Short answer: Ask in person at the moment the job is finished, then follow up immediately with a text containing a direct review link. Text massively outperforms email. Never offer incentives — under UK consumer protection rules, incentivised or fake reviews are illegal, and Google removes them regardless.
Why most businesses get almost no reviews
It is rarely because customers are unhappy. It is because nobody asked, or asked badly. The typical failure modes:
- Asking days later, when the goodwill has faded
- Asking by email, which most people never open
- Sending people to a homepage and expecting them to find the review box
- Asking once and giving up
Reviews are the strongest prominence signal a small local business has available. Fixing the asking process is usually the single highest-return thing an owner can do in a month.
The timing rule
Ask at the point of maximum relief or satisfaction. That is:
| Business type | Best moment to ask |
|---|---|
| Emergency trades | Immediately after the problem stops |
| Installers / fitters | At handover, when they can see the finished work |
| Restaurants | As the bill is settled, if the meal went well |
| Salons / clinics | At the mirror, or at checkout |
| Professional services | When a milestone or result is delivered |
Every day you wait roughly halves the likelihood of a review being left.
The two-step method that works
Step 1 — The verbal ask
Face to face, before you leave. Something like:
“Glad that’s sorted for you. If you’ve got a spare minute, a quick Google review makes a real difference to a small business like ours — I’ll text you the link now so it’s there when you’ve got a moment.”
Short, honest, no pressure. The verbal ask is what makes the text land — an unannounced text gets ignored.
Step 2 — The text, sent before you drive off
“Hi Sarah — thanks again for having us out today. Here’s that review link if you get a minute: [link]. Really appreciate it. — Dave, Thompson Electrical”
Send it while you are still parked outside. Not that evening. Not tomorrow.
Get your review link right
Google provides a direct review link from your Business Profile dashboard — it opens the review box straight away, already signed in on most phones. Use that, not your website, not your Maps listing, not a search result.
Every extra tap between the customer and the review box loses a meaningful share of people.
What you must not do
UK rules here are stricter than many businesses realise. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, fake and incentivised reviews are subject to direct enforcement by the CMA, with substantial penalties. Separately, Google’s own policies prohibit the same behaviour.
- No incentives. No discounts, prize draws, free drinks or refunds in exchange for reviews. This includes “leave a review and get 10% off”.
- No review gating. Asking happy customers for public reviews while diverting unhappy ones to a private form is prohibited.
- No writing them yourself. Obvious, but it still happens, and it is detectable.
- No buying them. Purchased reviews get removed and can cost you the profile.
- No bulk asking on one day. Twenty reviews appearing in an afternoon looks exactly like what it is.
Steady and genuine beats fast and risky. A profile that gains four honest reviews a month for a year is in a far stronger position than one that gained fifty suspicious ones in a week.
Make it a system, not a good intention
The businesses that accumulate reviews reliably have a trigger built into their process — a step on the job sheet, a prompt in the invoicing software, a checklist item at handover. The ones that do not are relying on remembering, and memory loses to a busy week every time.
If you have staff, this needs to be part of the job, explained and expected, not a favour you occasionally ask of them. If you are on your own, tie it to something you always do anyway: sending the invoice, packing up the van, taking payment.
This is also the part most commonly handed off, because it is simple, repetitive and easy to drop — which is precisely what makes it suitable for a managed review programme.
Handling the ones who say yes and then forget
Most people intend to and do not get round to it. One polite follow-up three or four days later is reasonable and effective:
“Hi Sarah, no worries at all if you’re busy — just in case it got buried, here’s that link again: [link]. Thanks either way!”
One follow-up. Not three. Chasing harms the relationship and is not worth the review.
Frequently asked questions
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No. Incentivised reviews breach both Google policy and UK consumer law. Enforcement in this area has increased significantly.
How many reviews should I be getting?
Judge it against your local competitors rather than an absolute number. If the businesses ranking above you gain three a month, you need to exceed that consistently.
Is it better to ask by text or email?
Text, by a wide margin. Open rates are dramatically higher and the action is one tap away on the device they are holding.
What if someone leaves a bad review?
Respond calmly, publicly and without arguing. Prospective customers read the reply more closely than the complaint. A handful of critical reviews handled well also makes a profile look authentic rather than curated.
Can I ask customers from years ago?
You can, but response rates are low and a sudden influx of reviews for old work can look irregular. Focus on current customers and build from there.
Review growth is one of the core things we run for UK local businesses — the asking system, the follow-ups, and replies to every review that comes in. If you want to see how your review profile compares to your competitors, book a free audit call.
Related reading: How to respond to Google reviews · Google Maps ranking factors