Authentic feedback of a business drives future customers to make a decision about whether or not they believe that business will fulfill their expectations. And today, trust weighs heavily in the decision-making process of a buyer.
Potential customers will ask their friends and family for referrals, and they’ll also seek out online reviews to help them make their buying decisions. That’s why online reviews are so important.
You may already know you need to collect reviews from your customers, but you may be unsure how to start. Or, as I come across often with my own clients, they feel asking for reviews gives them the “ick”.
You have to remember, you’re running a business. Asking for reviews, just like asking for payment, is just a part of growing a sustainable business. Especially because today’s buyers rely on those reviews to help them decide where to spend their money.
So where do we start? Just like any other marketing tactic, collecting reviews requires thought, strategy, and great execution.
Every business’ online review collection strategy will be unique, as not all businesses have the same kind of relationship with their buyers. Retailers may have a shorter, more impulsive relationship, while new home builders will have had the opportunity to spend weeks or even months with their potential buyers.
How do I build an online review collection strategy that works?
Start with building the infrastructure you need to collect your online reviews.
- Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. When you use Google to search a business, their GBP panel shows up on the right-hand side of the search results list (on desktop, at the top of the page on mobile). This is also where reviews are displayed. You’ll want to optimize your business’ GBP to ensure customers can easily find your business and read your reviews.
- Claim other review profiles for your business and enable reviews where applicable:
- Facebook Business Page
- Yelp
- Better Business Bureau
- HomeStars
- Industry specific websites
- Create your direct review links:
- Google review URL
- Facebook page review URL
- Industry specific review URL
- Create a review landing page on your website. This is a great way to promote a single URL, allowing your customers to post a review on their preferred platform. Simply create a Review page on your website, and include the following items:
- A quick thank you message to your customers for buying from your business
- Quick instructions on leaving a review
- Buttons linking directly to all the review platforms you have available
- Optionally, you can embed any available review feeds under the buttons to show some of the reviews you’ve already received
Map customer satisfaction checkpoints
To obtain the most reviews from your customers, identifying the right time to approach them is key. You’ll want to capture them when they’re at their happiest, and most likely to want to leave a review.
Here are some examples of the right timing for different types of businesses:
| Business | Initial Contact Point | Follow-up #1 | Follow-up #2 |
| Auto repair shop | On vehicle pickup | 2-3 days later | 2 weeks later |
| New home builder | On condition removal | 1 week later | Week after possession |
| Retail shop | Day after purchase | 3-4 days after purchase | 2 weeks later |
| Dental office | Day after appointment | Week after appointment | 2 weeks later |
In some cases, the right time to approach a customer for a review isn’t always after the end result of the purchase. Sometimes it will be in the middle of the experience, such as with new home builders. Depending on whether the home buyer is purchasing a spec home (a home already under construction) or building a new home (with a 5-10 month build time), capturing the home buyer when they’re happiest in the journey, such as at condition removal, is most ideal.
Train your staff to recognize positive signals
Equip your staff with the tools they need to ask for reviews at the right time. Train them to recognize signals of a happy customer, such as:
- “I’ll definitely be back.”
- “You solved our problem, thank you.”
- “I need to tell [name] about this place.”
Be sure to provide the tools your staff needs to quickly and easily request reviews in the moment. Some tools include:
- URL to your review page that they can text or email the customer
- POS stand with a QR code leading to your review page
- A standard review request script, easily memorizable
- Eg. “Reviews help other customers trust us. Would you mind sharing your experience?”
- For email and text requests, an easily-accessible document or smartphone note where they can copy/paste the script and review URL
You’ll want to capture them when they’re at their happiest, and most likely to want to leave a review.
Add more touchpoints asking for reviews
Not all review requests have to be instigated by you or your staff. Sometimes placing strategic requests in common places can give the customer the opportunity to leave a review at any time.
Here are some examples of this:
- POS stand with QR code leading to your review page
- Checkout counter
- Reception desk
- Hanging tag for mirror of vehicle (for auto repair shops)
- Hanging tag door knockers (for landscapers)
- Link to review page in email signatures for all staff
Increase potential review volume
When building a new review collection strategy, it is best to look at your current opportunities to solicit a higher volume of incoming reviews.
