Three days without heating in November. You found the fault, fitted the part, and now the customer’s standing in the back bedroom with her hand flat on the radiator saying “oh, that’s lovely.” She will never feel better about you than she does right now. By the time the invoice is paid, you’re just someone she paid. If you’re going to ask for a review, this is the moment.
Ask when the heat comes back on
Unhappy customers find your Google listing on their own. Happy ones mean to and never get round to it. Satisfied customers need to be asked, and the timing matters more than the wording.
The best time to ask is when they feel relieved: the hot tap runs hot, the boiler fires, the leak stops. The worst time is a fortnight later, tacked onto the bottom of a payment reminder. So ask in person, before you leave, then send the link within the hour while they still remember your name.
A simple rule: if the customer thanked you out loud, ask. Then ask every one of them, not only the ones you think will be glowing. That’s fair, and as you’ll see further down, it’s also what Google’s rules expect.
On rental properties, the tenant felt the heat come back, and the landlord paid the bill. Either can leave a review if it’s their genuine experience. The tenant’s is usually the warmer one.
The exact words
Keep it short, make it a favour, and say why it matters to a small firm. In person:
“Glad that’s sorted. Can I ask a favour? Most of my new work comes from people reading Google reviews. If I text you the link, would you mind putting a couple of lines about today?”
Almost nobody says no to that face to face. Then, from the van, before you pull away:
“Thanks again, Mrs Patel. Here’s that link, it only takes a minute and it really helps: [link]. Any problems with the boiler, ring me. Dan, Northside Heating.”
If they ask what to write, tell them to say what happened in their own words. Don’t suggest a star rating and don’t write it for them. Google says you can encourage reviews of a genuine experience, but not try to influence the rating or what it says.
If they haven’t done it after a week, one gentle nudge is fine: “No worries if you haven’t had a chance, here’s the link again.” Then leave it.
Make it one tap
Every extra step loses people. “Search for us on Google” loses most of them. Send a link that opens the review box directly.
Google gives you one. In your Business Profile, go to Read reviews, then the Get more reviews share button, and copy the link. The same place gives you a QR code, though Google says the QR code can only be made from a computer browser, not your phone. Do it once, at the kitchen table.
Reply to every review, especially the bad one
Replies are public and sit under the review, and the customer gets notified when you reply. People choosing a heating engineer read your replies almost as closely as the reviews themselves.
Good reviews: two lines, their first name, the job. “Thanks Priya, glad the new combi is keeping up with three teenagers’ showers. See you for the first service.” That reads like a real business, because it is one.
Bad reviews: wait until the next day. Don’t argue, don’t mention their address or anything private, and don’t write it for the customer. Write it for the next person reading.
“Sorry to read this, Mark. You’re right that we were later than we said on Tuesday, and that isn’t good enough. I’d like to put the rest right. Please ring me on the office number and I’ll sort it personally.”
Own what’s true, correct what isn’t calmly and briefly, and take the rest offline. If a review clearly breaks Google’s rules, for example it’s from someone who was never your customer, report it through your Business Profile rather than fighting it in public. One calm reply to a one-star review does more for you than five more five-stars.
What not to do, and what the law says
This used to be Google’s rules and good manners. In the UK it’s now also the law. Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has banned submitting or commissioning fake reviews, and reviews that hide the fact they were paid for or incentivised. It also bans publishing reviews in a misleading way, which the Act says includes showing the positive ones while leaving out or removing the negative ones. The Competition and Markets Authority has published guidance on fake reviews if you want the detail.
Breaking Google’s rules can get reviews taken down and your profile blocked from receiving new ones for a while, which is the opposite of what you wanted. Asking honestly is slower, but nobody can take it away from you.
The review request fits best into the routine at the end of every job, alongside the invoice and the service reminder. We wrote that routine up in how a job should end. If you use Datify, it keeps the job, the customer and the invoice together and can draft the thank-you message for you, but nothing goes to a customer without your approval unless you’ve set a rule for that message. See what needs your approval. There’s a 14-day free trial, then it’s £37 a month.
Ask in person the moment the heat comes back on, then text a direct review link from the van. Ask every customer, not just the happy ones, and never offer anything in return. Reply to every review, and to the bad ones the next day, calmly, for the people reading. Fake, paid-for and cherry-picked reviews are unlawful in the UK since April 2025, so don’t go near them.
Writes about what actually happens when you put an AI in charge of real business operations — including the parts that go wrong.