How One Company Doubled Its Customer Reviews in 2 Years [Endless Customers Podcast Ep. 171]

This transcript has been generated by AI and not checked for accuracy. 

[00:00:00] Bob Ruffolo: Are you looking to get more Google reviews for your business or more reviews on any of the platforms that matter most to your customers? That's exactly what we're going to address in today's episode

[00:00:08] Bob Ruffolo: We're sitting down with a company that has generated more than 5,000 customer reviews, with the majority of those coming in just the last two years after they made some major changes to the way they approach review generation. They'll share their entire playbook so you can learn how to increase the number, quality, and consistency of the reviews you're generating, as well as how to get multiple reviews from the same customer

[00:00:30] Bob Ruffolo: Stick around to the end of the episode and discover a technique to turn your reviews and customer proof into the ultimate AI visibility engine. Let's get into it. 

[00:00:38] ​Stephanie Baiocchi: You're listening to the Endless Customers Podcast, brought to you by the team at IMPACT.

[00:00:43] Stephanie Baiocchi: Endless Customers is the proven system to become the most known and trusted brand in your market. If you want to learn the principles of endless customers and how you can implement them in your business, pick up a copy of Endless Customers, a national bestseller, wherever books are sold. Ready to start implementing endless customers in your business?

[00:01:00] Stephanie Baiocchi: Talk to IMPACT about how our coaching program can help you implement [00:01:00] endless customers to success. And if you want to experience endless customers in person, don't miss our upcoming event, Endless Customers Live, in Hartford, Connecticut, October 5th through the 7th, 2026. Registration is now open. And now, onto the show.

[00:01:19] Stephanie Baiocchi: Here's your host, Bob Ruffolo. 

[00:01:22] Bob Ruffolo: And welcome to another episode of the Endless Customers Podcast. We have a great episode here today, and we have our guest, Shane Rogers from Zintex. Shane, thanks for being on the show with us today

[00:01:34] Shane Rogers: Hey, Bob. Thanks for, uh, having me today. We're super excited to share, to share everything with you guys

[00:01:39] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, well, we're really happy to have you here. So, um, so you're with a company called Zintex Remodeling. Uh, I think we could probably learn what Zintex Remodeling does, but talk about your role at Zintex and what Zintex does

[00:01:51] Shane Rogers: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, again, Shane Rogers, my title is Director of Strategy and Innovation. Uh, you-- the last [00:02:00] 16 months or so, uh, working with Impact, my title was Content Manager, right? So I've had a chance to, to learn a lot from, uh, from your teams, right? And more specifically from Allie, from, from Mandy, Joe, and Janet.

[00:02:14] Shane Rogers: So great, great team. I think, I think you stuck me with the best team, so I appreciate that. Um-

[00:02:19] Bob Ruffolo: out- they're outstanding, all those guys. Absolutely

[00:02:21] Shane Rogers: Yeah. No, they, they were great. So, um, but you're right. We're, we're a home improvement company. We're based here in Lewisville, Texas, so another northern suburb of, of Dallas. Um, and we specialize in bath and shower remodels, uh, more specifically, you know, on the one to two-day turnarounds, right?

[00:02:39] Shane Rogers: And, um, we work closely with large, large, uh, manufacturers. We are the largest Jacuzzi bath dealer in the nation, right? So we s- we serve, uh, all the way from the southern tip of, of Texas and McAllen to, you know, Tallahassee, Florida, uh, and then all the way up to, uh, Iowa and Illinois, right? So [00:03:00] a pretty large service area.

[00:03:01] Shane Rogers: Um, and, uh, yeah, our, our business model is based on in-home consultations in a, in a one call close setting, um, where we provide warm leads to our, to our design consultants to go in there and, and close the deal, right? And, um, you know, we've been working with Impact for the last 16 or so months. You guys have helped improve a lot of the processes from our, you know, within our customer journey and, um, you know, we look to continue just to, to keep this thing rolling, right?

[00:03:31] Shane Rogers: We've, we've grown roughly 1600% over the last five years, um, led by our CEO, Nick, Nick Sindel. And, and, uh, you know, his plan is to not... To, to keep it going, right? Not stop. So, um,

[00:03:45] Bob Ruffolo: Well, we're, we're, we're incredibly proud of you guys, and you've done great work. And you have over 5,000 reviews, so, um, that doesn't happen by accident. That has to be something that's very strategic, and, and clearly you guys are doing [00:04:00] great things there to get those reviews. So let's zoom all the way out.

[00:04:04] Bob Ruffolo: Before we talk about exactly how you're getting those reviews, talk about the company's approach to reviews. So, um, clearly it's important. How'd you get everybody on board, and how is that embedded into the culture of your business right now?

[00:04:18] Shane Rogers: Yeah, I think you hit it on the head right there is it has to be part of your culture, right? And, um, you know, as we look back on it, I would say our strategy really changed about two, two years ago, right? And, and kind of really f- really picked up pace as we started to work with you guys. But, you know, what we saw was we didn't have a, like, unhappy customer problem, right?

[00:04:42] Shane Rogers: What we had was friction within the process and then poor timing

[00:04:47] Bob Ruffolo: What, what does that mean? So w- what, when you go into that a little bit more, what, what were the problems that you were having? 'Cause I'm sure a lot of people listening too might have similar issues and that you guys fixed. So go into that a little bit if you don't mind.

