Free templates for small businesses
How to ask customers for a Google review or a testimonial: the words to use on WhatsApp and email
Six WhatsApp messages and three emails for the ask after a job: the Google review, the testimonial for your website, and the one follow-up. Each WhatsApp message opens in WhatsApp or copies in a tap, and each email copies with its subject line.
Most owners know reviews bring in the next customer, and most feel pushy asking. So they say "leave us a review" at the door, the customer says they will, and nothing happens. What works is a short message the same day, with the link in it, sent to every customer, and one follow-up three days later. These are written to sound like you, and none of them offers anything in return, because Google's rules don't allow it.
The ask, word for word
Put your review link in, send the ask on the day the job's done, and send it to every customer.
1. The Google review ask
Hi [name], thanks for having us for [job] today. How did we do? A Google review, whatever you thought, tells the next customer what to expect. The link opens the review box: [link]
2. When they thanked you in person
Hi [name], it was good to hear you're happy with [job]. If you're willing to say that on Google too, this is the link: [link]
3. For a regular customer
Hi [name], you've been coming to us for [how long], and we don't take it for granted. Have you ever reviewed us on Google? If not, would you mind? It's here: [link]
4. The testimonial for your website
Hi [name], could I put a few words from you on our website? Two or three sentences on what [job] was like and what's different now. I'll send you the wording to check before anything goes up.
5. The one follow-up
Hi [name], a quick nudge on the review. My last message may have got buried, so here's the link again: [link]. If you'd rather not, that's completely fine.
6. After they've written it
Hi [name], we saw your review this morning, and the whole team read it. Thank you for that.
7. Email: the review request
Subject: How did [job] go?
Hi [name], thanks for choosing [business] for [job]. We'd like to know how it went, good or bad. A Google review takes a minute and helps people decide whether to call us. It opens here: [link]. Thanks, [your name]
8. Email: the testimonial request
Subject: Could I quote you on our website?
Hi [name], we're adding a few words from customers to our website, and I'd like yours. Three questions, a line or two each: What was going on before you called us? What did we do? What's different now? I'll send back the wording for you to approve before anything is published. Thanks, [your name]
9. Email: the one follow-up
Subject: Re: How did [job] go?
Hi [name], one more try, as emails do slip past. The review link is here: [link]. If now isn't a good time, no need to reply. Thanks, [your name]
Before you send
Send the review ask to every customer, however you think the job went. Leave out discounts, gifts and anything else in return.
These go to customers about a job you did for them. If you add an offer and it goes to a Singapore number that hasn't messaged you, read the Do Not Call rules first.
Get the link that opens your review box with the Google review link generator
Five questions that get a testimonial you can use
Most customers say yes to a testimonial and then don't know what to write. Send these with message 4, and let them answer in their own words.
- "What was going on before you came to us?"
- "Why did you pick us over the others you looked at?"
- "What changed after [the job, the course, the project]?"
- "What would you tell a friend who's thinking of using us?"
- "Can we put your first name and [your area or company] beside it?"
Then send back the two or three sentences you'd like to use, and ask if you can publish them as they are. The last question matters: a testimonial with a name beside it is one you've been given leave to show.
When to send your Google review request, message by message
The same day the job's done, while they still remember what you did.
- Message 1 or email 7: the day you finish, to every customer
- Message 2: the day they thank you in person or on the phone
- Message 3: to regulars who've never reviewed you, once
- Message 5 or email 9: three days after the ask, only if nothing came back
- Message 6: the day the review goes up
One follow-up, then stop: how to chase a review without being pushy
One nudge helps people who meant to. A second one starts to feel like a bill.
- Wait three days after the first ask
- Send the link again, and say it's fine if they'd rather not
- If they still don't write one, leave it there, and don't ask about it next time
- Thank everyone who does, whatever they wrote
How to ask for a testimonial you can put on your website
A testimonial is yours to show on your own site, so ask for it separately from the Google review.
- Ask when the job's done and the result is showing
- Give them three questions to answer, so they're not facing a blank page
- Send back the wording you'll use, and publish only what they approve
- Ask whether you can use their first name, their business name or both
How a two-person cleaning business asked 24 customers for a review in one month
- 24 jobs finished, and every customer got message 1 on the day.
- 9 left a review within three days. The other 15 got message 5 on day three, and 5 more reviewed after it.
- Everyone who reviewed got message 6 the day it went up.
- Three regulars got message 4, and two sent a testimonial for the website.
24 asks, 9 reviews on the first message, 24 - 9 = 15 follow-ups and 5 reviews from them. 9 + 5 = 14 reviews in the month.
Put the review ask on the day after the job, so you don't forget
Palby CRM is the CRM we make. It doesn't collect reviews or reply to them. It keeps the ask on your list until it's sent.
- Type the ask with a day in it, like "review ask, Lim family, Friday", and it's dated for Friday
- Add the follow-up as its own task, three days after the ask
Questions
Send a short message the day the job's done, with the link that opens your review box in it. Message 1 does it on WhatsApp, and email 7 does it by email.
No. Google's help page says: "Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, to customers in exchange for reviews is considered fake engagement and is strictly prohibited."
No. Google's rules say businesses must not "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". Send the same ask to everyone.
Once, three days after the first ask. After that, leave it.
A Google review lives on your Google profile, and the customer writes what they like. A testimonial is a few words you publish on your own website with their approval. Google's rules say not to "request that specific content be included" in a review, so the three questions belong in the testimonial ask only.
From your Google Business Profile, or paste your Place ID into the Google review link generator.
A short thank-you on the day, like message 6. There are more thank-you messages in the thank-you message templates.
Yes. They're templates to copy and use yourself, so print them, download them for Word and change any word. For first replies, quotes and reminders, see the WhatsApp message templates.
Ask every customer once. Follow up once.
Palby CRM puts every review ask and follow-up on a date.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.