Every home-service owner knows they should ask for reviews. Far fewer have an actual workflow — a defined, repeatable process that fires for every completed job without depending on anyone's memory. The gap between "we ask when we remember" and "we ask every time" is the gap between a stagnant review count and steady velocity. This article lays out a concrete workflow you can adopt: when to ask, through which channel, how many times, and how to handle opt-outs the right way.
Everything here assumes reviews route to your Google Business Profile, which since around July 2025 is where all Local Services Ads (LSA) reviews are managed.
Principle first: ask everyone, every job
Before any timing or channel decision, lock in the rule that governs all of it: the workflow asks every customer after every completed job, with no filtering by expected happiness. This is not just best practice — the FTC's rule on deceptive reviews (16 CFR 465, effective October 2024) makes it risky to gate requests to only likely-positive customers. One neutral process for everyone is both the compliant design and the one that maximizes volume.
Timing: catch the moment of satisfaction
The ideal time to ask is when the customer is happiest and the work is fresh in mind — shortly after the job is completed and the result is visible. Ask too early (before the outcome is clear) and you get a lukewarm response; ask too late (a week or two out) and the moment has passed.
| Touch | Timing | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Touch 1 | ~1–3 days after completion | Primary ask at peak satisfaction |
| Touch 2 | ~4–6 days after Touch 1, only if no review yet | Gentle reminder for busy customers |
| Touch 3 (optional) | ~1 week later, email, only if still no review | Final light nudge, then stop |
A short drip like this consistently outperforms a single request, because most people who intend to leave a review simply forget the first time. It also outperforms endless nagging, which annoys customers and can damage the relationship. Two to three touches, then done.
Channels: SMS, email, or both
The two workhorse channels are SMS and email, and they have different strengths.
- SMS gets opened almost immediately and converts well because of its directness. It is ideal for Touch 1, when immediacy matters. It also carries stricter rules (see opt-outs below) and practical length limits.
- Email is lower-pressure, allows a bit more context, and is well suited to later reminders. It is a natural fit for an optional Touch 3.
A common, effective pattern is SMS for the first ask (when you have consent to text) and email for reminders. Whatever channel you use, the message should be short, personal, and lead with a single, obvious link straight to your Business Profile. Every extra step between the customer and the review form costs you conversions.
What a good request message contains
- A personal touch — the customer's name and, ideally, a reference to the specific job.
- A brief, genuine ask (not a demand).
- One direct link to leave a review on your Business Profile.
- For SMS, opt-out instructions and a length that fits comfortably in a single message.
Do not offer incentives tied to leaving a review, and never tie an incentive to leaving a positive one — that distorts the record and runs afoul of both platform rules and the FTC rule.
Opt-outs and messaging compliance
If you text customers, honoring opt-outs is not optional — it is a legal requirement and a reputation safeguard. Your workflow must:
- Recognize STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, and similar replies and immediately suppress all further messages to that number.
- Only text customers from whom you have appropriate consent to send messages.
- Provide a clear way to opt out of email requests as well.
Respecting these is partly about law and partly about not being the business that annoyed a customer into a worse impression than the one you were trying to improve.
Two details that separate good workflows from great ones
Stop asking people who already reviewed
Nothing undercuts a review request like sending it to someone who already left you a review. A strong workflow matches incoming reviews back to the customers it asked and removes them from the remaining touches. This requires connecting your job records to your Business Profile reviews, which is exactly the kind of matching worth getting right.
Cap frequency and never double-drip
If a customer has multiple jobs close together, do not stack overlapping request sequences. A sensible frequency cap protects the relationship and keeps you clearly within messaging norms.
Make it a system, not a habit
The reason to write this down as a workflow rather than a good intention is durability. Habits erode under pressure; systems keep running when the team is slammed. Whether you operate the workflow manually with a checklist or hand it to software, the value is the same: every completed job triggers the same compliant sequence, so review velocity stops depending on whether anyone remembered to ask.
The bottom line
A good review workflow is boring by design: ask every customer, one to three days after the job, through SMS and email, with a short drip of two or three touches, a direct link to your Business Profile, strict opt-out handling, and logic to stop asking people who already reviewed. Make it a system that fires automatically, and steady review velocity — a widely understood LSA performance factor — becomes the natural output of simply doing the work.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to ask for a review after a job?
Ask when the customer is happiest and the work is fresh, usually one to three days after completion. A short drip of two to three touches, then stopping, outperforms both a single ask and endless nagging.
Is it okay to only ask customers I think are happy?
No. The FTC rule on deceptive reviews (16 CFR 465, effective October 2024) makes review-gating risky, so a compliant workflow asks every customer after every completed job with no filtering by expected happiness.
How do I handle text-message opt-outs when requesting reviews?
Only text customers you have consent to message, honor STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE replies immediately by suppressing further messages, and provide a clear opt-out for email too. Do not offer incentives tied to leaving a review.