Most happy customers would leave a review if someone asked at the right time. Most businesses never ask, or ask inconsistently. Automation makes asking a habit.
What it does
- Sends a review request after every completed job, visit, or purchase
- Times the request for when the experience is fresh
- Sends one gentle reminder if there's no response
- Alerts you to new reviews, especially negative ones
- Uses AI to draft replies for you to approve
Before you start
- Know where your reviews matter most. For most local businesses, that's Google. Some industries have their own important sites.
- Get your direct review link for each platform so customers land exactly where they can leave a review.
- Check your current tools. Many CRMs, booking, and point-of-sale systems can send review requests.
Step by step
1. Pick the trigger
Send the request when the work is done: a job marked complete, an appointment checked out, or an order delivered.
2. Write the request
Keep it short and personal. Thank them, name the service, and include one link. For example:
"Thanks for choosing [Business] for your [service] today. If you have a minute, a review helps other people find us: [link]"
3. Set one reminder
If they don't respond, one reminder a few days later is plenty.
4. Get alerted to new reviews
Have new reviews sent to you so you can respond quickly, especially to unhappy customers.
5. Reply to reviews
AI can draft thoughtful replies based on the review. A person should approve them, and never include private customer details in a public reply.
Rules to follow
These matter. Breaking them can get reviews removed or bring legal trouble.
- Ask everyone, not just happy customers. Filtering who gets asked based on whether they'll leave a positive review, often called review gating, is against Google's policies.
- Don't pay for positive reviews. Federal rules prohibit buying fake or incentivized positive reviews, and platforms remove them. If you offer any incentive, it can't depend on the review being positive, and some platforms don't allow incentives at all.
- Never write reviews for your own business or have employees pose as customers.
- Don't suppress or hide negative reviews that are honest.
- Get permission to text before sending review requests by SMS.
What to measure
- Review requests sent per month
- Reviews received per month
- Average rating over time
- Time to respond to new reviews
Next step
Turn good reviews and finished jobs into a steady stream of posts with Automate Social Content.