"Please leave us five stars" asks for a score before the customer has chosen what to say. A useful Google review request gives a genuine customer a simple route to share their own experience, without a reward, script or obligation to praise the business.
The downloadable message pack provides email and short-message invitations, an optional reminder, a response when somebody asks for the link, and a neutral public reply. The accompanying worksheet helps the team use a consistent process rather than contact the same customer repeatedly.
Use Google’s current review guidance and contribution policies alongside the pack. This guide concerns requesting genuine reviews, not manufacturing testimonials or promising search rankings. Replace the message placeholders with actual business details and the correct profile link before sending.
Download the Jobsworth Google review message pack
One Word file with five neutral message variants, a request-process worksheet, a pre-send checklist and a small request log.
Use the correct review link
Before saving a message for the team, open the actual link from a phone and check which business it identifies. You can inspect the route without publishing a test contribution. A link that opens successfully can still lead to the wrong listing. Record the destination checked and resolve that mismatch before inviting a customer to post. Keep the tested link in one reviewed template rather than letting colleagues use several older copies.
Start from the Business Profile you manage and use Google’s supported review-link or QR-code route. The official help page below explains the current steps. Test the actual destination before adding it to your customer message.
Record the profile and tested link on the worksheet. A business with an old or duplicate listing needs to establish which record applies rather than sending whichever address appears first in a search. Keep that decision connected to the person responsible for the profile.
The Word file includes a link placeholder, not a working review destination for your business. Replace it before use. If your team uses a stored version of the message, assign somebody to recheck the link when the profile arrangement changes.
Google notes that reviewers need a Google Account and that it need not use a Gmail address. Avoid writing instructions that suggest you can bypass the reviewer’s own account or post on their behalf. The customer remains the author of the contribution.
Choose a consistent invitation point
Choose a meaningful point in the customer experience and record it in the process worksheet. That could be a defined handover or another actual event relevant to your business. Use accurate wording rather than saying a Job is complete when you are still discussing outstanding work.
Apply the invitation process without filtering for the score you expect. Google’s policies prohibit selectively soliciting positive reviews and discouraging negative ones. A private satisfaction question should not become a gate that only routes favourable answers to the public review link.
Keep service concerns as their own responsibility. If the customer raises a question, address it through the normal business process. Do not make the review invitation conditional on withdrawing a complaint or sharing favourable feedback.
Choose who sends the invitation and check whether it was already sent. One colleague may be handling the handover while another prepares the billing message. A simple request log can prevent both adding the same invitation without knowing about the other contact.
Adapt the email and short message
The email template thanks the customer for choosing the business, supplies the link and welcomes honest feedback. Keep the invitation brief and optional. You do not need to repeat the whole work history or present a promotional argument for the review.
The short-message version serves the same purpose in fewer words. Use a contact route appropriate to your customer arrangements. A saved phone number alone does not explain every reason or method by which your business should contact someone.
Keep the requested review in the customer’s own words. Google’s current policy says merchants should not request specific review content, including identification of a staff member. Avoid inserting a list of phrases, services or names you want the customer to mention.
Do not attach a requested rating or a benefit for posting. Google prohibits incentives for reviews, changes to reviews or removal of negative reviews. A discount or free item tied to the contribution changes the nature of what you are asking for.
Decide whether a reminder is useful
The pack includes an optional single reminder, not an automatic chasing sequence. First check the log and any response. A customer who already reviewed, declined or prefers no further contact does not need another invitation.
The reminder supplies the link again and makes clear there is no need to respond. Treat that wording as an invitation, not a task the customer owes you. Avoid repeatedly contacting someone because your internal review target remains unmet.
Do not pressure customers to write while on the premises. Google’s policy also restricts that pressure and staff review quotas. Leave people room to decide whether and when they want to contribute rather than presenting a device at handover and waiting for a rating.
Where a customer asks for the link themselves, use the separate response template. That conversation is different from another unsolicited reminder. Record the actual request and provide the verified destination without supplying a ready-made customer review.
Reply without publishing private details
A public reply belongs to the public conversation, not the private work record. Thank the person appropriately and address a relevant point without disclosing an address, payment history or other private detail from their Job.
The neutral reply in the pack offers a business contact for discussing a concern. Adapt it to the actual feedback rather than deny or admit an event you have not investigated. Google’s guidance encourages professional, relevant replies and protection of private information.
Handle a service issue separately from any desired review change. An appropriate response to a customer concern should not be offered in exchange for deleting criticism. Keep the review process and the underlying business responsibility distinct.
If you believe content breaches the platform’s policies, use the relevant Google reporting process. Do not assume a negative opinion is itself prohibited. Record the specific issue you need to examine instead of turning every low rating into a removal request.
Use the request log for coordination
The log records a customer reference, invitation date and method, person sending, reminder decision and process note. Keep only the information needed for that purpose through your appropriate business arrangements. It is not a customer-ranking table.
Use the entries to check duplicate contact and understand which message was actually sent. An invitation entered as a future plan should not be mistaken for a completed message. Retain enough context for the next colleague to follow the customer’s position.
Review whether the link and wording remain accurate rather than measure success only by positive scores. Genuine feedback may include criticism or no response. Those outcomes are not reasons to alter the process into selective public invitations.
Prepare one neutral invitation
Download the Word pack, enter your actual business details and test the review link. Choose the invitation point and responsible person, then use the pre-send checklist to remove any rating demand, incentive or prescribed content.
Ask whether the customer can freely ignore the invitation or share their honest experience. If the message only works when they say something favourable, revise it before sending. A useful review process makes genuine feedback easy without trying to choose its result.