How to ask customers for reviews: messages that actually work

What does a working review request consist of?

Four parts: the customer name, a reference to what you actually did, a time indication and one link. Anything else you add lowers the response rate. Staying under forty words is the simplest quality check there is.

This article sits alongside the guide on getting more Google reviews, which covers timing and channel choice. Here we deal with the message itself.

1. 1Name: "Hi Ann" reads differently from "Dear customer".
2. 2Recognition: mention the service, so it does not look like a mass mail.
3. 3Threshold: state the duration, twenty seconds is the honest figure.
4. 4One link, with nothing else clickable.

What should you send on WhatsApp?

On WhatsApp you can write the way you speak. One sentence about the job, one question, one link, your first name underneath. Two lines get more replies in practice than five, because the whole message is already readable in the preview.

Hair salon: "Hi Ann, lovely to see you again today. Would you help us out with a short Google review? Twenty seconds: [link]. Thanks, Nele."

Garage: "Hi Kevin, the brakes are sorted. A short Google review helps us a lot: [link]. Thanks in advance, Tom."

Contractor: "Hi both, glad the bathroom is finished and everything is to your liking. Would you leave a short review? [link]. Thanks, Bram."

Restaurant: "Hi Laura, thanks for coming in last night. A word on Google would mean a lot: [link]. See you next time, Sam."

What should you send by SMS?

An SMS has to fit on one screen, so aim for roughly 160 characters including the link. Put your business name first, because the number means nothing to the customer. One line of explanation and the link are enough.

Salon Nele: hi Ann, thanks for your visit. A short Google review helps us: [link]. Best, Nele

Garage Peeters: hi Kevin, all good with the car? Feel free to leave a Google review: [link]. Thanks, Tom

Use a shortened link, otherwise the address eats half your message. Avoid capitals and exclamation marks, which raise the odds that operators treat your message as advertising.

What should you send by email?

For email, plain text outperforms a designed newsletter, because it reads as a personal message. Put the request in the first two sentences. The subject line decides whether the message is opened at all.

• Subject: "Twenty seconds for us?"
• Subject: "Could we ask you something small, Ann?"
• Subject: "How was your visit to Salon Nele?"

Hi Ann, you came in last week for a colour. We are trying to make our work visible through Google, and a short review helps enormously with that. It takes about twenty seconds: [link]. Many thanks, Nele from Salon Nele.

Sending to an old customer list in one go? Spread it across two weeks. Fifty reviews on a single day gets noticed, and not in your favour.

How do you ask at the counter without awkwardness?

Ask while you are handling something else, such as payment or the next appointment. Point at the QR code and say in one sentence why it helps. The customer can then scan or decline politely without any loss of face.

"If you have a second, feel free to scan that code. A Google review really helps us get found."

This works in hospitality, salons, shops and waiting rooms. Where exactly to put that QR code, and which spots produce nothing, is covered in the article on QR codes for Google reviews.

How do you follow up without nagging?

One reminder, two days later, in the same conversation and shorter than the first message. Then you stop. Anyone who ignores two requests will ignore five, and the annoyance rises faster than the return.

"Hi Ann, sending this once more in case it got buried: [link]. No problem at all if you do not get round to it."

The line "no problem at all if you do not get round to it" raises the response rate in practice, because it removes the pressure. In ReviewsPro that single reminder is scheduled automatically and cancelled the moment the review arrives.