Photo by Kenton Smith\nSarah De Klein, CEO of Ratetrades, said she is a strong defender of small businesses.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n“Canadians are private and don’t offer referrals very often,” says Keith Bowie, vice-president of Ecologic Spray Foam, who’s been listed on Ratetrades since it launched. “And we’re very rare to complain.”<\/p>\n
With 2,500 trades presently listed for Manitoba, De Klein notes that she remains a strong defender of small businesses. Nonetheless, “we’re used to more transparency in Europe,” where she was previously involved with such e-ventures as Aisleway, a London-based destination wedding company.<\/p>\n
The contrasting state of affairs in Manitoba is no good for trades either, she insists.<\/p>\n
“Tradespeople can’t communicate effectively with consumers like this, and they need consumer trust.”<\/p>\n
“Ratetrades provides a great format for my business,” says Bowie, who met De Klein when he did some work for her himself. “I can say, ‘Don’t take my word for it.’”<\/p>\n
Trades can list for free on the site – there’s no agency fee, nor any cost for the consumer. Reviews of tradespeople are also completely anonymous and non-incentivized.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg’s ViewSource Media, who built the website, uses an algorithm to bolster what they first do manually: check for multiple usernames for the same IP addresses, date and time stamps and patterns in tone and language.<\/p>\n
“Anything we miss, it finds,” De Klein says. The goal is to weed out fake reviews, which have become a conspicuous problem on consumer report websites.<\/p>\n
“We can and will even contact reviewers for documentation on any particular job,” De Klein continues. (For that matter, she adds, one can pick up the phone and call Ratetrades directly.)<\/p>\n
Those kinds of trusted, first-hand accounts are exactly what user Allister Penner, a Winnipeg chartered accountant and senior manager of assurance services at MNP LLP, appreciates about the site.<\/p>\n
“Since the site launched I have used it to source a plumbing contractor and I’m currently looking for a landscaper,” he says, adding that the site is also extremely user-friendly.
If there’s any time people should take advantage of De Klein’s service and product – now available in a mobile version – it may be now, with the June renovation season looming.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the scope of Ratetrades is expanding westward: De Klein says the site will list 8,000 trades in Vancouver in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
“These kinds of endorsements are worth gold to me,” Bowie says. That’s at least one local tradesman who’d agree with De Klein: “There’s a place for building your business on merit,” she says.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t