[00:04:58] Shane Rogers: Yeah, I think, you know, in [00:05:00] regarding to, uh, the friction and the timing, right, is there were, there were often times, uh, you know, flashback two years ago where we're, we were just simply asking, you know, for a review, right? And whether it's at the end of a consultation, uh, you know, at the end of a completed install, um, we were just saying, "Yeah, thank you, you know,

[00:05:21] Bob Ruffolo: It be great. Yeah

[00:05:22] Shane Rogers: please, please review me," right? And, and what we found was that wasn't, uh, as direct in obviously getting as, as many reviews as we wanted, right? And, and it was just unorganized

[00:05:36] Bob Ruffolo: where were you at that point in terms of reviews? So if you're at 5,000 now, two years ago, where, where would you say that you were at?

[00:05:42] Shane Rogers: Yeah. Uh, man, I would say we were probably in the mid-2000s,

[00:05:48] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, so that's significant. That's a, you're talking about doubling in just two years and, and

[00:05:53] Bob Ruffolo: doubling 

[00:05:53] Shane Rogers: we definitely-- Yeah, absolutely. We have definitely made this a priority. Um, you [00:06:00] know, I think what helps, Bob, is, you know, that we wanna make sure we put into the story is how much we've, we've expanded geographically, right? And so as we've gone from, you know, roughly, you know, eighteen markets or so two years ago to now serving, you know, in the low fortys, so forty-two, forty-three markets.

[00:06:20] Shane Rogers: You know, it certainly helps when you, when you have more GBP pages and you have, you know, more potential customers and things like that, right? Uh, you have more people out in the field that are asking for those, for those reviews. Um, but really I think it just goes back to the strategy and the process and making sure that it's part of your culture, like you mentioned in the, in the question.

[00:06:40] Bob Ruffolo: And, uh, providing incentives at times, right? Um,

[00:06:44] Bob Ruffolo: Incentives your people or incentives for people, uh, doing reviews or leaving re- reviews for you

[00:06:51] Shane Rogers: Yeah, uh, great question. So really more incentives for our employees, right? And, and have it be some sort of competition,

[00:06:59] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, [00:07:00] yeah.

[00:07:00] Bob Ruffolo: Okay 

[00:07:00] Shane Rogers: and so we would, uh, we've had months where, uh, in, in our geographic regions that we break our markets into, that we've had competitions for design consultants to get a, you know, the number of reviews, for installers to get a number of reviews, and, and more specifically to, to get their name mentioned in the reviews, right?

[00:07:22] Shane Rogers: Um, and, and make sure that these, these people that are reading the reviews, like, really understand, like, "Man, I, I read about Bob on the reviews. Man, I know he's gonna do a great job." Right? And, and, and just building that. And, and not only is there a, you know, at times a monetary incentive, but man, what we've seen is it, it provides a, a great value of, like, pride to those individuals that, that are seeing their name, that know internally that they're making a difference in, in the business, but then, you know, they can see it as well online and, and within these reviews, so

[00:07:57] Bob Ruffolo: Amazing, Shane. So, okay, so now [00:08:00] let's get even more tactical now. Let's talk order of operations. If you could walk us back two years ago, we've got 2,500 or so reviews. They're-- the quality of them is probably not where we wanted. They weren't specific enough, uh, but we had them, and they were helping, but we knew we could do better.

[00:08:17] Bob Ruffolo: What was the first thing you did, the second thing you did, the third thing you did that got us to where we are today?

[00:08:22] Shane Rogers: Yeah. So I would say the first thing is make sure we are conscious about all the touch points, right? And where throughout this customer journey we want to have reviews, right? Not waiting till... You know, a lot of home improvement companies probably wait until the project's done, right? And I think they're missing opportunities to get reviews throughout the customer journey.

[00:08:47] Shane Rogers: For example, we, we, our design consultants ask for a review after the d- design consult- uh, consultation, whether they get a sale or not, right? Like, how did, how did we [00:09:00] do? Get a name, you know, into that review and obviously, you know, drive that positive interaction. Uh, from there we ask again at our point of install, right?

[00:09:09] Shane Rogers: Or after our completed install from our installer

[00:09:12] Bob Ruffolo: even if they already gave a review, you're asking them again so they can, they can leave two reviews.

[00:09:17] Shane Rogers: Yep,

[00:09:18] Bob Ruffolo: Okay. Oh, please keep going.

[00:09:20] Shane Rogers: Yeah, you're getting the same homeowner to provide multiple reviews, right? Um, you know, and, and this may spoil one of your later questions, but we've even gone further and, and, you know, taken those two opportunities to provide reviews, but then created a internal or s- uh, you know, customer satisfaction survey, right?

[00:09:39] Shane Rogers: That can really bundle those things for, uh, telling our internal team exactly how that customer journey went, right? And, and again, backing it by, by those third-party reviews. So, um, so that's, you know... Again, number one, be conscious about those customer touchpoints. Two, I think the, [00:10:00] the other thing, the other major thing that changed, um, and really didn't change until more interaction with your team was what platforms are we driving these individuals to,

[00:10:10] Bob Ruffolo: Sure, yeah

[00:10:11] Shane Rogers: right?

[00:10:11] Shane Rogers: And, you know, Google, uh, obviously, you know, controlling a lot of the, the s- the, the search across the internet and, you know, obviously having Google business pages, um, you know, those are certainly important, right? And, and, and really probably oftentimes the number one go-to, probably even still, right? As, as we see the rise of AI search.