In your records, review:
- Existing customers that may be approaching an ideal request time
- Loyal customers that have returned more than once to your business
- Past customers who expressed their satisfaction with your business
- Contacts that may be able to act as a referral source
Identify key opportunities to request reviews from current customers at the right time, loyal and past customers about previous experiences, and formulate a strategy specific to contacts that may be referral sources.
Improve your customer experience
Sometimes a business may struggle to collect reviews because its customer experience isn’t delivering on expectations. Rather than leaving a negative review, some customers may opt to not leave one at all.
Chat with your sales and customer service teams. Have honest, in-depth discussions about what they see in your marketplace and your customer experience. Make improvements where possible.
Develop unique strategies for each customer type
Not all customers are alike. They may purchase for different reasons. This means sending personalized, or at least targeted, review requests can significantly increase the likelihood they’ll leave a review.
Example 1: Retail
Retail customers may be served better with quick, easy requests via text or email. You may ask them to leave a quick review about the product they purchased, or if it was easy to find and purchase in your shop.
Example 2: Home Buyer
Home buyers, on the other hand, may require a more in-depth process where a follow-up call should precede an email review request. You may want to thank them for working with you on their new home purchase and chat a bit about how they are liking their home. This gives you an opportunity to improve the experience one more time before requesting the review. Then, you may send them a personalized email with a link to your review page, including prompts on what they might want to say in their review.
Repeat customers may not be able to leave multiple reviews (such as on Google Business Profile), but you should still ask for another review when it feels right. Request it by email or text, and save their review in your records. Use it in social media posts, highlighted review sections on your website, or other online marketing efforts you may have.
Screenshots of emails or text reviews work very well on social media, but make sure you black-out their personal information first.
Identify key opportunities to request reviews from current customers at the right time, loyal and past customers about previous experiences, and formulate a strategy specific to contacts that may be referral sources.
Improve your review quality
Asking your customers to simply leave a review can leave them feeling a bit overwhelmed about how to do so, thus preventing them from taking the time to do it.
Providing prompts can alleviate some of that apprehension, and also improve the quality of the reviews you receive.
Along with providing the direct link to your review page, ask customers to include:
- The problem they had
- How your business solved it
- Who helped them (if applicable)
- Results achieved
- A photo (if applicable)
Monitor reviews daily and respond
Assign one team member to monitor and respond to online reviews on any and all platforms. This team member should be well-spoken and diplomatic in their handling of customer relations.
Respond to every single review, regardless if it is positive, neutral, or negative. Positive reviews can be replied to once per week, but neutral and negative reviews should receive a response within 24-48 hours. Negative review responses should primarily move the complaint offline, and include a direct follow-up with the customer to offer options to correct the errors or improve the experience.
By responding to each review, it shows existing and potential customers that your business cares about their experience.
Responses should also be natural and individually written. Don’t use templates as it will appear to customers that you’re just a bot or don’t actually care about their experience with your business. Personalize responses as much as possible.
Automate your review request process
We talked about identifying customer service checkpoints when they might be more likely to leave a review. Once you’ve mapped out these appropriate timelines, look into whether your process can be automated to send out requests at those times.
Automation typically requires your business to be using CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) software to schedule these types of tasks. Some popular CRMs include HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, or Salesforce among others.
These automations can be set up as complete workflows where the scheduled items are sent out on a set timeline once a customer has been added to the workflow. You can set up unique workflows for different types of customers depending on what sort of follow-up they may need.
Example 1: Realtor
If you’re a Realtor who has recently helped a client purchase a new home, you may wish to schedule a series of tasks to follow up and request a review.
Your automation schedule may look like this:
- An automated email/text congratulating them on their purchase, requesting a review scheduled for the day after their purchase has closed.
- A reminder two days later to check if they’ve left a review, and to call the client if not
- A reminder for one week after possession day to check if they’ve left a review.
- A templated email/text to be manually sent that day if no review is found. This email could include a pre-recorded video of yourself thanking them again for working with you and offering a value-add tip.
Example 2: Industrial equipment repair shop
If you run an industrial equipment repair and maintenance shop, you may wish to include a series of tasks that automate requesting a review and follow-up on their repairs.
