the last three years; one for two years in a row.
NONE ARE LISTED AT YELP or EPINIONS
One is indexed at Citysearch. Unfortunately, the well-respected company only has a two star rating from one very disappointed customer who rated them as being 'too expensive'.
I had to look hard to find one at Kudzu. Someone spelled the company name wrong. It had a three star rating for Quality, Service and Value based on the subjective input from five customers. This vendor was also not easily indexed at Google.

Whaddya Think?

Rating and review sites seem to be gaining in popularity in today's marketplace – especially as more and more consumers begin their search for a relocation product or service supplier online. The growing popularity of social media marketing widgets such as “Like”, “Thumbs Up”, Thumbs Down”; "Plus 1" or “Fav” buttons suggests that the method may be working.

While these types of user generated content venues may not be the best option to vet a local or long distance mover, the public seems to be enamored with the option of digging through the comments of other users instead of simply relying on the often expensive (and increasingly ineffective) advertising many relocation service providers invest in to attract their attention.

Maybe it's time the moving industry developed their own relocation rating and review site.

Moving Cost Estimate Comparison Tool – RELO Roundtable

How to Find a Reputable Mover: A Professional Guide – RELO Roundtable

I’m so confused! How do I find a mover NOW? – RELO Roundtable

Movers lined up at the hanging tree – RELO Roundtable

Are you shopping for a cheap rate…or a reliable mover? – RELO Roundtable

is a mutually supportive but commercially neutral learning environment that deals with the trials and tribulations of movin’.

Have questions or need professional assistance with an upcoming moving and storage issue, or help choosing a domestic or international relocation product or service supplier?

Tagged as: Angie's List, Citysearch.com, Epinions.com, Kudzu.com, Mover Quality Ratings, Mover Reviews, Moving and Storage Companies, Protect Your Move.com, Ratings and Reviews, Star Ratings, User Generated Content, User Generated Reviews, Word of Mouth (WOM) Marketing, Yelp.com

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http://twitter.com/PaigeHolden PaigeHolden

Great post, per usual! I have to agree with your analysis on review sites. Because most people only move once or twice in their lives, they lack the knowledge needed to provide an accurate review of a moving company. As you said, most will default to the easiest parameters to measure without a greater understanding of the service – price and delivery dates. Of course, these are important factors to consider, but they do not paint the full picture and disreputable movers are smart enough to know that these are the hot buttons to push to get the sale, so there’s no discerning value. Consequently, there is a lack of volume of reviews and, when a review does appear, it’s rarely an accurate portrayal of the company as a whole (it’s usually all bad, sometimes all good, and sometimes nothing substantial at all).

There’s also a lack of awareness about the agency model that most national van lines follow. Customers will see “United” or “Mayflower,” and pay little attention to the actual agency name. Then, when they want to review the company, they assess the national van line, not the actual company that handled their move. Of course this has its pros and cons but, for the most part, I wish more people understood that national van lines reviews are a sum of the work of many companies, all of which have different strengths and weaknesses.
Eric Anders

Thanks, Paige!

Local businesses are increasingly losing the insight they gain from dealing directly with their
customers as more and more relocation related transactions have moved on-line. Some very creative independent movers and large carrier/agents seem to capitalize on that “lack of awareness” about the large national van lines agency model. Some, it seems, have begun to effectively rejigger their sales and marketing efforts to cater to the customers who use these types of ‘rating and review’ sites to select a vendor. A few have been very successful in the major markets I looked at!

I’m surprised that none of the majors have figured out a way to use their internal quality service
performance standards and metrics they collect on their agents, drivers and 409 carriers to create local profiles for their affiliated partners that would automatically feed these type of user generated content sites.
http://www.MyMovingReviews.com/ Martin Panayotov

Hey Eric, great article.
As I am involved with a moving reviews website I can see the trend that people rely more and more on customer reviews. This of course is only one of the many factors people use to determine which mover to select.
In my opinion, doing an extensive research before booking is mandatory. Stating with moving reviews and ratings, customers should also check these very important sources of information before making their decision:
- Checking for license information on the company’s website.
- Checking if the mover is licensed with the DOT.
- Checking the BBB rating of the company.
- Checking for any moving industry associations affiliation.
- Checking multiple moving reviews websites and contacting some of the customers to ask more about their experience.

We monitor that more and more people connect with reviewers to ask more questions about their experience with a particular company. Doing an extensive research will in most cases guarantee hiring a company that will provide quality service.
Eric Anders

Martin, thanks for the feedback.

In today’s cash-strapped economy, it seems that more and more consumers and corporate clients planning a relocation are indeed doing more research into the companies they’re considering.

For instance, the recent article about the government cracking down on rogue movers and brokers (http://bit.ly/zTMq2S) has attracted more attention in the past few weeks than most of the other consumer oriented articles posted here.

I, too, believe everyone planning a relocation should do extensive research before booking with a carrier. That’s why we’ve included the easy-to-use links to the resources in the above article.

I also think it’s important for full disclosure. My Moving Reviews, the company you represent, is owned and operated by Xpress Movers LLC (http://bit.ly/yL7kVy), a small mover based in Massachusetts that has no broker authority. (http://1.usa.gov/xgF7Cb)

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