[00:10:32] Shane Rogers: However, to go along with the rise of AI search, we understand that AI is pulling from other platforms, right? And, and so we wanted to be conscious about, " Hey, if we have a 4.8 star rating in DFW, for example, do we really need to get an additional Google rating or should we be driving them to other platforms?"

[00:10:54] Shane Rogers: You know? And, and for us, those platforms include the BBB or Better Business Bureau. Um, they [00:11:00] include, uh, Gilder Quality, right? Which is one specifically for our industry. Uh, Angie's, another one specifically for our industry. Um, and so again, just being conscious about where everybody's going, right?

[00:11:13] Bob Ruffolo: did you, did you do any research to say, um, to find out which ones were actually valued by AI versus ones that weren't? 'Cause you just listed off three that you're, you're investing in, and I'm sure those are very important ones, but I'm sure there's other ones maybe you're not as focused on.

[00:11:30] Bob Ruffolo: Did you, did you do something to say, "Okay, these are the ones we're go- going to go all in on, and we're gonna ignore these ones"?

[00:11:36] Shane Rogers: Yeah, great question. So as I was doing this research, as, you know, interacting with your team and, and understanding how AI is pulling these, these results, right, espe-specifically within reviews, I presented a list of, uh, platforms that I felt like were really important for us, right, outside of Google. Um, you know, we already had the [00:12:00] BBB, right?

[00:12:00] Shane Rogers: But, but the reality was, Bob, is a lot of people go to BBB for complaints, right? And, and so we want to make sure that, that as we have these, these high star ratings, right, whether 4.8 or above, which is kind of our threshold internally and with Google as well, is, you know, we're not gonna move past Google until we get that 4.8, right?

[00:12:25] Shane Rogers: And then once we do, hey, let's go. Where else are we lacking, right? And so, uh, again, we wanted to push more to the BBB, make sure that our positive interactions are outweighing the negatives. Um, you know, things like Angie's List specifically for, you know, industry-based authority. Um,

[00:12:44] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah.

[00:12:45] Shane Rogers: a-and so, you know, I-I'll answer...

[00:12:47] Shane Rogers: Sorry, I'll, I'll answer your question, though. There, there is one that we are still a little bit hesitant on, and this is more from, uh, just historical engagements, but that's Yelp.

[00:12:58] Bob Ruffolo: Really? Okay. Yeah, tell me about [00:13:00] that

[00:13:00] Shane Rogers: Yeah. You know, I think what's interesting about Yelp, and, and I know that they're restructuring their platform a little bit, but, um, you know, before I took over as the content manager and really over, you know, kind of overseeing this process, we actually had an interaction with a customer who created a Yelp account for us. And, and it was like, man, like, it was just out of our control, right? And there was no ability to, to, uh, you know, I guess, you know, again, control that and rein it back and, and making sure that that one poor engagement, right, or interaction didn't, didn't spoil the bunch. And, um, and I know Yelp's changing that, right, and, and getting back kind of really into a key citation area, uh, in relation to AI.

[00:13:48] Shane Rogers: Um, that's one we've, we've been a little bit hesitant on, if I'm being honest.

[00:13:52] Bob Ruffolo: Got it. All right, so let's kind of re-recap where we are so far. So one, uh, we have to understand every customer [00:14:00] touchpoint and how and when should we be asking for a review, and we can get multiple reviews from one homeowner at different stages and different parts of our engagement with them. And then it sounds like, all right, we know we have to be across multiple review platforms.

[00:14:15] Bob Ruffolo: Um, I'm imagining you might even went to AI and said, "For a company like Zyntex, what reviews platforms matter the most to you, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude?" And then finding out what it tells you is saying, "These are the ones that are most important to us, and that's where you should be." Uh, and we've seen BBB. It shows up in e-almost every home improvement, uh, industry as a, a heavily weighted factor, BBB almost across the board, which is great for the BBB who's having this great resurgence right now.

[00:14:46] Bob Ruffolo: I if not an accredited business with an A plus in, you know, acc-- uh, a rating there, um, that's a, that's something, a very simple thing everyone, especially in home improvement, home construction, should be investing in. So, so those are, those are two [00:15:00] really big things. Um, so tell me more. Uh, uh, keep walking me through what's-- So we, we, we've got this part of our culture.

[00:15:06] Bob Ruffolo: We know the touch points. We know where we're supposed to ask. Our people are being incentivized to ask, and they're doing it, getting their names in there. We're across different platforms. Keep unpacking this with me. This is great, Shane.

[00:15:17] Shane Rogers: Yeah. You know, I, I think you hit a little bit on, you know, asking AI, right? And for, for us it was, it was really like putting in ig- incognito mode on AI and, like, acting as a customer, right? And, and, you know, going through our major markets and saying, "Hey, who are the top five bathroom remodel companies or shower remodel companies?"

[00:15:41] Shane Rogers: And seeing what AI pulled, right, and why they ranked

[00:15:44] Bob Ruffolo: how'd you do incognito mode with that? What, what was your te- uh, strategy for doing that? That's a really great point

[00:15:50] Shane Rogers: Yeah, just pulling up in an incognito browser, right? And make sure that, you know, we're not getting all the cache and all the, all the previous queries, right? That, um, you know, [00:16:00] that, that, uh, it would pull up,

[00:16:01] Bob Ruffolo: Okay, so us- using the Ga- the Google tools then mostly. Or were you doing this also with ChatGPT or anything like that as well?

[00:16:08] Shane Rogers: Uh, mainly through Google. Yeah, the Google Chrome tools. Yeah. Um, and then, and I, and I know there's a setting on, on, you know, some of these LLMs as well, but, um, so yeah, going through questions like, "Hey, who are the top five bathroom or shower remodel companies in these markets?"

