Most tradies know they should ask for reviews. Plenty still don't.
The hesitation makes sense. You've finished the job, been paid, packed the ute and said goodbye. Asking the customer for one more thing can feel like pushing your luck. So it gets left for later, and later is when the moment has passed and the customer has moved on.
The fix isn't a clever script. It's a small process: ask when the result is fresh, send the right link, and make the request easy to answer.
Ask when the customer can see the result
The best time to ask is the moment just after the customer has shown you they're happy.
For a painter, that's the final walk-through when the owner sees the finished living room. For a plumber, it's when the hot water is running again. For a landscaper, it's after the site is cleaned up and the customer is standing on the new paving.
Listen for the cue. "That looks great." "Thanks for fitting us in." "We'll definitely use you again." That's the moment, and it doesn't need a speech. "Glad you're happy with it. Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? I'll text you the link so it's easy."
The customer has already told you how they feel. You're just giving them somewhere useful to put it.
Send the direct review link
Don't ask someone to search for your business, pick the right listing out of the results and hunt for the review button. Every extra step loses people.
Your Google Business Profile has a direct review link. Tap it and the review box opens against your listing. Save it in your phone, your quoting software or your job management system so it's ready to send without thinking.
Then keep the message short: "Hi Sarah, thanks again for having us out to repair the leaking shower in Wanniassa. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate a Google review: [link]. Cheers, Dan."
That works because the customer knows who sent it, which job it's about, and exactly what's being asked. No long explanation, no guilt trip. Send it while you're still fresh in their mind: the same afternoon beats the following week.
Give them something to write about
Customers stall because they don't know what to say. You can help with that without putting words in their mouth. One sentence does it: "If it helps, you could mention what we worked on and the suburb you're in."
A review saying "Great service" is welcome. A review saying "Dan repaired our leaking shower in Wanniassa and turned up when he said he would" is worth more. It tells the next homeowner what kind of work you actually do, it gives Google clearer information about your services and where you work, and it's the sort of specific, first-hand sentence an AI assistant has to read to say anything about you, because that page belongs to your customer, not to you.
What you can't do is write it for them. Twenty reviews sharing the same polished sentence look wrong because they are wrong.
Follow up once
People forget. One reminder is reasonable.
If nothing has appeared after four or five days: "Hi Sarah, just a quick reminder about the review link from last week. No stress if you haven't had a chance: [link]. Thanks again."
Then leave it. Repeated reminders turn a favour into a chore.
You also don't need to ask every customer. Skip the jobs with an unresolved issue, a disputed invoice, or any doubt about the result. Fix the problem first. A review process should follow good work, not paper over a rough finish.
Make it part of closing the job
Memory is a poor system. Put the review request on the same checklist as the photos, the invoice and the pack-up:
- Finish the job and walk the customer through the result.
- Confirm they're happy and deal with any concerns.
- Ask in person for a Google review.
- Send the direct link before you leave, or that afternoon.
- Follow up once after four or five days.
- Reply when the review arrives.
The advantage comes from doing that every week, not from one big push in December. A handful of genuine reviews arriving steadily says more about a business than fifty that all landed on the same weekend two years ago.
Reply like a person
Answer every genuine review, the short ones included. Your reply is visible to the next customer reading the profile, and it's read as closely as the review itself.
Avoid pasting "Thank you for your valued feedback" under all of them. Mention the work: "Thanks, Sarah. Glad we could get the shower leak sorted before it caused more damage. We appreciate you calling us out to Wanniassa."
Keep their privacy in mind. Don't reveal costs, personal circumstances or details they didn't mention publicly.
If the review is a bad one, stay calm. Acknowledge the concern, don't argue the private details in public, and offer a direct way to sort it out. The response is partly for the reviewer and mostly for everyone reading it later.
Reviews aren't decoration. They're most of what prominence means in the map pack, they're what a homeowner uses to decide whether to trust you, and they're evidence from people who have actually hired you rather than a claim you made about yourself.
The hard part is earning the praise, and you've already done that on site. Asking for it should take less than a minute.