Not enough reviews, and a so-so rating that won't budge.

Plumbing reviews are often what a homeowner reads right before they call. If you only have a few, or a rating a notch below what your work deserves, it can feel like the good jobs never show up online.

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Four wooden stars in a row on a dark blue surface, a rating stuck one star short — Photo by Ann H on Pexels

Sound familiar?

Your rating is decent, not great, and you can't work out why the shop isn't showing up the way you hoped.
Everyone says to ask every customer for a Google review. In practice, you ask when you remember.
The customer was thrilled you got the water back on, and then the review never came.
One rough review from a frustrated customer sits near the top for months.

What it costs you

Someone with a leak is scrolling fast. If your page gives them little to read, they move on to a plumber whose page tells them more.

Every customer you didn't ask is a good word nobody else gets to see.

Where your shop shows up in search depends on plenty that reviews don't control. What reviews do control is what a homeowner reads once they find you.

And it's frustrating. You know the work is good, and the page doesn't show it.

Why it keeps happening

The best moment to ask is right as the job wraps up, and that's when the plumber is cleaning up and heading to the next call.

Plenty of plumbers would rather fix a toilet than ask a stranger to write about them. So they don't.

After an emergency, the customer is relieved, tired and busy mopping up. By evening, a review is the last thing on their mind.

There's no set point in the job where asking happens, so whether it happens depends on who's on the call and how the day went.

Who you'll talk to

Kevin Kirchner smiling, in black glasses, a black cap and a green plaid shirt — Kevin Kirchner

I'm Kevin Kirchner, and the call is with me, not a sales team. I'll ask what the last few minutes of a job look like for your plumbers, and whether a review ever comes up.

Remembering to ask, at the right moment, on every job, is a small, repetitive task. It can now be handled without leaning on your plumbers, and the details depend on how your jobs close out.

Questions

Will more reviews move my plumbing business up in search?

Nobody can promise that, and I won't. Where you show up depends on more than reviews. What reviews do is give a worried homeowner something to go on while they pick a plumber.

Why don't happy customers leave reviews?

Usually because nobody asked at the right moment, and by evening they've moved on. It's rarely about the work.

What exactly do you build?

It depends on how you work today; we figure that out on the call.