Send every customer the same short email within a day of the work, from a person, with one link that opens the review box. Offer nothing in return and never filter out the unhappy ones.

Meant to, never did

At the end of a good appointment, a customer says they will leave a review. They mean it.

Then they get home, and leaving one means finding the listing, finding the button and signing in. It slides to tomorrow.

An email the same day, with one link that opens the review box, turns that intention into two taps. It also reaches the customers you never see at the end of a job.

What makes the email work

The fourth does the most work. Every step between the email and the review box loses people, and a link to your website or listing still leaves several.

Timing

Send it while the customer still remembers the work: the evening of the appointment, or the next morning.

A request batched at the end of the month arrives after the feeling has gone, among the bills and newsletters.

For a long job, wait for the finish. Ask regular customers once, not after every visit.

One reminder a few days later is reasonable. After that, let it go.

A link that opens the review box

Whoever manages your Google listing can build a link that opens its review form directly.

Before it goes out, open it on both an iPhone and an Android phone, and check that each lands straight on the stars.

Reviewers need a Google account, so some will be asked to sign in; a line in the email saying so avoids surprise.

Make the link plain text or a simple button. A button made from an image can vanish when the email program holds back images.

Ask everyone

Since April, Google's review policy has said in plain words that businesses must not discourage negative reviews or selectively ask for positive ones.

That rules out a common shortcut: an email asking how the visit went, which sends happy customers to Google and everyone else to a private form. Some review tools offer exactly that. If yours does, switch it off.

Asking everyone is also better practice, since a listing of nothing but five-star reviews reads as curated.

An unhappy customer who receives the request often replies first, which gives you the chance to put things right.

No rewards of any kind

A discount on the next visit, an entry into a draw, a free extra: Google's rules forbid offering anything in exchange for a review.

In Canada there is a second reason. Under the Competition Act, a review bought with a hidden reward can amount to misleading advertising. That is a general point, not legal advice.

Keep offers out of the review email altogether, so nothing in it can read as payment.

A worked example

An esthetics studio with three treatment rooms above a shop in a suburban town centre had a full appointment book and a handful of Google reviews, most of them two years old.

Its only request was a line at the bottom of the monthly newsletter, below three offers: review us on Google and be entered in a draw for a free facial.

The line reached clients weeks after their appointments, and its link opened the studio's own home page rather than the review box. The draw also broke Google's rules, which nobody at the studio had read.

The owner took the request out of the newsletter and ended the draw. The booking system now sends a short email the morning after every appointment, in her name, with one link straight to the review box.

Every client receives it, first visit or fortieth, though regulars only once a year. Replies go to the owner's own inbox, so a client with a complaint has somewhere to send it besides the listing.

Writing it

Four or five plain sentences are enough: name the visit, ask for an honest review, give the link, and offer a way to raise a problem.

For example: "Thanks for coming in on Tuesday. If you have a minute, a short review on Google helps other people decide whether to book with us."

Then: "This link opens the review box. And if anything was not right, just reply to this email and tell me."

Never ask for five stars, and never suggest what to write. Sign it with a first name, and send it from an address somebody reads.

Each site has its own rules

Google allows asking, provided you ask everyone and offer nothing. Facebook has started replacing star ratings on business Pages with yes-or-no recommendations.

Yelp's guidelines tell businesses not to ask for reviews at all, and industry directories vary, so check before sending anybody to them.

Pick one site per email, usually Google, where most local searches show reviews first. A row of five logos asks for a decision, and many customers will make none.

The email still follows CASL

Under Canada's anti-spam law, the safest course is to treat a review request like any other business email.

A customer's purchase gives you implied consent to email them for two years. The email should still name the business, give its mailing address and offer a working way to opt out.

Send it only to customers, not to everyone who ever made an enquiry, and never to anyone who has asked you to stop.

The counter-case

Asking does not suit every business or every client.

Some regulated professions restrict testimonials, and clients of a counsellor or a lawyer may not want to be asked. Check your professional body's rules first.

A business with a dozen customers a year may find that asking in person, with the link on a card, is enough.

For most businesses, though, one short email to every customer within a day, with a direct link and nothing offered, is the request that actually gets acted on.

This week

  1. Pick one site for the request, usually Google.
  2. Get a direct link to the review box.
  3. Test the link on two kinds of phone.
  4. Write four plain sentences and sign them.
  5. Send it within a day of every job.
  6. Remove any reward or satisfaction filter.
  7. Answer every reply yourself.

Step five is where most routines fail. A request sent the same day reaches somebody who remembers the work; one sent a month later reaches somebody clearing an inbox.

What older coverage of the business says, and how to answer it, is covered in old news stories about the business.

Frequently asked questions

When should a review request email go out?

The same day or the next morning, while the customer remembers the work. A request batched at the end of the month arrives after the feeling has gone.

Why use a direct link to the review box?

Because each extra step loses people. A link to your website or listing still leaves customers hunting for the right button on a small screen.

Can I ask only my happy customers?

No. Since April, Google's policy says businesses must not selectively ask for positive reviews. Send the same request to every customer, whatever you expect them to say.

Can I offer a discount for reviews?

No. Google forbids offering anything in exchange for a review, and in Canada an undisclosed reward can amount to misleading advertising. Keep every offer out of the review email.

Does CASL apply to review request emails?

Treat the request like any other business email. A purchase in the past two years gives implied consent, and the email should name the business, give its address and allow opting out.

Should I ask for reviews on Yelp?

Yelp's guidelines tell businesses not to ask for reviews, so an email requesting one there breaks them. Most businesses point customers to Google instead.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Plenty of happy customers, few reviews?

Point us to your Google listing. We will build a direct review link and a short email for after every job.

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