Most tradespeople do not have a review problem. They have an asking problem. The work is good and the customer is happy, and nobody ever mentions reviews. So the happy customer goes back to their life. The only person who writes anything is the one who fell out with you over a gate.
Here is the routine we give every client we build a site for. It takes about two minutes a job and it is the single cheapest thing you can do for the phone.
Ask at the moment the job lands
There is a window, and it is short. It opens when the customer has just seen the finished work and it closes within a day or two. Ask while you are standing in front of the new roof, the clear drain, the block paved drive, and the answer is nearly always yes. Ask a fortnight later by email and the job is a memory.
Say it plainly. Something like: "If you are happy with it, a Google review really helps us. I will text you the link now while I am here." Then send it before you get in the van. That last part is what makes it work, because the text arrives while they are still looking at the job.
Do not ask when there is snagging outstanding or when you have not been paid. Sort that first. A review asked for at a bad moment gives you a public record of the bad moment.
Get the one tap link from your Google Business Profile
Nobody is going to search your business name, scroll past three competitors and find the review box on their own. You need the direct link that opens the review form on their phone with the star rating ready.
You get it from your own Google Business Profile. Sign in at business.google.com, open your profile, and look for the option to ask for reviews or get your review link. Google generates a short link for your business and you can copy it once and keep it forever. The help pages for this live at Google Business Profile Help if the layout has moved since you last looked.
Save it in your phone as a text shortcut. Put it on your website, on the page people land on after an enquiry, and in your email signature. The easier it is, the more you get.
A text that works
Keep it short, name the job, and make the link the last thing so their thumb is already near it.
"Hi Sarah, Dave from Kingfisher here. Glad the ridge is sorted. If you have got thirty seconds, a Google review would be a big help to us as a small firm. Here is the link: [your link]. Thanks again."
Name yourself and the firm, because a number they do not recognise gets ignored. Name the job, because it reminds them what they are reviewing and it usually ends up in what they write, which is exactly the wording the next customer is searching for. Do not send it twice. One ask, one reminder at most, then leave it.
The two minute routine
What to do on every job
- Finish the job and walk the customer round it.
- Ask out loud, in person, while you are both looking at the work.
- Send the text with your Google review link before you drive off.
- Reply to the review within a couple of days, good or bad.
- One polite reminder a week later if nothing appears, then stop.
- Never offer money, a discount or a free job in exchange for a review.
Never buy them, and never write them yourself
You can buy reviews. Do not. Google's own contributor policies ban fake engagement and incentivised reviews, and the detection is automatic and retrospective, which is the part people miss. Reviews that were bought can vanish months later, and they usually vanish in a batch, so your profile goes from a healthy looking wall of praise to a thin handful overnight. You can read what is and is not allowed in the Google Maps user contributed content policies.
The same goes for reviews written by you and your mates from the same house. Five in one afternoon, no detail, no surname, all the same sentence shape. Homeowners spot it, and it costs you more trust than it ever bought. Offering an incentive counts too. A prize draw for anyone who leaves a review is still paying for reviews.
Reply to every single one
Replying is free and almost nobody in the trades does it. It shows the next reader that there is a real person behind the listing.
For a good one, keep it short and name the work: "Thanks Sarah. Glad the ridge and the valley are sorted before the winter. Give us a shout if anything else comes up." That is it. No essay, no marketing.
What to do about an unfair review
It will happen. Someone you quoted and never worked for, a neighbour with a grudge, a job that went wrong for reasons outside your control.
Do not argue in public. Anyone reading is judging your reply far more than the review. Wait a day, then write something calm and factual: who they are, what was agreed, what you offered to do, and an invitation to ring you. Six lines maximum. A measured reply under an angry review often wins you work.
If the review breaks the policies, for example it is abusive, it names a competitor, or it is from someone who was never a customer, you can report it through your profile. Be realistic about it. Google removes content that breaks its rules, not content you disagree with, so plan on the reply doing the heavy lifting.
Then go and get three good ones. A steady drip of honest reviews with real detail buries one bad week faster than any appeal.