The regular cruisers of NationBuilder.com may have noticed we recently consolidated our partner directories into a single space. With a growing ecosystem of amazing freelancers, studios and agencies, it was becoming increasingly difficult for NationBuilder customers to find the right professional for the job. So, we wanted to provide a way to identify the right service and partner all from the same directory instead of sifting through fragmented arenas of expertise.
However, this unification created a new problem - how do we determine placement of partners on the directory? Aside from proving we don't accept bribes of prime vintage vino, we needed a scalable and dynamic approach that also incentivized partners to output A-grade work.
The obvious answer was lying in the surveys that customers fill out post-project with an Architect. These surveys not only allow customers to share their experience, but the results then get applied to an Architect's public-facing directory listing in the form of a star rating.
With the introduction of this aggregated directory, it made sense to open up these surveys for ALL ecosystem partner experiences. It subsequently became clear the directory's hierarchy should rely on the number of customer reviews a partner has generated. The more work a partner has performed, whether rated as positive or negative, the larger the bump up the directory. This way placement is contingent on experience rather than performance - which keeps the directory honest.
Like the marketplaces we all know and love where reviews are critical to a business's visibility, we intend to mirror the same model. We also treat this is an opportunity to a keep a pulse on customer happiness and ensure everyone has what they need to be successful on NationBuilder.
