Ask each customer immediately after the job. Send a direct review link in a text message on the same day. Ask one time, and ask again one time after three days. Never give a discount or a gift for a review. Never ask only the customers that you think are satisfied. Answer each review.
Why reviews change your position
Google uses your reputation to select the three businesses on the map. The number of reviews, the ratings and the words in the reviews are part of that reputation.
Reviews also change customer behavior. A customer compares three listings in a few seconds. The listing with 80 reviews and recent dates looks safer than the listing with 6 reviews from two years ago.
Recent reviews are important. Twenty reviews from this year are better than sixty reviews from 2019.
The system that works
- Make a direct review link. Our free review link builder makes the link and the message.
- Save the message on your phone. Put it in your text message shortcuts, or in your job software.
- Ask at the correct moment. The best moment is immediately after the customer sees the finished work.
- Send the link the same day. A request one week later gets a much lower answer.
- Send one reminder after three days. Then stop. Two messages are sufficient.
- Answer each review in 48 hours. A short, professional answer is enough.
A company with ten jobs each week can get four or five new reviews each month with this system. That is 50 reviews in one year.
What to say
Keep the request short. Long requests get ignored.
Text message: "Thanks for choosing [business]! If you have a minute, would you leave us an honest review on Google? It really helps a small business like ours. [link]"
In person, before the text: "If you are satisfied with the work, I am going to send you a link. A Google review helps us more than anything else."
The words "honest review" are important. You must not ask for a good review only.
More templates for each trade are on our review request templates page.
How many reviews you need
The correct number is not a general rule. It is the number that your competitors have.
- Search your main service on Google Maps from the center of your service area.
- Write the review count of each business in the top 3.
- Your target is the average of those three numbers.
In a small town this can be 25 reviews. In a large city it can be 150. Repeat this check two times each year, because the numbers increase.
How to get reviews faster
- Ask in person first, then send the link. The answer rate is much higher.
- Send from the technician who did the work, not from the office.
- Put a QR code on the invoice that opens your review link.
- Ask the customers from last year. One message to your customer list gives a group of reviews in a week. Send it to all of them, not only the satisfied customers.
- Make it a step in the job. The job is not complete until the technician sends the link.
The rules that you must obey
- No payment, discount or gift for a review. Google prohibits this. The FTC rule on reviews and testimonials also applies.
- No review filter. Do not ask only the customers that you think are satisfied. The FTC calls this practice review gating. Ask each customer.
- No false reviews. This includes reviews from your family, your employees and your friends.
- No review station in your office. Many reviews from one internet connection look false to Google.
- No purchase of reviews. Google removes them, and your listing can be suspended.
Some trades have more rules. A dental office must not confirm a person as a patient in an answer. A law firm must obey the advertising rules of its state bar.
What to do about a bad review
A bad review is not an emergency. A listing with only 5-star reviews also looks false to customers.
- Wait one hour before you write. Do not answer when you are angry.
- Answer in public, short and calm. Thank the person. Give one sentence of context. Ask the person to contact your office.
- Do not give private information. Do not confirm the person as a customer if your trade has privacy rules.
- Solve the problem in private. Some customers then change the review.
- Report a review that breaks the rules. Google removes false reviews, reviews with no experience of your business, and reviews with offensive words. Google does not remove an honest bad review.
How to measure your reviews
Record three numbers each month.
- The total number of reviews.
- The number of new reviews this month.
- Your average rating.
Then compare the total with the three businesses above you on the map. This number tells you how much work you need.