Reviews & reputation
Make It Easier For Happy Customers To Tell Other People
Most local businesses I talk to do good work. They just never built the habit of asking for a review, so the reputation they've earned never shows up where new customers look.
You've already done the hard part. This is the easy part.
Review requests
The fix is a repeatable process, not a burst of effort. Who asks, when they ask, and what they say, decided once so it doesn't depend on anyone remembering.
- A clear moment in the job when the ask happens
- One person or one system responsible for it
- Wording that sounds like you, not a template
- A way to see whether it's actually happening
Make it easy
Every extra step loses people. The goal is one tap, on the phone they're holding.
- A direct review link that opens straight to the review box
- A QR code on invoices, receipts, vehicles or a counter card
- Text or email requests where that fits how you communicate
- Timing: right after the work is done and the customer is happy
Responding to reviews
Responses aren't for the person who wrote the review. They're for the next customer reading it, who's deciding whether you seem like someone worth calling.
Short, human, specific. No copy-pasted paragraph under all thirty reviews.
Negative reviews
First: don't answer while you're angry. Almost every reputation problem I've seen got worse in the reply, not the review.
I can't promise a review will be removed, and neither can anyone else. What we can do is respond in a way that makes reasonable people side with you, fix whatever caused it, and make sure a single bad experience isn't the loudest thing about your business.
Reviews and Google
Reviews influence whether someone chooses you, and they're part of what Google considers when showing local businesses. Nobody outside Google knows the exact weighting, so I won't pretend to. What's clear is that a steady stream of recent, genuine reviews helps both your customers and your local search visibility.
Use what you've earned
Good feedback shouldn't only live on one platform.
- On your website, where people are deciding
- In social posts
- In estimates and sales material
- On printed material and mailers
Use real customer words, and ask permission when you're using a name, photo or anything beyond a public review.
No fake reviews. Ever.
Not from me, not from a service, not from friends. It's against Google's rules, customers can usually smell it, and it puts your listing at risk. We'll build the real thing instead.
Where to go next
- Local SEO & Google How reviews fit into being found in local results and maps.
- Marketing & lead generation Putting the reputation you've earned in front of more of the right people.
- AI & automation Automating the review request so it stops depending on memory.
- Free Local Business Checkup I'll tell you how your reviews look next to nearby competitors.
Let's improve your review process
Tell me how you currently ask for reviews, if you do at all. We'll build something simple that keeps running when you get busy.