Reviews
Part of Local business marketing: review requests for UK trades
Local business marketing: review requests for UK trades
Local business marketing for UK tradespeople: build review requests into handovers, use practical templates and ask without breaking review or data rules.
What to take away
- For local business marketing, build the review request into your handover, not into a spare evening next week.
- Text the customer within an hour of finishing, while the work is still fresh in their mind.
- Never pay for a review or knock money off a bill in exchange for one.
- Reply to every review within two working days, including the one-star ones.
- Log who was asked and when, so nobody gets chased twice.
Reviews decide the shortlist before you quote
A homeowner searching for a boiler repair sees three firms. Two carry forty reviews and a 4.8 rating. The third has six reviews and no photographs. The shortlist forms in that moment, before anyone rings a bell.
Review platforms compared
Google Business Profile
- What it does
- Shows reviews locally
- What to watch
- You do not own it
Checkatrade
- What it does
- Reaches comparing homeowners
- What to watch
- Membership is paid
Trustpilot
- What it does
- Builds brand-level trust
- What to watch
- Plans differ
Google's local results weigh proximity, relevance and prominence, and review volume feeds prominence directly. That makes optimising a Google Business Profile more valuable than a new van sign, because the profile is where the decision happens.
Reviews decide the shortlist
What it does for you
- Google Business Profile
- Shows reviews to people searching locally
- Checkatrade
- Reaches homeowners already comparing vetted trades
- Trustpilot
- Builds brand-level trust and sends invites
What to watch
- Google Business Profile
- You do not own the profile or its reviews
- Checkatrade
- Membership is paid, so read the terms
- Trustpilot
- Free and paid plans differ, so check what is included
What the rules say about asking and rewarding
Knocking money off the next service in return for a review is the fastest way to destroy the trust that review was meant to buy. The CAP Code, which the Advertising Standards Authority enforces, requires testimonials and reviews used in advertising to be genuine and to reflect the reviewer's opinion. The advertising codes set out the detail.
Fake reviews are a consumer protection matter too, and the Competition and Markets Authority can act on misleading review practices. Asking a customer directly is not the problem. Rewarding them for saying something nice is. The safest policy is simple: ask everyone and reward nobody.
A request sequence that fits a trades diary
Use this order every time, adapting the timing for the size of the job:
- At booking, note the customer's preferred contact channel and whether you have permission to use it for a review request.
- When the work is complete, mark the job complete and check the handover is done.
- For routine work, send the request within an hour of finishing; for a larger job, wait until the invoice is settled.
- Ask every eligible customer with a neutral message and a direct review link. Never offer a reward.
- Log when and how you sent the request so nobody is chased twice.
- Monitor new reviews and reply within two working days, including to negative ones.
Review request sequence
- Note channel and first name at booking
- Send request within an hour of packing up
- Keep it to three lines with one link
- Send one reminder after four days
- Reply to the review within two days
- Log date and outcome to avoid repeats
Templates that sound like a tradesperson
A short text beats a glossy email for domestic work. Something like: "Hi Sam, thanks for having us out today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in Stockport find us. Here is the link: [your review link]. No reply needed."
For larger jobs, a two-message sequence for quotes can carry the ask after the invoice is settled. First, after the customer accepts the quote, send: “Hi Sam, thanks for choosing us for the work. We’ll be in touch to arrange the next steps.” After the invoice is settled, send: “Hi Sam, thanks again for choosing us. If you have a minute, please leave an honest Google review here: [your review link]. No reply needed.”
Avoid "we would be grateful if you could take a moment to leave a review". It reads like a utility company and gets ignored.
Build requests into the job workflow
A repeatable process is about sending one message at the right moment, on a day when you are under a sink and not thinking about marketing. If your job-management system can trigger a request when a job is marked complete, use that trigger; otherwise, add the request to your handover checklist and send it yourself.
Automated texts and emails fall under the same rules. The ICO's direct marketing guidance explains when consent is needed and when the soft opt-in covers existing customers.
Illustrative arithmetic: two extra jobs a month at £450 each comes to £10,800 a year. A review tool costs a fraction of that, but only while the reviews stay genuine and recent. Track requests sent against reviews received, and change the timing if the second number lags.
Common questions
Can I offer a discount in exchange for a review?
No, not if the discount is conditional on the review. The opinion stops being honest, and the ASA and the CMA can treat the resulting claim as misleading. Thank customers afterwards if you like, but keep the two things separate.
How soon should I send the request?
Within an hour of finishing is ideal, and the same day is the realistic target. A review written that evening names the job and the street, and that detail convinces the next homeowner.
Do Checkatrade and Trustpilot reviews count as well as Google?
They do different jobs. Google reviews support local search visibility, while Checkatrade and Trustpilot carry weight with homeowners already comparing firms. Ask for Google first and take the others when they are offered.
