Review request templates
Nine ways to ask that do not sound like a form letter. Copy one, put your own words in the brackets, and send it the same day.
Free tool
Two plumbers can do equally good work and one ends up with 12 reviews and the other 120. The one with 120 asked. Every template here is short enough to read without scrolling on a phone, because that is where it will be read. Replace the bits in curly brackets, and if you do not have a review link yet, the generator makes one from your Place ID.
The same day
Send within an hour of leaving. This is the one that gets answered.
When they already said thanks
They texted something nice first. Reply to that message, not a new one.
A week later, no answer
One follow up only. Anyone who has not done it after two asks is not going to.
A repeat customer
Somebody who has used you more than once. They already know your work, so ask plainly.
On the invoice
One line under the total. Works best next to the QR code from the generator.
By email
For customers who booked by email in the first place. Keep the subject boring; anything clever reads as marketing.
When the job had a hiccup
You fixed it, but it was not smooth. Ask anyway. A review that says "there was a problem and they came straight back" tells a stranger more than five bare stars.
Asking for a photo
For trades where the result is visible. A photo shows the result better than words do.
A review and a testimonial in one text
If you use a tool that collects testimonials for your own site, send that link in the same message. One ask, two places.
Two rules that matter more than the wording
Ask on the day. The customer’s goodwill is highest in the hour after you leave and it fades fast; a request the following week competes with everything else in their life. And never offer anything for a review. Google removes reviews it thinks were bought and can suspend the profile of the business that bought them. Ask everyone, plainly, and offer nothing.
The place a Google review never reaches
All of these put words on Google. That helps the person comparing you with three other listings on a map. It does nothing for the person who is already on your website reading “quality service you can trust” in your own words. I built Exalted for that. The customer writes a few lines on their phone, you approve them, and they show up on your own site. from $9 a month after a free two weeks, and the last template above is how to send both links in one text.
The wording for a testimonial is different from a Google review, because you are asking for a sentence about what went wrong and what you did about it, not a star rating. That has its own page: how to ask a client for a testimonial, with a text and an email you can copy.