Review request SMS templates that actually get answers

Before the templates, the rules. A review request that gets answered is short (two or three sentences), sounds like a human wrote it, mentions the actual job or visit, and contains exactly one link, the direct one that opens your Google review form. It goes out the same day, from a number the customer can reply to.

Swap the bits in brackets, keep everything else. These work for a landscaper, a café, a mechanic, a physio, anyone.

Send within a few hours of finishing the job or the visit, while it’s still fresh.

Why it works: it’s personal, it names the job, and “60 seconds” sets the expectation that this is tiny. “Helps our little business” gives them a reason that isn’t about you, people like backing a local.

Most people don’t ignore you on purpose, they mean to do it and get distracted. One nudge, two or three days later, catches a big chunk of them. One only, more than that is nagging.

“No pressure either way” is doing real work: it takes the pressure off, and paradoxically makes people more likely to do it. If they still don’t respond, leave it. That’s the end.

When a customer says something nice, “the place looks amazing”, “best coffee in the suburb”, that’s your moment. Don’t let it pass.

You’re not asking them to invent praise, just to move the praise they already gave somewhere public. It converts beautifully.

Never ask for a five-star review specifically, ask for an honest one. Never offer a discount, gift, or competition entry in exchange: that’s an incentivised review, banned by Google and risky under Australian Consumer Law. And never send from a random number with no context, “Hi, please review us” from an unknown sender reads as spam, because it basically is.

Every message should mention your business name and the job you did, go only to real customers you’ve actually served, and include a way to opt out. That keeps you inside both Google’s rules and the Spam Act.

Templates work, but they still rely on you remembering to send them after every job. Review Base exists for exactly that gap: you text us the customer’s number, we send the ask (worded like the ones above), one polite follow-up, and route anyone unhappy to private feedback instead of Google. Plans start at $50/mo, no lock-in.