How to get more Google reviews, with no incentives

Why ask at all

A satisfied customer does not always think of writing a review. They paid, left, and went back to their day. A short request at the right moment reminds them that it is possible.

Google itself recommends it. On its help page about reviews it writes that you can remind customers to write a review, for example with a link or a QR code, and that replying to reviews shows customers you value their feedback. It also writes that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Your customers' real reviews are part of the way.

What Google allows, and what it forbids

Ask everyone, the same way

The temptation is understandable: to ask only the customer who smiled and said thank you. But reviews that come only from satisfied customers are a partial picture, and they do not tell you what is worth improving. One request, the same for every customer, is both the fair way and the way Google expects.

1. Set one moment for the request: after payment, when you serve the order, or at the end of a treatment.
2. Set one sentence, and all your employees say it to every customer.
3. Give a short way: a QR code at the register, a button on the business card, or a stand they bring their phone close to.
4. Do not dictate what to write and do not ask for a certain number of stars.
5. Do not stand over the customer until they finish. The request is an invitation, not a condition.

When a customer says "not now"

This will happen a lot, and it is fine. Do not insist, do not remind them again on the same visit, and do not write down who refused. The customer heard that it is possible, and the code will be there next time too. Sometimes it is exactly the customer who was not pressured who comes back a week later and writes on their own.

For example only: the fictional "Date Palm Barbershop" decided the request is said at the end of every haircut, when the customer gets up from the chair. There is a small QR code next to the mirror. Whoever wants to scans it, and whoever does not, pays and leaves. The barbers do not check who wrote.

The business card: one place to write

In Shortip every business has a digital business card: one page with links, a menu, questions and photos. The card has a section for reviews, and at setup you choose how it looks: a direct button to Google, or a rating first.

With a rating first, the customer rates on the card, and then is offered to write on Google. Google is always offered for every rating, including a low one. There is no filtering out of whoever was not satisfied, because that is exactly the kind of selective request you do not want to make.

A customer who had something bother them can also write to you directly, in a private message from the card. The offer to write on Google stays open to them like to anyone else. That way you hear about the problem, and they choose where to tell about it.

In the portal you also see "How was it at your place": the ratings customers confirmed on the card, an average and a breakdown.

A stand on the counter

Some businesses prefer something that stands on the counter. Bring a phone close to the stand, and the business card or a Google review opens, depending on what you chose. The stand only invites too: it is open to anyone who wants it, with nothing in return. The stand is a separate product, and you arrange it with Gal.

Reply to every review

Google recommends replying in a pleasant and professional tone, briefly, and with a negative review, protecting the customer's privacy and avoiding personal attacks. In Shortip every review reaches the portal with a ready draft reply. You edit it, adjust it to what really happened, and paste it on Google. No reply is published in your name unless you wrote it.

For example only, for the review "The dish arrived cold", a draft could look like this: "Thank you for writing, and sorry about the dish. That is not our standard, and we checked with the kitchen what happened that evening. We would be glad to see you again. Avi." You change the name, add what you really checked, and delete what is not true.

And for a good review? One line is enough. Whoever reads your reviews next week sees there is someone listening.

The loyalty club and reviews: no link

Beyond Google's rules, there is simple logic here too. A customer who feels their gift depends on what they write will not write what they think. And both things work better when they are separate: the club brings customers back, and the request to write on Google is open to everyone, club members or not.

Mistakes worth avoiding

• A prize draw among review writers. A draw is a kind of reward too, and it is better to stay away from it.
• Asking family and friends to write about a business they were not really at. A review should describe a real experience.
• An employee who stands next to the customer and waits for them to finish writing. Google forbids pressuring a customer while they are at the business.
• A link to Google only for whoever rated high. A selective request gives a distorted picture.
• An angry reply to a negative review. Whoever reads it later is the next customer, not the one who wrote.

A mistake that is easy not to notice: not asking at all. A good business that does not ask stays with a few old reviews, and whoever searches for it does not know how good it is.

What to check once a week

• That every review from the last week has a reply.
• That all your employees say the same sentence, to every customer.
• That the code or the stand is still in place, and opens what it should.
• Which private messages came in from the card, and what you can learn from them.

Frequently asked questions