[00:16:26] Shane Rogers: Uh, and then specifically, you know, what, uh, "Show me Zintex reviews in these markets," right? And seeing what it's pulling from, right? And, and then making sure that we're, we're filling in the gaps, right, where, where we saw

[00:16:41] Bob Ruffolo: Wow, and, and we're living in a time right now where it's never... It's been h- it's hard, but it's also never been easier to improve in marketing because we've never been able to just go to Google and ask, "What does a company like Zyntex have to do so you recommend it more?" Google would be, "Let's give you 10 links," and you'd be like, "All [00:17:00] right, that, that's not really helpful."

[00:17:01] Bob Ruffolo: Today, it'll walk you through its entire process of how it picks a company like Zyntex. And then you can just ask another question and be like, "Now, what does Zyntex have to do specifically so you would recommend them more?" Uh, what a world. What a time to be alive, huh?

[00:17:17] Shane Rogers: It, it is an, it is without a doubt an interesting time to be alive, and I think those that will do these type of queries, right, and research, man, they, they benefit. You know, and I think some, some companies are still a little weary, right, about AI and about some of this, some of this shift in, in search.

[00:17:37] Shane Rogers: And, uh, they're the ones that are gonna be left behind, right? And, and don't get me wrong. There's, there's still, um, you know, I kind of heard a good, a good saying is, like, good GEO is still under this umbrella of good SEO, right? And, and I think as long as they're, they're making sure they're conscious about those SEO and GEO [00:18:00] efforts, that they're gonna, they're gonna benefit, and if not, they're gonna get left behind

[00:18:03] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah, you know, it's, that's a really good point. I know we're-- I wanna make sure we get back to reviews here, but the way I look at it is, um, as the technology capabilities have increased over these years, uh, it allows these tools, whether it be Google AI tools, to start doing things that humans would do, um, where they may have been more limited in the past where we couldn't do this extensive research.

[00:18:31] Bob Ruffolo: We're just going to look at the keywords on the website and domain authority and inbound links, and that was SEO back in the day. And I think that's the way a lot of people still think about SEO, which I'm not sure is necessarily true because as Google has advanced, they have a lot more AI in their algorithms today, and we also have our AI platforms.

[00:18:52] Bob Ruffolo: It's just more and more acting like a buyer actually would act like, cares about the same things that a buyer would care about, [00:19:00] which is why I keep calling that common sense marketing. And it's just like, be a good company that does good work, that has people that care, and you can show that your people care.

[00:19:09] Bob Ruffolo: And you, you have people that are willingness to vouch for you with reviews online and say good things about you, and those are trust signals. But really, that's just doing what businesses should be doing. And if you want to get recommended more by these platforms, whether it be Google or anything, the biggest thing you do right now is just run a great business.

[00:19:27] Bob Ruffolo: And, and so you guys are a great business and, and everything else becomes a byproduct of that. We have a lot of great reviews. We get awards. We do this. Our people say good things about us. Our... You know, it's all a byproduct of the most important thing you do is run a great business that serves your customers better than anyone else.

[00:19:44] Shane Rogers: Yep.

[00:19:45] Shane Rogers: Sell

[00:19:45] Shane Rogers: and install bathrooms better. That's what, that's what... You're exactly right. We try to, try to make sure we stay centered on that, um, sometimes with all this tech, the tech, uh, evolution, right? But, um,

[00:19:59] Bob Ruffolo: It still [00:20:00] doesn't mean you, you, you still have to have processes in place to make sure you're generating reviews. But you could have great processes in a bad company, and all, all you're gonna get is people that say, "No, I don't really wanna review you," or you'll just be opening the door for bad reviews.

[00:20:15] Bob Ruffolo: So

[00:20:15] Shane Rogers: It's kind of the bad reviews start flowing in for sure

[00:20:18] Bob Ruffolo: Now, um, no, no cupping is perfect. You guys are pretty close to, to being perfect, but you have to probably once in a while get a bad review, right?

[00:20:27] Shane Rogers: Absolutely. Yeah. And, and I think, you know, one of the things that's changed in our process, Bob, is, is embracing that, you know, not deleting it, right? For example,

[00:20:38] Bob Ruffolo: that's usually first yeah. Somebody would say, "Oh, I got a bad review. How do I get this down?" So

[00:20:42] Shane Rogers: Exactly. No, you're 

[00:20:43] Bob Ruffolo: i is it

[00:20:44] Bob Ruffolo: fake? If it's fake, get it down. If it's real, you're not gonna get r- get rid of it. Yeah. Keep... I'm sorry, keep going

[00:20:50] Shane Rogers: No, you're fine. Uh, you know, and, and embracing it, you know, showing, you know, obviously responding with- in a timely manner, um, you know, if needed, driving [00:21:00] that conversation offline, you know, is, is sometimes needed. But, but not being afraid to be human, you know? And, you know, as a company, and obviously as, as employees within the company, and, um, you know, we're not perfect, right?

[00:21:14] Shane Rogers: But I think what, as you kind of hinted at a second ago, what makes a good company is they back what they're, what they said they're gonna do, right? And, you know, our, um... I can't tell you how many times that we've, we've had a, you know, three to low star review, and it, and it has spurred action, right? That then, Bob, has allowed us to get a five-star review,

[00:21:37] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah.

[00:21:38] Shane Rogers: right?

