Review request text message templates

Text messages are one of the most direct ways to ask a customer for a review. They are short, they arrive on the phone the customer will use to leave the review, and most people glance at a text even when they ignore email. That directness is also why texts need more care than email. A clumsy text feels more intrusive than a clumsy email, and there are rules about who you can text.

Before you send anything: consent

In many places, including the United States, business text messages are covered by rules about consent. The safe approach is to only text customers who have given you their number for that kind of contact and agreed to receive messages from you, for example on a booking form or work order that says you will text about their appointment and follow up afterwards. Rules vary by country and by the type of message, and this is not legal advice, so check what applies to you. What is not in doubt is the good practice:

• Only text customers you have actually served.
• Identify your business in the message, so they know who it is from.
• Give a simple way to opt out, such as "Reply STOP to opt out", and honour it immediately.
• Send at reasonable hours in the customer's time zone.

What makes a review request text work

• Short. Aim for something that fits on a phone screen without scrolling.
• Personal. Use their first name and, if you can, mention the job or the person who helped them.
• One link, straight to your Google review form.
• An honest ask. Ask for a review, not for five stars, and never offer anything in return.

Templates

Swap the bracketed parts and adjust the wording so it sounds like you. Each of these includes the business name and an opt-out line.

General service business

Home services (plumbing, HVAC, electrical)

Salons and barbers

Careful with wording like "if you are happy". It is fine in a message sent to everyone, because it is not filtering who gets the link. It would be review gating if only the people who said they were happy received the link.

Restaurants and cafes

Healthcare and clinics

For healthcare, keep it neutral. Do not mention the treatment or the reason for the visit in the text, in case someone else sees the phone.

Follow-up reminder

When to send

Timing matters more than wording. Send it when the customer still remembers the experience but already knows how it turned out.

• Quick services such as a haircut or a meal: the same day, a few hours later.
• Repairs: a few hours after the job, or the next day once they have seen the fix hold.
• Larger projects: at or just after the final walkthrough.
• Treatments with results that take time: when the result is visible, which may be weeks later.

Avoid early mornings and late evenings. A review request at ten at night is more likely to annoy than to be acted on.

How many reminders

One request often gets missed, not because the customer refused, but because they were busy. One or two reminders spaced a few days apart are reasonable. Stop as soon as they leave a review or opt out. Sending the same message every day for a week is how a business turns a happy customer into an annoyed one.

Text or email?

Both have a place. Text is better for quick, local, recent visits, and for customers who gave you a mobile number. Email is better when you have more to say, when you only have an email address, or for customers who prefer it. Many businesses send an email and a text, spaced apart, and stop both once a review comes in.

Common mistakes

• Long messages with several links. One link only.
• Shortened links from unknown services that look like spam. Use your Google review link or a link from a tool customers will recognise.
• No business name, so the customer has no idea who is texting them.
• Asking for five stars or offering a discount. Both break Google's rules.
• Texting people who never agreed to hear from you.

Repperly sends review requests by email and text to every customer, with your business name and an opt-out on every text, and stops the sequence once a review comes in.