We vet several key items every year to certify companies and ensure they continue to uphold our high standards of quality.
- Customer feedback via Google or internal surveying
- General Liability coverage
- Workers’ Compensation coverage
- State-required licenses
- Secretary of State status
- Business Credit Check *Only on first-year companies
- Your company must advertise all services you want to qualify for on your website.
Research Requirements
We analyze all reviews from the past three years to establish a rating, either via a company’s Google Business Profile or our internal surveying. Looking at the past three years of homeowner reviews allows us to get a clear picture of a company’s current level of service to their customers.
Rating
Every company must achieve at least an 80% score or 4.0 rating from the last three years of their customer reviews.
Quota
First-year qualification: You must have 25+ reviews for the first category and 10 reviews per additional category that you sign up for with Five Star Rated.
- For example, a new company participating in 3 categories needs to have 45+ Google reviews from the last three years.
Annual renewal qualification: You must have 15+ reviews for the first category and 10 additional reviews per additional category that you sign up for with Five Star Rated.
- For example, a renewing company participating in 3 categories needs to have 35+ Google reviews from the last three years.
Example Qualification Scenario
Bob’s Plumbing qualified for Five Star Rated in 2024 with 25 reviews. Because we only look at reviews from the past three years to determine qualification, those 25 reviews had to have been posted from 2021 – 2023. For Bob’s Plumbing to qualify in 2025, reviews from 2021 will have rolled off their qualification data. This means that Bob’s Plumbing will most likely need to collect more reviews in 2024.
- Scenario A: If Bob’s Plumbing collected 20 reviews in 2021, 5 in 2022, and 0 in 2023, they will only have 5 reviews that count toward their 2025 qualification (which looks at data from 2022, 2023, and 2024).
- Scenario B: If Bob’s Plumbing collected 5 reviews in 2021, 10 in 2022, and 10 in 2023, they will not need additional reviews to qualify for 2025. However, they will need at least 5 more reviews to qualify for 2026.
Research Method #1: Google Review Analysis
To establish a three-year rating, we average your company’s star rating from the past three years of reviews that appear in your Google Business Profile.
Requirements
- Your company must have an active Google Business Profile.
- Meet the rating and quota requirements outlined above.
How long does it take to qualify?
- If you meet our review quota and grade requirements, you will qualify instantly.
What gets published?
- We currently do not have the functionality to publish Google reviews on the fivestarrated.com profiles.
- Due to Google’s Terms, we cannot publish your Google reviews in your printed Five Star Rated guidebook profile.
- If you would like to collect reviews to publish in your Five Star Rated print and web profile, we offer a variety of options for review collection and submission. Learn more.
Research Method #2: Internal Surveying
Our internal survey process involves reaching out to your customers for their feedback on your company and the work you did for them. We do this via email (preferred) and/or phone call.
Requirements
- You must submit a list of ALL of the customers you completed work for from the past year up to the past three years, preferably in Microsoft Excel format.
- This data must include at a minimum the customer’s name and email address and/or phone number.
- We recommend sending a minimum of 50 jobs per category you signed up for. For example, a company appearing in three categories should submit at least 150 customer names for internal surveying. An average response rate for internal surveying is 10%, so 150 customer names will typically result in 15 reviews.
How long does it take to qualify?
- The internal survey process takes approximately 30 days from start to finish.
What gets published?
- We publish every review received through internal surveying on your fivestarrated.com profile.
- We will automatically select new featured reviews for your printed Five Star Rated guidebook profile.
Insurance Requirements
All companies must maintain General Liability insurance. Where required by the state, all companies must also maintain Workers’ Compensation insurance.
During your initial onboarding, you will be asked to provide a copy of your active insurance policies (the Certificate of Insurance, or COI). As the policies expire, you must provide up-to-date policies to remain qualified for Five Star Rated. Failure to maintain your insurance policies will result in your phone lines being disconnected.
If your insurance coverage or provider changes, please inform us as soon as possible.
If you operate as a sole proprietorship, you do not need to provide proof of Workers’ Compensation. Please inform your Account Manager if this is the case.
Adding an Insurance Certificate Holder
We encourage you to contact your insurance provider and ask them to add our parent company, EverCommerce, to the policy as a certificate holder. This isn’t required, but it does make your life easier by enabling us to independently and directly verify your company’s coverage each year. It also allows us to be alerted if your policy ever changes or lapses.
Licensing Requirements
All companies must maintain valid licenses as required by the state for the services you appear in with Five Star Rated. Failure to maintain a state-required license will result in your phone lines being disconnected.
We will only print licenses that fall within our service names, e.g. a company appearing in the Electricians category will display their electrical license. If the same company also has a plumbing license, we will not print that license in the Electricians category.
Please send us a copy of your company’s state-required trade license(s), including the actual license number(s). We will verify this information directly with the appropriate state authority. If anything changes with your trade license(s) during the year, please inform us as soon as possible.
Secretary of State Requirements
All companies must be Active or In Good Standing with the Secretary of State in which they conduct business.
If you operate as a sole proprietorship, you do not need to have an active status. Please inform your Account Manager if this is the case.
Financial Standing Verification
We generate a credit report on every new company considered for participation. We look for basic but critical information including but not limited to bankruptcy history, liens or judgments history, a credit history score, credit limit, and charting histories, which collectively indicate the level of operational stability of a company.
Unless we are unable to locate your company in our financial checks, we do not need you to submit anything to run this verification check.
Customer Complaints
Five Star Rated companies that receive 3 or more help desk complaints and/or guarantee claims in a 12-month period will go through an internal review process to determine whether you are still a good fit for Five Star Rated.
Questions?
Let us know! Please reach out to your Support Representative or Account Manager with questions. We’re happy to help!