Reviews and Reputation

Timing is the whole game. Most contractors email a review request a week after the job, when the homeowner has moved on. The moment that works is when the water turns on and they are standing there looking at it.

They are more impressed in that thirty seconds than they will ever be again. Ask then.

On site, out loud

"Before I go, would you mind leaving us a review? It is the main way people find us. I will text you the link right now so it is on your phone."

Then send it before you leave the driveway. Not later. Later never happens.

The text, sent from your phone

Hi [name], thanks again for having us out. Here is that review link: [your Google review link]

If you can mention the [feature type] and that you are in [town], that helps other people nearby find us.

Thanks, the owner your company

Why mention the feature and the town

Reviews that name the work and the place are more useful to the next person reading them, and they make your profile more relevant for that area. You are not gaming anything. You are asking someone to be specific.

Getting the link

Google Business Profile, then the share review form option. It gives a short link. Save it in your phone as a text replacement shortcut so you never go hunting for it.

Responding

Respond to every review, good and bad, within a couple of days.

Good: thank them, mention the specific project, keep it two sentences. No copy and paste.

Bad: thank them for the feedback, state the facts once without arguing, and move it offline. "Please call me directly at your phone number and I will make this right." You are not writing to the reviewer. You are writing to the next hundred people who read it.

The pattern that matters

Steady beats bulk. Six reviews a year, every year, looks better and does more than thirty in one month and then nothing for two years. Ask on every job and it takes care of itself.

You are not writing to the reviewer. You are writing to the next hundred people who read it. That single idea makes every response easier.

Respond to all of them, within a couple of days.

Good reviews

Two sentences. Mention the specific project. Never copy and paste the same reply down the page, because it is obvious and it makes every reply worth less.

"Thanks [name]. That waterfall in [town] was a fun one, especially getting the equipment down that side yard. Enjoy it this summer."

"Appreciate it [name]. Glad the new filtration sorted the green water out. Give us a shout when it is time for the fall netting."

Negative reviews

Do not argue. Do not explain at length. Do not mention what they owe you. Anything defensive reads as guilty even when you are in the right.

Four parts: thank them, acknowledge, state the fact once if a fact is genuinely wrong, move it offline.

"Thanks for the feedback [name], and I am sorry the scheduling ran long. The rain that month put every job back and we should have communicated that better. Please call me directly at your phone number and I will make it right."

If the review is factually wrong:

"Thanks for taking the time. Our records show [the single fact], so I think there may be some crossed wires here. I would rather sort it out than trade messages publicly, so please call me at your phone number."

One response. Never a back and forth thread.

If it is not a customer

Report it, then respond once anyway for the benefit of readers: "We have no record of working with you and we think this may be meant for another company. If we are wrong, please call me at your phone number so we can sort it out."

The perspective worth keeping

One negative review among many good ones does almost no damage, and profiles with nothing but perfect scores read as fake. A calm, specific, non defensive reply to a bad review sells better than the good reviews above it.

Most contractors work hard for reviews and then leave them all on Google, where the only people who see them are the ones who already found the profile. Somebody on your website deciding whether to call sees nothing.

Where they go

Two or three on the homepage, near the call to action. Two on each service page, chosen to match that service. One on each location page from a customer in that area. A dedicated reviews page holding all of them.

How to display them

The full review text, the first name and last initial, and the town. Never a full name and address.

Pick reviews that mention something specific. "They did a great job" is worth less than "they figured out how to get the equipment down a four foot side yard without touching the neighbour's fence".

Link out to the Google profile so people can verify they are real. Verifiable beats impressive.

Hard rules

Never edit a review's wording, not even to fix spelling. Never write one. Never use a review the customer did not leave publicly, unless you asked and they agreed in writing.

The schema question

You may have seen advice about marking up reviews with schema to get stars in search results. Be careful here. Search engines have restricted self serve review markup, and doing it wrong can trigger a penalty. The stars on your Google profile come from Google, not from your website. Display reviews on your site because they sell, not because you expect stars.

If you do not have many yet

Fix that before you build the page. The water on review request in this library is the fastest route, and a page with three reviews looks worse than no page.

If your company has been doing this for years and has a handful of reviews, there is a list of happy customers sitting in your files who were never asked. This is the fastest reputation fix available to you.

Who to ask

Go back two years, no further. Start with the jobs you remember going well and the customers you liked.

Skip anyone there was friction with. You are not trying to fix old relationships here.

The text, sent from your phone

Hi [name], the owner from your company. Hope the pond is still treating you well.

I am a bit embarrassed to ask this late, but would you mind leaving us a Google review? We never got into the habit of asking and it is the main way people find us now.

Here is the link: [your review link]

If you can mention the [feature type] and that you are in [town], that really helps.

Thanks either way.

Why admitting it works

"I am a bit embarrassed to ask this late" is honest and it lands well. It also explains why they are hearing from you about a job from last year.

Pace it

Five to ten a week, not fifty in a day. A sudden burst of reviews on an account with almost none looks exactly like what it looks like.

Spread over two months you end up with a steady, believable history, and by then you should have the water on habit going so it never happens again.

Follow up once, then stop

One reminder after a week if there is no response. Never a second one. These are people who paid you and liked you, and that is worth more than a review.