When was the last time you looked at a business you were considering hiring and didn’t check the reviews? If you are a home service business, reviews (good or bad) may be the deciding factor between you and your competitor. However, getting your customers to leave a review is an uphill battle. 

So what’s going on? Let’s fix it.

Why your customers aren’t leaving reviews

It’s rarely because they’re unhappy. Here’s what usually gets in the way:

1. Nobody asked. This is the big one. Trust me, most aren’t thinking about reviews. They are just glad the problem is fixed, and they can go about their lives.
2. You asked too late. An email three days after the job is getting lost in the inbox. Applause, a review software company, reports that waiting more than 48 hours can cut response rates by roughly 40%. 
3. You asked in the wrong place. Applause also puts text message response at around 45% against roughly 6% for email. It makes sense. Most homeowners look at their phones more often than their computers.
4. It took too many steps. If the customer can’t do it in one or two steps, they’ll either put it off or not bother. 
5. They didn’t know what to write. Even if they try, some may look at the review field and just not know what to say. A simple nudge (“mention what we fixed and how it went”) helps more than you’d think.

Two rules before you ask

I want to get these out of the way because they can get you in real trouble.

Don’t offer anything in exchange for a review. Google’s guidelines say incentives, like free or discounted work, in exchange for posting, changing, or removing reviews count as fake and misleading content. Skip the “$25 off your next service” idea.

Don’t screen for happy customers only. It’s tempting to ask “were you satisfied?” and only send the link to the people who say yes. Google’s guidance says you can’t selectively solicit positive feedback. Ask everyone. If you’re nervous about asking everyone, that’s a service problem, not a marketing problem.

The best, least annoying way to ask on the job site

Here’s the simple version:

1. Make the ask in person while you’re still there. The tech or owner mentions it when the job is done, and the customer is looking at the finished work. Twenty seconds, tops.
2. Send the text while you’re standing there. “Check your phone, I just sent you the link.” No hunting, no remembering later.
3. Make it one tap. The text should go straight to your Google review form, not your homepage and not a search page. Google also lets you hand customers a QR code, which works on invoices, door hangers, and the side of the van.
4. Give them one sentence to hang their review on. “It’d help if you mentioned what we fixed.”
5. Be okay with a no. If they say they’re not comfortable, thank them and move on. Pushing makes it awkward and doesn’t help.

Three contractor review templates you can copy

Below are templates that you can use as a starting point. Definitely change the wording so it sounds like you. If it sounds like a script, people tune out.

Template 1: The in-person ask (tech or owner, at the end of the job)

“Before I head out, {first name}, do you mind if I ask a quick favor? We’re a small local company, and Google reviews are how most of our new customers find us. I’m going to text you a link; it takes about 30 seconds. If you could mention what we did today, that helps a lot. Either way, thanks for having us.”

Template 2: The text message (sent right at the end of the visit)

“Hi {first name}, it’s {tech name} from {company}. Thanks for having us out today. If we did a good job, please leave us a quick Google review. It helps neighbors find us. Here’s the link: {link}. Thanks again!”

Template 3: The gentle reminder (3 to 5 days later, once, only to people who haven’t left a review)

“Hi {first name}, it’s {company}. Just a quick follow-up in case the last message got buried. If you have 30 seconds, a short Google review about your {service} would mean a lot to us: {link}. If anything wasn’t right, reply here or call {phone} and we’ll make it right.”

That last line matters. It gives an unhappy customer a way to reach you before they go online, and it isn’t screening. Everyone still gets the link.

Can you automate review requests with Jobber or Housecall Pro?

Mostly, yes. Here’s what each one does, based on their help pages as of today.

Jobber. It can send an automatic text and email asking for a Google review after a visit is completed, a job is closed, or an invoice is paid. You choose which trigger to use. It ties into your Google Business Profile, flags clients who already left a review so you don’t pester them, and can send up to two automatic follow-up reminders at 3 and 5 days. For recurring jobs, it only asks the same client once every six months. Jobber lists it as part of its Marketing Suite, available on all plans in the US, Canada, and Great Britain.

Housecall Pro. The review request is set up to go out automatically when you tap “Finish” on a job, and you can change it so it goes out after payment is collected instead (Settings, then Notifications, then Reviews). One thing to check: by default, it splits requests across Google, Facebook, and its own website, sending Gmail users to Google. If Google reviews are your goal, change that so they all go to Google. Replying to reviews from inside the app is listed as a premium feature.

A few things to think about:

• Don’t let automation replace the human ask. The text works much better when the customer has just heard it from a real person.
• Read the actual message it sends. Default wording tends to sound like a robot wrote it. Edit it so it sounds like your company.
• Check where the link goes. Click it yourself and make sure it lands on your Google review box.
• Test it on yourself. Run a fake job through and see what shows up on your phone and when.

What to do about fake or unfair 1-star reviews

First, determine whether it is fake or just an unhappy customer. Fake means the person was never your customer; it’s from a competitor, a bot, spam, or clearly about someone else. Google can remove these because they break its policies. Unhappy means a real customer who didn’t like something. You can’t get that removed just because it stings.

If it looks fake:

1. Gather evidence. Search your records. No customer by that name, wrong service, wrong town? Screenshot the review and write down what you found.
2. Flag it. In your Google Business Profile, find the review, click the three dots, and choose “Report review.” Pick the reason that fits. You can also report it from Google Maps.
3. Reply publicly while you wait. Keep it calm and short: “We can’t find a record of this job. If you were a customer, please call us at {phone} so we can look into it.” Future customers are reading your reply, not just the review.
4. Be patient. Google doesn’t guarantee removal, and it can take weeks. If nothing happens after about two weeks, contact Google Business Profile support and ask them to look at it as a policy violation.
5. Bury it with real reviews. The best long-term answer to one bad review is a steady stream of good ones. That’s what the templates above are for.

If it’s a real customer who’s unhappy:

1. Don’t argue and don’t get defensive. Thank them, acknowledge the problem without sharing private details, own what’s true, and offer to fix it offline with a phone number. Keep it to three or four sentences.
2. Fix the problem if you can. A customer who gets a real resolution will sometimes update or remove their review on their own. Just don’t ask them to.

Now, the things you should never do:

• Don’t offer a refund or discount in exchange for removing the review. Google specifically lists incentives to remove negative reviews as prohibited.
• Don’t threaten the reviewer. The FTC’s fake review rule, announced in 2024, bars using threats, intimidation, or baseless legal claims to get negative reviews taken down.
• Don’t post fake reviews of your own or have staff review you without saying who they are. The same rule covers it.
• Don’t write a fake negative review on a competitor. It’s wrong, it’s against the rules, and it often comes back to you more than you’d think.

What to do this week

1. Click your own Google review link on your phone. Does it take you to the review box?
2. Pick a template and give it to your techs. Have them practice it once.
3. Check whether Jobber, Housecall Pro, or your customer relationship management software can send out review requests. Be sure to read it first.
4. Look at your last three negative reviews, if you have any. Did you reply?

Reviews aren’t about being pushy. They’re about making it easy for happy customers to say what they already think. How do you handle asking for reviews right now? If you have a method that works, I’d like to hear it.