Your automation schedule may look like this:
- An automated email/text the day after they pick up their equipment, thanking them for choosing your business for their repairs/maintenance and requesting a review.
- A reminder task two days later to check if they’ve left a review.
- An automated follow-up email reminding them to leave a review, including value-add information about how to care for their equipment post-repair.
- A reminder task one week later to check if they’ve left a review, and to follow-up with a call discussing their recent service and if their equipment is operating as expected. This call can verbally include a final request for a review.
In both of these examples, and any other kind of business, your follow-up automations not only request a review from the customer, but also enhance the customer experience by offering value-add information and follow-up phone calls.
You’ll need to use your judgement on how to best approach your customers, and the cadence on which you send follow-ups.
Do you have any templates I can use for requesting reviews?
Yes! Below are some examples of both email and text scripts you can use to formulate your review requests. Remember to keep them short and sweet.
Email Review Request Script 1:
Context: Right after a successful delivery / service completion
Subject: Quick favor? Your feedback really helps
Hi [First name],
Thank you again for choosing [Your business name]. It was a pleasure [brief result: “delivering your new system,” “servicing your furnace,” etc.].
If you feel we did a good job, would you mind taking 60 seconds to leave a quick review? It really helps other people in [city/industry] know they can trust us.
You can leave your review here:
[Review link]
Thank you in advance for your time and support,
[Your name]
[Title]
[Business name]
Email Review Request Script 2:
Context: After a positive check‑in / “everything good?” confirmation
Subject: Glad things are going well
Hi [First name],
It was great to hear that everything is running smoothly with [product/service name] and that you’re happy with the results so far.
Reviews from customers like you are a big part of how we grow. If you’re open to it, could you share a few words about your experience? Even one or two sentences is perfect.
Here’s the link:
[Review link]
Thank you for being a valued customer,
[Your name]
Email Review Request Script 3:
Context: Loyal / repeat customers after a reorder or renewal
Subject: You’ve helped us more than you know
Hi [First name],
We noticed you’ve trusted us multiple times now for [type of work/product], and we truly appreciate it. Customers like you keep us going.
If you have a moment, would you share your experience in a quick online review? Your perspective as a repeat customer is especially helpful for people considering us for the first time.
Leave a review here:
[Review link]
Thanks again for your continued business,
[Your name]
Text Review Request Script 1:
Context: Same day as completed job or delivery (while satisfaction is highest)
Hi [First name], this is [Your name] from [Business]. Glad we could help with [brief description]. If you were happy with everything, would you mind leaving us a quick review here? It takes about 30 seconds: [Short review link]
Text Review Request Script 2:
Context: After a “yes” to a quick satisfaction check
Hi [First name], thanks for letting us know you’re happy with [product/service]. Could you do us a small favor and share that in a quick review? Here’s the link: [Short review link]
Text Script 3:
Context: After a follow‑up or small “wow” moment (bonus support, fast fix, etc.)
Hi [First name], it was great getting that sorted for you so quickly. If you feel we took good care of you, a short review would mean a lot to our team: [Short review link]
Can I do anything with the online reviews I’ve collected to help gain new customers?
One of the most powerful marketing tools you can harness is reviews from your previous happy customers. Here are some ways you can leverage your reviews in your marketing strategy:
- Post them on a testimonials page on your website (be sure to submit your page to Google Search Console as you add more reviews)
- Post them throughout your website on relevant pages, such as services, products, and blogs
- Screenshot reviews and turn them into valuable social media posts
- Add them to your email marketing campaigns where relevant
- Use them in case studies to showcase how you handle your customer service. For authenticity, ensure you include some negative reviews and outline how your business handled the complaint.
- Look for patterns in review information to improve products or service, such as common complaints or product drawbacks
Online reviews are increasingly important to your business’ reputation and potential to build trust in the marketplace. By building a strong, personalized strategy to collect reviews and incorporate them into your marketing, your business is creating the kind of environment customers will want to engage with.
Need further help?
If you’d like further help creating your best online review collection strategy, book a free consultation with me here: https://meetings-na3.hubspot.com/rednebulainc
