Free tool
Review Request Generator
Most owners know they should ask for reviews and then don't, because writing the message feels awkward every single time. Fill in four boxes and copy the text, the email, and the follow-up.
Text message
Follow-up, three days later
Want this emailed to you?
Your numbers are already on the page and they always will be. This is only here so you can keep a copy or send it to whoever does your books.
Two rules that get businesses penalized
Don't incentivize, and don't gate
Offering a discount in exchange for a review breaks Google's policies, and the FTC has taken action against businesses for paying for reviews. Sending only your happy customers to the review form, which is called gating, is also against Google's rules. Both can get reviews stripped or your listing penalized.
The messages this tool writes ask plainly and send everyone to the same place, because that is both the rule and the thing that actually works. A run of genuine reviews with the occasional four star in it reads as real. Forty consecutive five star reviews does not.
Why the timing matters more than the wording
The single biggest factor is how quickly you ask. On the day, while the customer can still see clean floors or a working furnace, you are asking someone who feels good about you. A week later you are asking a stranger to do you a favor about something they have stopped thinking about.
- Ask on site first. A verbal heads up doubles the response to the message that follows.
- Send within a couple of hours. Same day, every time.
- One follow-up, then stop. Three requests turns a happy customer into an irritated one.
- Make the link one tap. Nobody is searching for your business to leave a review.
Who pays us on this page
We earn nothing from NiceJob. No link on this page pays us anything today. We name the option we'd actually pick for the business being described, and a page that only listed products paying us wouldn't be worth your time.
When to stop doing this by hand
You can email these three messages to yourself using the box above, which is usually easier than copying them off a laptop when the phone is what you actually send from.
Copying a message per customer is fine at a few jobs a week. It stops being fine when you are doing twenty jobs a week and the asking quietly stops happening, which is what always occurs, because it is the last task of a long day.
That is the point where review software earns its money. Something like NiceJob fires the request automatically when a job is marked complete, chases once, and then leaves the customer alone. If you are still at five jobs a week, keep copying from this page and save the money.
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Common questions
When should I ask for a review?
Same day, while the work is still visible and the customer is still pleased with it. Ask on site if you can, then send the message within a couple of hours. A request sent a week later gets a fraction of the response, because by then the job has become normal to them.
Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?
No. Google prohibits incentivizing reviews, and it can get your reviews removed or your listing penalized. The FTC has also acted against businesses for paying for reviews. Ask plainly instead, because a genuine ask converts better than most owners expect.
Can I only ask the customers I know are happy?
Filtering so that only happy customers reach the review form is called review gating, and Google prohibits it. Ask everyone. A handful of average reviews among good ones makes the good ones look real, and a perfect five star record with forty reviews reads as suspicious to most people.
How many reviews do I actually need?
Enough to sit alongside the competitors showing up in the same local search. Look at the top three results for your service in your town and count theirs. That number is your target, and steady beats sudden. Twenty reviews appearing in one week looks bought.