You know your contractor business is awesome, but prospective clients won’t weigh your words the same way they do when reading other people’s opinions.
For this reason, building up Google reviews is critical for keeping new clients coming to your door. It’ll also help you improve your SEO.
However, some contractors feel uncomfortable asking for an online review or don’t know what to say. We’re here to put your worries to rest with these tips on how to ask for Google reviews.
General Advice When Asking for Google Reviews
There’s no doubt about it—your strategies will differ when asking for a Google review via email versus the phone. However, there are a couple of areas where you’ll want to apply the same strategy. They include:
- Who you ask. If you know that a client is upset or tends to be critical, avoid asking them for a review.
- When to ask. You’ll have a better chance of getting a review if you ask for it right after you finish the job or when your client returns to use your services again.
- How you ask. You never want to sound desperate for a review, but it’s okay and even helpful to explain how the review will help you secure future clients.
How to Ask for Google Reviews Via Email
Whether you primarily speak with your clients over the phone or in person, gathering their email addresses is an excellent business practice. Let’s look at how you can put email to work and get Google reviews or even reviews through other companies.
Make Your Client Feel Special
It’s unlikely you’ll get many reviews by sending out a cookie-cutter template—people can read right through it. Instead, personalize your email according to the job and conversations you had.
Don’t Ramble
Your clients are busy, and their inboxes are full, so they’ll likely close out of your email if they see a wall of text. Instead, keep your message short and to the point. It’s also a good idea to give them a heads up about how long the review will take (the shorter, the better).
Include a Google Review Link
Your clients aren’t going to want to take the time to track down a place to leave you a review online, so do them the favor of including a link in your message.
Try Different Methods
If you don’t seem to get a high review rate with the messaging you’re using, try changing it up. Consider drafting templates that you customize based on your customer’s personalities. For example, an elderly client might appreciate a longer greeting than a young, busy professional.
How to Ask for Google Reviews Over the Phone
Asking for Google reviews over the phone can feel more intimidating than an email—after all, you can reword and review your email as many times as you want. Through email, there isn’t the chance of a client bringing up a concern or complicated question on the spot.
However, by implementing the strategies below, you’ll set yourself up for success for gathering more Google reviews.
Tie in the Ask With a Follow-up
Calling someone on the phone requires them to give you their immediate attention. Therefore, it’s best to lead your call by focusing on the client—show them that your intention is to check on how your work is holding up and make asking for a review a secondary priority.
Read Your Audience
The advantage of calling a client to ask for a review is that you can determine their feelings at the moment—a formerly happy client could become upset if something you did ultimately failed them. That way, you don’t risk upsetting them more by asking for a Google review.
If you receive a Google review you don’t think is fair, check out our guide on how to delete a Google review.
Find Your Voice
Everyone has their own style of talking on the phone, and every business requires a different kind of tone (contract work for a law firm will look different than a pet sitting business). However, regardless of your field of work, you should aim to have a confident and approachable tone of voice.
Putting Your Google Reviews to Work
Collecting reviews on Google offers excellent benefits for your contractor business, but there’s more you can do with them. By partnering with our web development team at Hook Agency, we’ll link your Google reviews to every critical part of your website, putting them to work when prospective clients land on your page.