[00:21:38] Bob Ruffolo: And so it's, you know, it's kinda like it outweighs it, you know, in the long run. But,

[00:21:42] Shane Rogers: um 

[00:21:43] Bob Ruffolo: have guys operationalized that inside your business? I'm sure there's a lot of people wearing a lot of different hats, especially with what you're doing right now. You're probably covering a lot of different things, reviews being just part of what you do. But how is that operationalized in a business of your size to make sure that someone is accountable to responding [00:22:00] to the negative reviews and then processing that so the business doesn't get another bad review like that again in the future?

[00:22:06] Shane Rogers: Yeah, great question. So, you know, for us that, that has been part of really a, a, um, a multi-person, um, you know, execution, right? And, you know, we have a really, really good, uh, content writer who's now become our content manager, um, who has done a lot of our responding. Um, you know, we use a platform like Birdeye to be able to respond in a single-- on a single platform for all of these review-based platforms, uh, instead of going to 'em all individually.

[00:22:38] Shane Rogers: Um, so that's a, you know, provides the ability to really respond to these in a timely manner. Um- But yeah, it's-- that's-- it's, it's not easy, right? As things come in and, and, uh... But, but we definitely, you know, do everything we can to respond in a timely manner. And then once we respond, again, [00:23:00] driving that conversation offline if needed, and then informing who needs to be informed, right?

[00:23:05] Shane Rogers: Whether it's, you know, the, the production department, the sales department, um, and, and just learning from it, right? I mean, again, we're not perfect. Um, you know, we're, we're-- I would say-- I-I'll give you an example, Bob. Like, we are not a pushy sales tactic company, even though, you know, we're a one-call close. Um, but man, people, s- design consultants get excited, right?

[00:23:29] Shane Rogers: And they don't wanna take no for an answer. And so that, uh, that's one that popped to my head is like, man, occasionally we'll get a, "Man, I felt pressured with these, you know, high, you know, s- uh, high-pressure sales tactics." And it's like, well, that's certainly not the intention. But we'll take it back to the sales department, to the specific design consultant and say, "Hey, how can we get better?"

[00:23:49] Shane Rogers: Right? And, and, uh, you know, using a combination of review and then a Rilla voice, uh, recording of the consultation, man, that can, that can fix the problem pretty [00:24:00] quick

[00:24:00] Bob Ruffolo: Wow. Wow. You know, I, I like the fact that you guys ... Okay, so you have a system in place. You use BirdEye. Uh, that's another tip for everyone here too, is if, if you're saying, "Okay, how do I keep up with all these platforms, and how do I simplify this? How do I get it all in one spot?" BirdEye sounds like you would highly recommend that as a tool for

[00:24:16] Bob Ruffolo: Is that for all

[00:24:18] Shane Rogers: Yeah, I w- I would recommend, absolutely, I would recommend Birdeye, uh, as a, as a tool. They've been a great team for us. Um, not only do we do review responding through there, but they have, uh, great AI recommendations, right? That they've actually launched, um... I, I don't actually, I don't know if I should say that, Bob.

[00:24:36] Shane Rogers: We're kind of, uh, one of the few that are using that beta right now. But, um, man, uh, it has greatly enhanced our ability to look at AI results and, and look at the recommendations and fix things. Um, and then, you know, we're actually using that for the customer satisfaction surveys as well, right? So Birdeye has been a great platform for us.

[00:24:59] Bob Ruffolo: That's great. [00:25:00] Um, amazing. And then, uh, you have the bad reviews. Uh, one thing I also heard you say is that you record all your interactions with your customers, which is great because what you're not doing is, um, going back and saying, "Okay, we have a bad review over here, but we don't know if it's true or not.

[00:25:19] Bob Ruffolo: We don't know if we missed something b- as part of our process or if our rep was having a bad day or a designer or whoever was having a bad day. Maybe was the customer actually just totally out of their mind that day, which happens, or did we screw up?" And now you actually have a record that you can go to and say, "Okay, got a bad review.

[00:25:37] Bob Ruffolo: Can easily connect it back to this interaction, and now we can go and s- and, and put corrective things in place if we need to," which is

[00:25:44] Bob Ruffolo: brilliant

[00:25:45] Bob Ruffolo: You g- you guys running an incredible company over there

[00:25:49] Bob Ruffolo: Uh, you can... It's all Nick Zindell, right? And, you know, I think with his leadership and, you know, people that, similar to what you said earlier, that own their roles, right, [00:26:00] and treat the company as if it was theirs, right, and, and the pride behind it. Um, yeah, this is the best job I've ever had, Bob.

[00:26:08] Shane Rogers: So, uh,

[00:26:09] Bob Ruffolo: Amazing. You know, it's,

[00:26:10] Shane Rogers: it's been a, it's been a great ride

[00:26:12] Bob Ruffolo: this is the ... You know, I, I took over the podcast probably, um, maybe two months ago, and I've done ... This is my second episode we've done on reviews, and both episodes dramatically pointed to the, the, there's a direct correlation between culture and reviews. When you have a great culture, you get great reviews.

[00:26:30] Bob Ruffolo: When you don't have a great culture, you don't get great reviews. It seems to be directly correlated to each other

[00:26:35] Shane Rogers: Yeah. No, I, I agree with that. Um, you know, that's something that it's always been a good culture, right? But I think as we've interacted with your team and, uh, we have actually created a role that is specifically about building culture within our organization, right? And, and, uh, you know, as a lot [00:27:00] of people, a lot of listeners would understand this, building culture, especially across a large, uh, geographic service area is not easy.

