Local Small Businesses Can Now Reach More Customers Thanks To Yelp’s Revamped Hiring Experience

Yelp’s 2016 Request-A-Quote system has undergone an overhaul in the past year, and its newest iOS update will launch a revamped hiring experience to better connect local contractors and small businesses with clients and potential leads. Yelp is hoping users will stop thinking of the site as just for reviews and instead will think of it first when looking for the best small businesses to meet their needs.

These expanded tools will help both small business owners and consumers by streamlining communications and building connections between local businesses and Yelp users.

According to Product Lead Yue Wu on Yelp’s official blog, “The current state of hiring home and local service businesses can often be frustrating and riddled with inefficiencies. Oftentimes, people don’t know what kind of details they need to share when trying to hire a contractor, mechanic or landscaper, plus outdated games of phone tag make it hard to get a hold of a professional. Business owners may even have to reject promising leads because they don’t match their service offerings. The industry is ripe for innovation and in need of a marketplace solution that helps both professionals grow their business and people easily get things done.”

The new Request-A-Quote system will better connect contractors with clients. On the small business end, Yelp is launching a subscription service called Nearby Jobs, which is aimed at helping businesses better target customers and leads best suited for their services. Request-A-Quote is free and can be turned off, while Nearby Jobs costs $240/month.

Check out Yelp’s quick introduction of its Hiring Experience for Home and Local Services below:

Building Better Bridges Between Businesses & Clients

Nearby Jobs — Courtesy of Yelp

When shelter-in-place orders hit most of the nation in March of 2020, the economy experienced a sudden shift. However, people stuck at home began looking into home improvement projects or local businesses for hire. Compared with the same time last year, interest in home and local services is up 25%, according to Yelp.

“Even in the midst of a pandemic, home and local services have proven to be resilient and an essential part of the local economy with more than four million projects created in the first half of 2020,” said Wu.

It is with this focus in mind that Yelp expanded its Request-A-Quote and Nearby Jobs platforms. The goal is faster quotes and connections to service providers, streamlined appointment scheduling, and an easier vetting process. All of those areas were tagged as important by clients in a Kelton Global Survey.

According to Wu, “Nearly a quarter (22%) of respondents in the Kelton Global study weren’t sure where to start their search for a professional while one-third (33%) admit it was difficult to find a professional they trusted. Yelp’s guided questionnaires solve this hiring friction by asking consumers a handful of tailored questions about the specific job they need done within the Request-A-Quote experience.”

Soon, over 100 industries will be represented on Yelp and available for streamlined connections to people on the hunt for their services.

The subscription platform Nearby Jobs will give businesses more control over the Request-A-Quote experience. Wu said, “For businesses looking to grow their company and client base, this unique product allows them to quickly pitch their capabilities and competitive pricing to consumers. This can be an ideal solution for newer businesses looking to earn consumer trust by building out their portfolio of work and growing their online presence.”

All of this is packaged in a new and sleek facelift to the entire Yelp interface. Yelp is modernizing and expanding — the result is, of course, better reviews for all users, too. With customers and businesses finding the right fit and Yelp vetting these experiences, increased and more substantial reviews are a natural and great outcome from this new platform.

Other Ways Your Business Can Tap Into Yelp

Reviews are the bane and beauty of some small business owners’ existence — and Yelp’s edge in the review-generating business is quite large. With consumers and small business owners trusting the reviews from Yelp, adding transparency to the process only strengthens the platform’s relevance and assistance to small business owners.

If you haven’t, create a business page on Yelp and utilize the free tools — including the updated Request-A-Quote. For more information on Yelp, you can read our article, Should I Use Yelp For Business Owners? 

For more tips on how your business can handle COVID-19, check out Merchant Maverick’s guide to outbreaks and pandemics.

H/T Search Engine Land