how to ask customer for google review
The Exact Script to Ask for a 5-Star Google Review
Ask at the final walkthrough, in the exact moment they say it looks brilliant - then text them a direct review link before you've left the drive. That's the whole method. Most trades don't have a review problem; they have an asking problem, and it's fixed with one saved link and two scripts.
When to ask: the peak-happiness moment
There's one moment on every job when the customer is happiest, and it's the walkthrough - new kitchen, lights on, everything working, and they say some version of honestly, it's better than I imagined. That's your moment. Happiness decays fast: a week later it isn't a transformation any more, it's just their kitchen, and your review request is one more text to deal with. Ask in the moment, deliver the link in the moment, and the review usually lands the same evening.
One rule: never incentivise a review. No discounts, no prize draws. It's against Google's policy and can get reviews - or your whole profile - pulled.
Get your two-tap link ready before you need it
Google Business Profile gives you a direct short link that opens straight onto the star-rating box - no searching, no scrolling. In the app or dashboard, look for Ask for reviews and copy the link it gives you. Then save it somewhere you can fire it off in seconds - a WhatsApp Business quick reply is perfect. The whole customer journey should be two taps: open your text, tap the stars.
The in-person ask
Say it at the walkthrough, right after the compliment. Keep it small and human - you're asking a favour, not closing a sale:
Really glad you're happy with it - that's the best part of the job. Can I ask a small favour? Google reviews are how most of my work finds me these days. If you could leave one, it honestly makes a real difference to a one-man business. I'll text you the link now - it takes about a minute.
Then send the link while you're still standing there. The ask and the link arriving together is what makes it two taps instead of a good intention.
The text ask
Thanks again for having me in, Sarah - really glad you love the new bathroom. Here's that review link: [your link] Two taps and a sentence is plenty - even one line about how the job went helps the next person find me. Cheers, Dan
If a week passes and nothing lands, one gentle nudge is fine. One.
Hi Sarah - no rush at all, just floating this back up in case it got buried under the school-run messages: [your link] One line is perfect. Thanks either way!
Keep it a trickle, not a burst
Ask on every job as it finishes rather than blitzing your last twenty customers in one weekend. A steady trickle of reviews looks like what it is - a busy trade doing good work - while fifteen reviews landing in one week looks odd to anyone reading them. A per-job habit also sticks: link saved as a quick reply, ask at every walkthrough, send before you leave. If you invoice from your phone at handover anyway (Quotato does it from a voice note), send the review text in the same breath - two messages, thirty seconds, done.
From the tools: My brother, a joiner, did brilliant work for years and had four Google reviews to show for it - asking felt like fishing for compliments, so he never did. I made him a deal: try the walkthrough ask on his next three jobs. First job, the customer had the review written before he'd finished packing the van; she said she'd been meaning to leave one for her plasterer for a year and never got round to it. That's the whole lesson - customers aren't unwilling, they're busy. Three months of asking got him more reviews than the previous six years of hoping.
Quotato sends branded quotes and invoices straight from your phone - so the handover is wrapped up, paid and reviewed before you've left the driveway.
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