How ClickFirst Works | Frequently Asked Questions
What is ClickFirst?
ClickFirst is an online community where people can save, share and discover trusted local businesses recommended by people they know.
Think of it as bringing traditional word-of-mouth recommendations into the digital world.
Instead of trying to remember the plumber your neighbor recommended six months ago or searching through old text messages for the name of a restaurant your friend loved, ClickFirst gives those recommendations a place to live online.
People You Know. Businesses You Trust.
Is ClickFirst for consumers or businesses?
Both.
For consumers, ClickFirst is a place to discover, save and share trusted local business recommendations.
For business owners, ClickFirst provides a way to establish a business presence, connect with customers, encourage referrals and improve local visibility.
The two sides work together.
Consumers help great businesses get discovered. Great businesses give consumers something worth recommending.
How does ClickFirst work for consumers?
Create a free ClickFirst account and begin building your own network of trusted local businesses.
You can:
- Save businesses you already know and trust
- Recommend your favorite local businesses
- Connect with people you know
- Discover businesses recommended by your connections
- Create or join referral groups
- Keep valuable recommendations available for the next time you need them
Over time, ClickFirst can become your own trusted resource for answering a very familiar question:
“Who do you recommend?”
Why should I join ClickFirst?
Because great recommendations are surprisingly easy to lose.
A friend recommends a contractor.
Your neighbor gives you the name of a plumber.
Someone at work tells you about an amazing restaurant.
Six months later, when you actually need that business, you can't remember the name.
ClickFirst gives you a place to save those recommendations and share your own.
The more people you know who participate, the more useful your personal referral network becomes.
Is ClickFirst free for consumers?
Yes. Consumers can join ClickFirst for free.
Our goal is to make it easy for people to save, share and discover trusted local business recommendations.
What is a recommendation on ClickFirst?
A recommendation is a way of telling people in your network:
“This is a business I know and would recommend.”
Rather than relying only on anonymous ratings, ClickFirst is designed around recommendations connected to real people and relationships.
That's an important part of what makes ClickFirst different.
What if the business I want to recommend is already on ClickFirst?
That's great.
You don't need to create another business.
Simply find the existing business listing and use the available features to save, favorite, recommend or share the business with your network.
Multiple people recommending the same business can help demonstrate that the business has earned trust within its community.
What if the business I want to recommend isn't on ClickFirst yet?
You can add a business you trust so that the recommendation can become part of the ClickFirst community.
This is one of the ways consumers help build ClickFirst.
Instead of waiting for every local business to discover the platform themselves, people can help identify the businesses in their communities that they already know and trust.
How is ClickFirst different from online reviews?
Online reviews can be useful, but they are usually written by people you don't know.
ClickFirst is built around a different idea:
Recommendations from people you know carry a different kind of trust.
If your neighbor tells you, “We used this contractor and they were excellent,” you know where the recommendation came from and why that person made it.
ClickFirst is designed to bring that familiar real-world experience online.
Does ClickFirst replace Google, Yelp or other search platforms?
No.
Search engines, maps, directories and review platforms can all provide useful information.
ClickFirst adds something different:
the relationship behind the recommendation.
A search engine can help you find businesses.
ClickFirst is designed to help you discover which businesses people you know recommend.
Can I connect with friends and family on ClickFirst?
Yes.
ClickFirst members can connect with other members so they can more easily discover and share recommendations with people they know.
As your network grows, ClickFirst becomes more useful because you're not simply looking at a directory of businesses.
You're building a personal network of trusted recommendations.
What are ClickFirst Referral Groups?
Referral Groups allow members to organize around relationships, communities or shared interests and make it easier to exchange recommendations.
A group might include:
- Friends and family
- Neighbors
- Members of a community
- Business networking contacts
- Homeowners in a neighborhood
- Members of a club or organization
Depending on the available group settings, groups can be configured for the people and purpose they are intended to serve.
Why create a Referral Group?
Because recommendations become more valuable when they're organized around people who know and trust one another.
Instead of asking the entire internet:
“Does anyone know a good electrician?”
you can turn to a group of people whose opinions actually matter to you.
That's the idea behind ClickFirst Referral Groups.
Questions for Business Owners
Can a business owner list their business on ClickFirst?
Yes.
Local business owners are encouraged to establish their business presence on ClickFirst.
A ClickFirst business listing helps consumers discover your business and provides a place where satisfied customers can connect with and recommend you.
Why should a local business join ClickFirst?
Because every great local business depends on customers.
And some of the best new customers come from existing customers willing to say:
“You should call them.”
ClickFirst helps businesses make those recommendations easier to share and easier for other people to discover.
It also provides tools and optional services designed to help businesses improve their local visibility and strengthen customer relationships.
Can businesses pay to be recommended?
No.
A genuine recommendation should represent someone's actual opinion or experience.
Businesses can purchase optional ClickFirst services and visibility features, but paying ClickFirst should never turn into a consumer recommendation.
Trust has to be earned.
That distinction is fundamental to what ClickFirst is building.
Does ClickFirst offer marketing services to businesses?
Yes.
ClickFirst provides optional tools and services designed to help local businesses improve their visibility, strengthen customer relationships and make it easier for customers to find and recommend them.
These may include services related to business listings, local visibility, Local SEO and customer connection.
But those services support the larger ClickFirst mission:
Helping great local businesses get found and helping consumers buy with confidence.
What's the difference between a ClickFirst business listing and a traditional directory listing?
A traditional directory listing primarily answers:
“Where can I find this business?”
A ClickFirst listing is designed to add another important dimension:
“Who recommends this business?”
Business information creates visibility.
Recommendations create trust.
ClickFirst brings the two together.
Does a business need to be a ClickFirst customer for someone to recommend it?
The goal of the ClickFirst referral community is to allow consumers to identify and share businesses they genuinely trust.
A recommendation should be about the consumer's experience with the business—not whether that business purchases marketing services from ClickFirst.
Trust & Community
Why does ClickFirst focus so much on word-of-mouth?
Because technology changes, but trust doesn't.
People have relied on recommendations from friends, family and neighbors for generations.
The internet made information easier to find, but it didn't eliminate the value of asking:
“Who do you trust?”
ClickFirst simply gives word-of-mouth a home online.
How does ClickFirst help consumers buy with confidence?
ClickFirst provides another source of information when you're deciding which local business to use.
Instead of relying entirely on advertisements, search rankings or anonymous reviews, you can look for recommendations connected to people you know.
You should still use good judgment, especially for significant purchases or professional services, and independently verify important credentials when appropriate.
ClickFirst gives you another valuable piece of the decision:
the experience of people you trust.
What is the ClickFirst philosophy?
We believe great local businesses are built through great customer experiences.
Great experiences build relationships.
Relationships build trust.
And trust leads people to recommend businesses to others.
Technology shouldn't replace that process.
Technology should make it more useful.
That's ClickFirst.
Still Have Questions?
The easiest way to understand ClickFirst is to experience it.
Join free. Add a business you trust. Connect with people you know. And start building your own trusted referral network.
People You Know. Businesses You Trust.
Before You Purchase. Before You Hire. Before You Decide. CLICK FIRST.