.png)
Last updated: 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- You get more reviews consistently by inviting every satisfied customer at a fixed moment instead of waiting: unhappy customers write on their own, happy customers almost never do.
- Google allows businesses to ask for reviews, but prohibits incentives, selectively inviting happy customers, pressuring people on the premises, and giving staff a target number of reviews.
- Car dealerships get most of their reviews through the workshop service desk, because aftersales sees the customer far more often than the showroom; the survey from the manufacturer or importer (the brand) is a separate track and does not replace a review.
- In Repmanager you send review invitations by email per location and platform, create a QR code per location, and see for each invitation whether the link was clicked.
Why do happy customers leave so few reviews?
Because nothing prompts them. A happy customer pays, walks out and moves on. An unhappy customer looks for an outlet and finds your Google profile without help. Without invitations, your review profile slowly drifts towards the complaints, even when most customers are satisfied.
That explains why a business with high internal satisfaction can still have a mediocre star rating on Google. In automotive the gap is stark: a dealership scores a 9 in its internal survey and a 4.2 on Google. How that happens is covered in internal score vs Google rating.
The answer is not to hold back unhappy customers, which you neither may nor can. The answer is to nudge the satisfied majority while the experience is still fresh.
When should you ask for a review?
Right after a good experience, while the details are fresh. In a workshop that is the moment the customer collects the car; in a restaurant, just after paying; for a service provider, as soon as the job is done. Wait a week and the moment has passed and the odds of a review drop sharply.
The hard part is that this moment happens dozens of times a day, and nobody remembers it consistently on a busy Friday afternoon. So "ask when you think of it" does not work. The ask needs a fixed place in the process. More on timing in the best moment to ask for a review.
Which channel works best: email, SMS or a QR code?
Whichever channel the customer has in hand at that moment. A QR code at the counter works on the spot, while the customer is still there. Email works if you already have the address and the customer is used to hearing from you. SMS gets read quickly, but you need a mobile number.
In practice a combination works best: a QR code for people who want to do it straight away, and an email shortly after the visit for everyone else. The full comparison is in asking for reviews via email, SMS and QR. To make your own QR code for your Google Business Profile, see how to create a Google review QR code.
Expect only a small share of invitations to turn into a review. That is normal. You do not get more reviews by pushing a few customers harder, but by asking everyone who leaves happy, once.
What does Google allow you to ask?
You may ask every customer to write an honest review of a genuine experience. You may not offer a reward, invite only happy customers, pressure people to review while they are on the premises, or give staff a target number of reviews or ask customers to name a staff member.
That is spelled out in Google's policy for contributions to Google Maps. The ban on selective asking hits a well-known trick: send a satisfaction question first, and only send the Google link to people who answer positively. That is called review gating, and it is not allowed. The rules at a glance:
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Asking every customer for an honest review | A discount, gift or payment in exchange for a review |
| A QR code at the counter or on the invoice | Inviting only customers who seem happy |
| An email shortly after the visit | Pressuring customers to review on the spot |
| Explaining why reviews matter to you | Giving staff a target of X reviews |
| Thanking every reviewer, critical ones too | Asking for a specific name or text in the review |
Rules on rewards specifically are covered in can you offer a reward for a review. The wider policy is in Google review policy and guidelines.
How do car dealerships get more reviews?
Through the workshop. A customer visits the showroom once every few years, but comes to the workshop every year or more for servicing, the annual inspection or tyres. The service desk sees the customer more often, and at exactly the right moment: when they collect the car.
Dealer groups working with Repmanager in automotive, mostly in the Netherlands, find that a sign at the service desk brings in more reviews than an email afterwards. The customer is standing there waiting anyway. Sales works differently: the handover of the new car is the moment, rare but emotionally strong.
A mailing can create peaks too. At Bochane Groep, a Dutch dealer group, a campaign mailing brought in 80 reviews in a single day, according to the Bochane Groep case. Plan for the fact that every one of those reviews also needs a reply.
Two things are specific to dealers. First, the manufacturer's survey: after a visit the customer already receives a satisfaction survey from the brand. Some premium dealers deliberately do not ask for a Google review because they do not want to bother the customer twice. Others do ask, but at a different moment. The survey counts for the manufacturer; the Google review counts for the next customer searching. They are two scoreboards, and one does not fill the other.
Second, the manufacturer's KPI. When a bonus depends on your rating, it is tempting to push sales staff on numbers or on "a perfect score". That is exactly what Google prohibits. What you can do when you are chasing a 4.7 is covered in chasing a 4.7: manufacturer KPIs and reviews. Why more reviews make your average more stable is explained in how many positive reviews offset a negative one.
How do you set this up in Repmanager?
You send invitations per location, so the review lands on the right Google Business Profile.
- Open Invites and start a new email invitation. Choose the location and the platform, enter the customer's email address and, if you like, the sender's name.
- Add a short message (up to 250 characters). Keep it neutral: ask for an honest review, not for five stars.
- Generate a QR code per location: choose the location and platform, and add optional free text (up to 80 characters). Put the code on a sign at the service desk or on the invoice.
- In the overview, track for each invitation when it was sent, for which location and platform, and whether the link was clicked.
- Under KPI targets, set a rating target for the organisation or per location. The Dashboard shows whether the average rating is above or below that target.
More on what is possible on the review invitations page.
What usually goes wrong?
Only asking when it went well. Understandable, but that is selective asking, and Google prohibits it. Ask everyone.
A target per employee. "Five reviews per adviser per week" puts pressure on customers and falls under the prohibited practices. Manage the process (is the ask being made?), not the number.
A QR code pointing at the wrong location. In a group with ten locations a single generic code is quick to make, but reviews then land on the wrong profile. Make one code per location.
Asking and then not replying. If you collect a lot of reviews, you also have to answer them. A spike after a mailing with no replies looks worse than no spike at all.
Frequently asked questions
Can you send a reminder if the customer does not respond?
One friendly ask is enough. Repeated chasing quickly comes close to pressure. In any case, send nothing more to people who have already written a review.
Can staff ask the customer to mention their name in the review?
No. Google prohibits asking for specific content, and names asking for a staff member's name explicitly.
How many reviews a month is enough?
There is no fixed number. A steady inflow matters more, so that a single negative review does not swing your average.
Can you ask customers to review on a platform other than Google?
Yes. Depending on your market, that can be a third-party platform such as Trustpilot or an industry review site (for car dealers, for example DealerRater in the US or Auto Trader reviews in the UK). In Repmanager, invitations go to Google or to Klanten Vertellen, a review platform widely used in the Netherlands; choose per invitation the platform that matters for that location.
Ready to set it up?
Want to see how to use invitations and QR codes per location, and answer the new reviews straight away? In a 15-minute demo we show it with your own locations.