[00:27:06] Bob Ruffolo: Well, and how many, how many people work for Zintex?

[00:27:10] Shane Rogers: yeah, so we have over, uh, over 450 employees,

[00:27:13] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah, that's, you know, I, listen, I have 35, 40 at any, any given time. E- even that is, that's, that's tough. But now, you know, try to, you know, 10X that, yeah, it's... How, how do you do that? What, what do you guys do as an organization to, to, um, cultivate the culture that is going to be the future of Zyntex?

[00:27:33] Shane Rogers: Yeah, great question. So I think it starts with training, right? I think, I think, um, for the, for the high majority of our positions, we bring our new employees to our headquarters here in Lewisville, um, meet our leadership, um, kind of see a little bit of behind the scenes as far as warehouse and, you know, kind of, you know, the other, other employees that make this machine run.

[00:27:57] Shane Rogers: Um, and then from there it's, [00:28:00] it's giving people a voice, one, right? Um, letting them understand that, you know, man, this isn't gonna be an easy job, but they're appreciated, right? And that they're going to get more out of it than just a monetary, you know, paycheck, which is great, don't get me wrong. But, you know, I think a lot of people want something bigger than that, um, be- being part of something bigger than themselves.

[00:28:24] Shane Rogers: Um, you know, every month we do a newsletter, an employee-based newsletter where what we call our fast five, right? And so we're informing our employees of, you know, the changes, the wins of the month. Uh, for example, last month was a record sales month for us, right? And we actually sent out our August newsletter yesterday.

[00:28:44] Shane Rogers: And so highlighting that, um, highlighting promotions, you know, of, of individuals within our organization, um, highlighting core values, you know, that we wanna, uh, just kind of continue to be in front of our employees' face, you know, and, [00:29:00] um, just constant communication, you know? And, and on, on top of that, it's, uh, having fun, you know, trying to find areas where you can have fun, where, you know, again, it doesn't seem like, uh, you know, just an 8:00 to 4:00 or 9:00 to 5:00 type of job.

[00:29:16] Shane Rogers: You know, it's something that really, you know, makes a difference. And, and, you know, the last thing I'll say is that, you know, just remember our motto, you know, is kind of what I, what I like to say is, you know, you're enhancing lives, you know? It... We just happen to do it through bathroom remodels, you know?

[00:29:30] Shane Rogers: And, um, so again, that's just a deeper meaning, you know, than just showing up to work.

[00:29:35] Bob Ruffolo: You know, I, I love the way you're talking about this, and this is, this is what was going through my mind as I was listening to you. Um, it's not that you do-- you sell bathroom remodels, which is what you do as a business, but what you really do is everyone starts their day by going into their bathroom, and how they feel as they get ready for their day and they [00:30:00] approach their day, you give them that space that, that they can really feel good about themselves in their home.

[00:30:06] Bob Ruffolo: And everyone ends their day, they are in their bathroom before they go to bed, and the same thing, they start their day and end their day with the work that you guys do. And these are not just customers. These are members of your community. These are your neighbors. These are your families. These are the families of the kids that your kids go to school with, and, and that is, uh, you are changing lives with the work that you do.

[00:30:33] Bob Ruffolo: You know, if you wake up and you're in a bathroom that's got problems and leaky faucets and the, the, you know, the, the tub doesn't work the way it's supposed to, that's not g- a great way to wake up every day or a great way to go to bed every day. You change that. Um, when you bring things like that into the culture, it really does give people purpose to do a great job, and, and clearly Nick and, and the whole team over there is, is doing that.

[00:30:55] Bob Ruffolo: And I know this is a, an episode on reviews, but starts there. [00:31:00] Again, it starts there

[00:31:01] Shane Rogers: you're exactly right. I mean, I, I would say it, you know, really, Bob, what's helped us grow that culture is a lot of strategies that, you know, that we've discussed and learned from, from your team, right? And, um, in order for us to do that for, you know, to, to showcase these stories, we gotta have videographers, right?

[00:31:18] Shane Rogers: And we have to have a team of, of, of content employees that can, that can showcase the great things that we're doing, you know, across, across the central and southern part of our, of our great country. So, um, so yeah, it, it definitely goes hand-in-hand, you know, culture and reviews and

[00:31:34] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah.

[00:31:34] Shane Rogers: these strategies

[00:31:35] Bob Ruffolo: I'm glad you said that too 'cause a lot of people, um, you know, when AI started really rising, the question was, will we still need content managers or will we still need videographers? And as the years have gone on, I've always said, "Yeah, you still do, you still do." But now I'm really believing that you still do because now there's so much more content that needs to be created, uh, to really satisfy these AI [00:32:00] systems.

[00:32:00] Bob Ruffolo: And when your competitors are also now starting to do things with AI and you have to stay ahead of your competitors, someone has to own that and make sure that that's getting done, make sure it's getting better, make sure nothing's getting missed, everything sounds like your brand like, like a human. So I'm, I'm-- you know, I just spoke to a bunch of CEOs yesterday, and again, as I showed them all the things they should be doing, talking about fit on your website and, and all these reviews, uh, and your perfect pricing page, and all these videos you should be creating, and I got down to the end of the presentation, it's like the magic is having a great content manager and a great videographer.

[00:32:35] Bob Ruffolo: And the absence of those, you can't do anything we just talked about today. But when you have those two things i-in the company, those two positions, those two people, to your point, own their roles, good at what they do, uh, it, yeah, it-it, the magic just happens, and I've said that for years. The magic just happens when you have people like what you did when you were in that seat, and now you have other people in that seat.

