Reviews that get asked for, and answered, without you

The chore

Everyone knows reviews matter, and nobody has time for them. Asking a happy customer feels awkward. Replying to the ones you get slips to “later”. In the workshop I ran, eighty reviews sat unanswered for years, and we had no habit of asking for new ones.

What runs now

A week after a job is done, the customer gets one text: thanks for coming in, here’s the link if you’d like to leave a review. No nagging, one text.

When a review comes in, it’s read and sorted. Four and five stars get a reply within minutes, written for that review, in your voice, so it never reads like a form letter. Three stars and under don’t get answered automatically. They come to your phone with a suggested reply, and you say yes or no by text. An angry customer gets a human, every time.

J

Jenny M.
★★★★★ · 2 weeks ago

Dropped the car in for a brake noise, they rang me with the price before doing anything and it was ready the same afternoon. Will be back.

Response from the owner · 2 weeks ago

Thanks Jenny, glad we could get it sorted the same day. Ringing before we start is how we like to do it. See you next time.

1. 2-star review from Tom R: "Took three days longer than quoted and nobody rang." Suggested reply: "Tom, you're right and I'm sorry. We should have rung when the part was late. Call me on the workshop number and I'll make it right." Reply YES to post it, or send your own words.
2. YES

What changed

The workshop went from eighty unanswered reviews to every single one answered, within a day of switching it on. New reviews arrive on their own because every customer gets asked, once, at the right moment. And the owner’s phone only buzzes for the reviews that actually need an owner.

What it took

Access to your Google business listing, a few examples of how you’d like replies to sound, and a text from the job system when a job is finished. If you don’t have a job system, the review request can come off your invoicing instead.