A finished job, not your memory.
The ask goes out when the job is marked won, from the same login where the call landed. You never have to think “I should ask them.”
For the owner whose happy customers never made it onto Google
The one-star is at the top. The forty happy ones never got asked.
You do good work, and the people who got it would say so. Nobody asked them. Meanwhile one scheduling mix-up from February sits at the top of your listing, unanswered, and it’s the first thing a homeowner reads before deciding between you and the next pin.
Three truths about reviews
One. When Google shows three pins, the stars are the tie-breaker. A homeowner can’t tell your crew from the next one, so they pick the one with more recent reviews.
Two. Happy customers don’t leave reviews on their own. Angry ones do. So a business that never asks ends up with a listing that only shows its worst week.
Three. The reply counts. Google reads it, and so does the next homeowner. An unanswered one-star says nobody’s home. A calm reply the next morning says this is who you’ll be dealing with.
So I ask after every job, follow up once, and answer every review inside a day. You don’t touch any of it.
Ninety seconds. The long version is below.
The problem
Nobody asks, so only the angry ones show up.
The job went well. The homeowner said “you guys were great” at the door, and meant it. Then she went inside and never thought about you again, because nobody asked her to. That happens forty times a year.
The one person who did leave a review was the one whose appointment got moved twice. Her one-star is honest, and it’s at the top, and it’s been there since February with no reply, because you’re on a job and “reply to that review” has been on the list for six months.
Your listing shows your worst week. Not your work.
1 dayEvery review answered inside a day. The good ones with a real sentence, the bad ones with a calm one. Nobody writes “thanks for the kind words” from the truck again.
What changes
The asking becomes a system. The answering becomes my job.
After every job, the customer gets a text with one link, in your name, that opens straight to the Google review box. If they don’t, one follow-up a few days later, then nothing; nobody gets nagged. A card with the same link in a code goes in the truck for the ones who’d rather do it on the spot.
Every review that comes in gets a reply inside a day. The good ones get a sentence that mentions the job, so the next reader sees a real business. The bad ones get a calm, specific answer that says what happened and what you did about it. That reply is for the next homeowner, not for the person who wrote it.
What Google itself says counts in the map: how many reviews, how recent, and whether the business responds. I don’t need a statistic for that; it’s in their own guidance.
How it runs
Ask, follow up once, answer every one.
You do the work. The system does the asking. I do the answering.
The ask, the same day
A text in your name, one link, no form. “Thanks for having me out today. If you’ve got a minute, a Google review helps more than you’d think.” Opens straight to the review box.
One follow-up, then stop
A few days later, once, if they haven’t. Then nothing. Make it easy for them; the people who just paid you shouldn’t get pestered.
The card in the truck
A printed card with a code that opens the same link, for the customer who says “sure, how do I do it” at the door. I make the cards.
Every reply inside a day
Good or bad, mentioning the job, in a tone you’d be happy to have your name on. You can read every reply in your login, and veto any of them.
The bad one, handled
A specific, calm answer that doesn’t argue. If it’s fake or breaks Google’s rules, I flag it. If it’s real, the reply is the fix.
What it costs
The review engine is part of the local-search system. It works because it’s wired to the same login as the listing and the leads page: a won job triggers the ask without anyone remembering to.
Why this isn’t a reminder on your phone
It happens whether or not you remember.
Yours, in writing.
The texts and the replies read like you. I write them from how you talk on the call, and you approve the first batch.
Inside a day, every time.
Including the ones you’d rather ignore. The next homeowner reads the reply before they read the review.
The 30 minutes
Here’s exactly what happens on the call.
- I pull up your site, your Google listing, and any ads you’re running and go through them with you live. Nothing to prepare.
- I show you what I’d fix first and what it would change for your company. I’ll pull up your listing and read your newest and oldest reviews with you, and show you what I’d have said to the bad one.
- We both know by the end whether it’s a fit. If it isn’t, you leave with the list and I’ll tell you who to call instead.
Keep reading
This is one piece of the system.
Book 30 minutes
Pick a time. I’ll bring your site up when you join.
Pick a time on my calendar
- 30 minutes on Google Meet
- Monday to Wednesday, 10am to 2pm Eastern
- You’ll get the link by email right after you book
If this month’s two spots are spoken for, the call still happens and you can join the waitlist.