LOCAL

Review request sequence

Use when you need a compliant way to ask customers for reviews after a job is complete.

review-request-sequence.md

Download .md

Write a review request sequence for a local business.

Business: {{BUSINESS_NAME}}
Service and typical job length: {{SERVICE_AND_JOB_LENGTH}}
How we normally contact customers: {{CONTACT_CHANNELS}}
Who asks and when the job is clearly finished: {{ASK_MOMENT}}
Review link: {{REVIEW_LINK}}

Produce:

1. A timing plan: how long after completion the first ask goes out, how many follow-ups, and the gap between them. Justify the timing in one line each.

2. The messages. For each: channel, subject line where relevant, body, and length. SMS under 300 characters. Email under 150 words. In-person script under 40 words.

3. A short note on handling an unhappy customer who receives the request, and what to do instead of sending it.

Rules:
- Never offer incentives, discounts, prize draws or anything of value in exchange for a review. Say why in one line.
- Never suggest asking only happy customers or filtering people before the ask. Explain that this is review gating and against platform policy.
- Do not ask for a particular rating or wording. Do not use phrases like "if you were happy with".
- Prompt for specifics instead: ask the customer to mention which service and what stood out.
- Keep it easy: one link, one action, no forms.
- No em dashes. No "your feedback is important to us". No guilt or urgency.

Finish with the two most common reasons these sequences fail and how to avoid each.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{BUSINESS_NAME}}
{{SERVICE_AND_JOB_LENGTH}}
{{CONTACT_CHANNELS}}
{{ASK_MOMENT}}
{{REVIEW_LINK}}

Getting a better result

The ask lands best within 24 hours of the job finishing, while the person still remembers the detail.
Asking the customer to mention the specific service produces reviews with far more useful text in them.
One follow-up is plenty. A third message costs goodwill for very little extra volume.

Questions about this prompt

When should I formalise the ask rather than leave it to whoever remembers?

When asking is inconsistent, or when someone has floated an incentive or a filter. The prompt declines both and explains why in a line each, which is useful when the person suggesting a prize draw outranks you. It also fixes the timing instead of leaving it to whoever finishes the job.

What do I need to define first?

The {{ASK_MOMENT}}: the point where the job is clearly finished and who is standing there when it is. Then the {{CONTACT_CHANNELS}} you really use and a tested {{REVIEW_LINK}}. Typical job length matters too, since it decides whether the first ask goes that afternoon or a fortnight later.

What comes back?

A timing plan with a one line justification per step, messages sized per channel with SMS under 300 characters, email under 150 words and an in person script under 40 words, then the two most common reasons these sequences fail. The prompt for specifics is the line that changes what reviews say.

What is the mistake?

Adding a third follow up because the second produced one review. It costs goodwill for very little extra volume. The other is softening the ask into if you were happy with, which is gating by wording and produces the same filtered pattern platforms object to, without the excuse of being deliberate.