[00:32:54] Bob Ruffolo: So, um, that, that, it-- to really win in this environment, you have to have those roles in the [00:33:00] company.

[00:33:01] Shane Rogers: Completely agree

[00:33:02] Bob Ruffolo: Now I wanna get technical or, uh, tactical here a little bit more. Um, so we talked about how you generate a lot of reviews. Um, for AI to fully understand these reviews, uh, we know that Google, um, reviews don't always show up in, in, in AI results because not every AI platform can read Google reviews.

[00:33:22] Bob Ruffolo: Are you doing anything to, um, market the reviews that you generate, uh, in a way that's helping buyers find you more and AI recommend you more?

[00:33:32] Shane Rogers: Hmm. Yeah, I think just being, being conscious about those platforms, one, it, that AI's pulling from, um You know, and then, you know, really just, I mean, really understanding now how in an AI era, right, like a third-party review is oftentimes a pro-- you know, majorly [00:34:00] better than a first-party review, right? And allowing that to be, again, kind of multidimensional, right?

[00:34:06] Shane Rogers: And, um, and then I would say like the other thing that we're really trying to be conscious of is just consistency, right? Is, is consistency-- You know, I saw a stat the other day, it was, uh, about s- I think it was seventy percent of consumers who read through reviews are more worried about the, the reviews within the last thirty days, right?

[00:34:31] Shane Rogers: And, and so again, being consistent with it, having some, uh, high level of recency, right? Um, and then, you know, understanding what platforms you're driving people to, to make sure AI's, AI's getting the message that you want

[00:34:45] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah. You know, and, and I have done a lot of work. We had a whole episode, um, came out earlier this week. Um, well, I guess for whoever's listening to this, probably a few weeks ago. Um , and it, it talked a [00:35:00] lot about reviews and w- we did the whole activity of asking what does AI do to recommend a company, and, and obviously it talks about reviews.

[00:35:08] Bob Ruffolo: Um, it's not just number of reviews. You're exactly right. Recency of reviews, consistency of reviews, that is a factor that almost has more weight than how many reviews you have. Um, if you have perfect reviews, um, maybe not with a lot of substance, uh, AI's gonna think that those are fake, and that can actually eliminate you from the recommendation 'cause it doesn't seem real.

[00:35:32] Bob Ruffolo: Um, specificity in the, uh, uh, reviews that are being given. To your point, you said name the person's name, um, but exactly what's said, the substance, the data, the quality, the, the proof in the reviews matters so much more. So you can have 100 reviews, maybe, um, a 4.8 rating. You have a few one stars in there.

[00:35:53] Bob Ruffolo: That's normal. Google actually con- or, and AI considers that as normal. But if these reviews are [00:36:00] recent, substantial, high quality, you can beat out someone with 5,000, 10,000 reviews that are not substantial, maybe not consistent, not relevant. So that's a really important thing to, to factor in here. Have you guys thought about that as part of your strategy, and how do you make sure that it's always consistent, but also that you have substance in these reviews?

[00:36:19] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah. I, I think that ties into, you know, again, making sure that we are getting that review, like, in person, right? And not writing reviews for people, that's not what I'm saying, but, uh, but b

[00:36:34] Bob Ruffolo: it would be great if yous talked about this.

[00:36:37] Bob Ruffolo: Yeah, yeah. Uh, but getting them to the path where, um, you know, they c- they, one, they feel the ability to be honest, right?

[00:36:48] Shane Rogers: And two, getting them, especially with our main demographic, like getting them almost to the finish point, right? And allowing them to write their honest feelings. Again, can they put, you know, a name in there? Can they [00:37:00] put, you know, a service in there? You know, whether it's walk-in shower, you know, bathtub replacement for us, et cetera.

[00:37:06] Shane Rogers: Um, and just really being, like you said, specific on their, on their interaction, right? So that others can, can learn from it and, and can take some things from it. And as you kind of hinted at earlier, right? Like the cheapest form of marketing is referrals, you know? And so the more that we can, that, that we can get, you know, high, high quality, which, you know, referrals often are, and cheap leads, man, I don't know what business doesn't love that, right?

[00:37:33] Shane Rogers: And, and we bring in, you know, 20,000 to 25,000 leads a month, but, you know, w- we will take a, uh, review referral, you know, or referrals in general any day of the week

[00:37:43] Bob Ruffolo: Amazing. All right, as we get ready to wrap up this episode, is there any other magic that you guys are doing to generate reviews that we have not talked about yet that the audience is like, "All right, I need to be doing that because that's, that's gonna help us get to [00:38:00] where we need to get to"?

[00:38:01] Shane Rogers: Hmm I feel like I've shared a lot. Um, I will, I will say this, Bob, you know, one of the things that as my role has changed a little bit, you know, I, uh-- and really b-become more of a kind of a product engineer, you know, as you guys would kind of say, like build these tools, right? Um, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll say one that I've, that I've built that I'm, I'm really looking forward to us putting in our, uh, in-home consultation, uh, presentations as well as our website, and that's, that's a map that showcases all of our projects that we've done historically, but then ties in the Google reviews, ties in the BBB reviews, ties in, you know, these third-party platform reviews to that particular project with company cam photos,

[00:38:57] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, wow

[00:38:58] Shane Rogers: And so we're [00:39:00] bringing all of this together of, hey, here is, you know, five people that have done a bathroom or shower remodel in your neighborhood. Here's a couple photos, project gallery from those, but here's the reviews that they left as well,

[00:39:17] Bob Ruffolo: that That is, 10 out of 10. That is

[00:39:20] Bob Ruffolo: brilliant

[00:39:21] Bob Ruffolo: And again,

[00:39:22] Shane Rogers: so yeah, that's one I can share with you,

[00:39:24] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, I

[00:39:24] Shane Rogers: we got a, we got some other things.

