The review requests that work are short, consistent and timed well: every customer who completes a job gets one polite message with a direct link, sent when they're most likely to respond, and one reminder at most. Nobody is singled out, nobody is paid, and nobody is pressured. This guide covers the arithmetic, the rules, the timing, the wording and the replies.
As always, we're a marketing and business consulting service, not a contractor. This is about how you ask for feedback after the work your crew has done.
Why consistency beats effort
Most trades owners know reviews matter. The problem is that asking depends on someone remembering, and on busy days nobody does. You get a cluster of reviews in a quiet month and silence in your busiest season, which is exactly when the most customers could have reviewed you.
Run your own numbers:
- jobs completed per month: J
- share of asked customers who leave a review: R (often somewhere between 5% and 20%, depending on trade, timing and wording)
- share of customers actually asked: A
New reviews per month ≈ J × A × R.
A landscaping company completing 120 visits a month, asking about 15% of customers manually, at a 10% response rate, gets about two reviews a month. Automate the ask so it goes to everyone, and at the same response rate that becomes about 12 a month. Nothing about the quality of the work changed; only the consistency did.
What Google's rules allow and prohibit
Google's Maps user-generated content policy lets businesses encourage reviews that reflect a genuine experience. It also sets limits. As of October 2026, the policy says businesses should not:
- offer incentives such as payment, discounts or free goods or services in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one
- discourage negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews
- require or pressure customers to leave a review while on the premises
- ask staff to collect a set number of reviews, or reviews with specific content
The practical meaning for a trades business is clear: send the same request to every completed job, without filtering, without rewards, and without scripting what customers say. Policies change, so check the current version yourself.
Canada's Competition Act also matters. Fake or misleading reviews can count as misleading representations, so never write reviews for your own business, buy them, or have staff and family post them.
Consent and messaging
A review request is sent by text or email, so Canada's anti-spam law is worth understanding. CASL sets rules for commercial electronic messages: consent, identifying who's sending, and a working way to unsubscribe.
In practice:
- identify your business clearly in every request
- include a simple way to opt out, and honour it
- keep consent records in your CRM, including when and how a customer agreed to hear from you
- keep review requests separate from promotional offers
Whether a particular message needs express consent depends on the details, so ask your own adviser. We don't give legal advice; we make sure your system can record what you need.
Timing by job type
Send the request when the customer has just felt the benefit of the work.
| Job type | When to send | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency or same-day service | Within two hours of completion | Relief is fresh, and the tech's name is remembered |
| Routine maintenance | Same day | Short, simple, easy to rate |
| Installation or replacement | Two to five days later | The customer has seen it working |
| Multi-week project | After the final walkthrough, or a week after | The whole project can be judged |
| Commercial client | After the invoice is paid | Contact person has signed off |
Send one reminder three to five days later if there's no response, then stop. More than that starts to feel like nagging, and that's the opposite of what you want customers to remember.
Wording that gets a response
Keep it short enough to read in a few seconds on a phone. Name the person who did the work, say thank you, give one link.
Text template (service call):
Hi [First name], thanks for having [Tech name] from [Business name] out today. If you have a minute, an honest review helps other people in [City] find us: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Email template (project):
Subject: How did we do on your [project type]?
Hi [First name],
Thank you for choosing [Business name] for your [project type]. We'd value your honest feedback on how it went, good or bad. It takes about a minute: [link]
If anything isn't right, reply to this email and [Owner name] will follow up personally.
[Business name] · [Phone] · [Unsubscribe link]
Reminder template:
Hi [First name], a quick follow-up from [Business name]. If you have a moment, here's the link to share your experience: [link]. Thanks either way.
Notice what's missing: no request for five stars, no suggested wording, no reward.
Setting up the automation
The automation needs a reliable trigger, which is why it comes after your customer records are in a system. In a typical setup:
- The tech marks the job complete in the mobile app.
- The system checks the customer has a phone number or email and hasn't opted out.
- After the delay set for that job type, the request goes out.
- If there's no click after a few days, one reminder follows.
- The request and any opt-out are logged on the customer record.
If your jobs aren't in a system yet, start with the paper to CRM migration plan. Once requests are flowing, track requests sent versus jobs completed (should be close to 100%), the response rate, and new reviews per month.
Replying to reviews
Replies are read by future customers more than by the reviewer. Reply to every review within a few days.
Positive review: thank them by name, mention the job briefly, and keep it to two sentences. Vary your replies so they don't look automated.
Critical review: stay calm, acknowledge the experience, state facts briefly without arguing, and offer a direct way to talk. For example:
Thanks for the feedback, [First name]. I'm sorry the scheduling on your [job type] didn't go as planned. I'd like to understand what happened. Please call me directly at [Phone]. [Owner name], [Business name]
Don't share private details about the job in public, and don't offer anything in exchange for changing the review.
Common mistakes
- asking only customers you know were happy
- offering a discount or draw entry for reviews
- long messages with three links
- sending the request weeks after the job
- multiple reminders
- switching automation off during busy season
- leaving critical reviews unanswered
For help setting this up, see our review request automation service. For examples of the kind of review profile steady asking builds, see results from our HVAC work. And if you haven't sorted invoicing yet, the getting paid faster guide is worth reading first.
Frequently asked questions
How many reviews do we need?
There's no magic number. What matters is how you compare with the businesses that appear beside you on Google Maps, and whether your reviews are recent. A steady flow every month does more than a big total from years ago.
Can our techs ask customers in person?
A friendly mention is fine, such as letting the customer know a short message is coming. Google's policy says businesses shouldn't require or pressure customers to review while staff are on the premises, so don't stand over them while they type.
What if a customer leaves an unfair review?
Reply calmly and briefly, state the facts without arguing, and offer to talk offline. Google has a process for flagging reviews that break its policies, but a reply is your best tool for the readers who come next.
Can we ask customers to mention specific things?
No. Google's policy says businesses shouldn't solicit reviews that include specific content. Ask for honest feedback and let customers write what they want.