[00:39:26] Shane Rogers: Uh, we got some other things cooking as far as product and tools. I will say that's, that's the most relevant one to, to reviews

[00:39:32] Bob Ruffolo: A-and, you know, um, again, from the AI visibility study that we did, uh, this is why, and you know this obviously why this is so brilliant. It's-- The first thing it wants to do is understand the user.

[00:39:47] Bob Ruffolo: What are they going through? What are the problems are they trying to solve? Um, get the understanding the scope of the problem or, or the project that needs to be done, whatever it is. And then it is going to look for relevant experience, [00:40:00] as relevant as it, it possibly can from brands, and it'll come back and say, "I think you should go with Zyntex because they actually did five bathrooms in your neighborhood, and they've got these five five-star reviews, and here are pictures of the work that was done in your neighborhood.

[00:40:15] Bob Ruffolo: That's why we recommend Zyntex." And that is 100% true of how AI makes recommendations. It's a lot of work to do that. You have to have a lot of photos, to have a lot of reviews, have to have somebody build this, have to have somebody manage it. But that is a 10 out of 10. Dude, that is so cool. I can't wait to see that.

[00:40:33] Bob Ruffolo: Is that live yet or not yet?

[00:40:35] Shane Rogers: Uh, so it's not live yet. We're, uh-- It should be live hopefully at the end of next week. So it's, it's built. Um, so yeah, it's, it's something that, you know, I've-- Man, uh, I know we're-- I, I may be going off topic a little bit here, but everybody that's listening to this can build it, right? Like, um, you know, I'm not a, I'm not an [00:41:00] AI guru.

[00:41:00] Shane Rogers: I'm not a product engineer. I was a, I was a teacher and, and basketball coach for 10 years, and I had a marketing degree as I went through college. And, you know, like I said, Nick, Nick Sindel gave me the opportunity to do what I'm doing today. Um, but anybody with drive and anybody that, that understands this process and the evolution of where it's going can do this, you know?

[00:41:22] Shane Rogers: And, um, it's the, it's the-- it's-- Going back to what you said earlier, it's the beauty of the time that we live in, you know? And, uh, we can build anything. Man, we can-- There's a lot of, uh-- I don't wanna dive into too much 'cause I shouldn't, I shouldn't open the Pandora's box. But there's a lot of tools that we have, um, been working on behind the scenes that we think will continue to take Zintax to the next level

[00:41:48] Bob Ruffolo: So why, why don't we do this? Um, first off, if you're listening to this episode and you're saying, "How do I get more reviews for my business?" Do the things that Shane said first. First off, build a [00:42:00] company that does great work and has great promises that you can fill- fulfill those promises so clients value you, customers value you, and you're doing great work.

[00:42:08] Bob Ruffolo: On top of that, build that culture of everyone. It's beyond just the work we do. It's how we serve this community and, and bring those core values and let everyone know the expectation here is to do great work, so we should get reviews every single time. Then you can put systems in place, uh, where maybe there's incentives, but you're looking at the touch points of your entire customer journey and find ways to get multiple reviews on multiple platforms from your customers.

[00:42:34] Bob Ruffolo: Um, use a tool like Birdeye to manage all this, respond to the bad reviews, respond to the good reviews, thank them. Use all that to continue to make your systems better, your company better. Do all that first and then, and then, yes, and then market these reviews on your website. You could do something innovative like that.

[00:42:51] Bob Ruffolo: Then and only then, when all that is going, then you can call Shane and say, "Okay, Shane, what are you guys doing next?" How does that sound?

[00:42:57] Shane Rogers: Hey, feel free. I, [00:43:00] I, uh, I may not share everything, but I, I'll, I'm definitely willing to share some

[00:43:05] Bob Ruffolo: Sounds good. And I think the best way to get in touch with Shane too is come to the conference, Endless Customers Live. That's ... The best conversations happen in the hallways at those events. And,

[00:43:13] Shane Rogers: You're exactly right. I would highly recommend your audience if they have not been to an Endless Customers conference to go, and, uh, it has been one of the best conferences. I've gone twice. It's been, you know, some of the best conferences I've, I've been with, uh, or been at since being with Zyntex and, and more specifically in the marketing.

[00:43:30] Shane Rogers: So definitely get out to, to Endless Customers

[00:43:32] Bob Ruffolo: Oh, I appreciate that, and hopefully we'll see you at the, uh, the next one as well. Um, Shane, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your wisdom. You guys are doing an incredible job over there, and we're so proud of you

[00:43:42] Shane Rogers: Yeah. Thank you for having me today, Bob, and, and again, I appreciate everything that your group has done, uh, for us and, and, uh, any way I can help, you know, please just let me know

[00:43:52] Bob Ruffolo: Awesome. Thank you. All right. Well, this has been another episode of the Endless Customers Podcast. We will see you at the next episode 

[00:43:58] ​Stephanie Baiocchi: If you liked this episode, please take a minute to leave us a review. Thanks for checking out the Endless Customers Podcast.