The right moment to ask for a review
Reviews are one of the highest-return things a service business can collect, and most owners are terrible at asking for them. Not because the customers don't want to help, but because the ask comes at the wrong time, in the wrong way, or never comes at all. Fix the timing and everything else gets easier.
The best moment to ask is right after the customer feels the win. The job is done, it went well, they're relieved and happy, and they just thanked you or said something kind. That is the peak of goodwill, and it fades fast. A day later they're back to their own life and the warm feeling has cooled. An ask in that happy moment lands. An ask a week later gets ignored.
The way you ask matters almost as much as when. Make it effortless. Don't tell someone to go find your business online and figure out how to leave a review. Send them a direct link that drops them right on the review page. Every extra step you make them take loses a chunk of people. The easier you make it, the more reviews you get, full stop.
Keep the ask personal and specific. A generic please leave us a review does less than a short note that references the actual job. Something like letting them know it was great getting their kitchen sorted out and asking if they'd mind sharing a quick word about how it went. It feels human, because it is, and people respond to that.
The reason most businesses under-collect reviews is not strategy. It's that the moment passes. You finish the job, you're already thinking about the next one, and by the time you remember to ask, the window is closed. So the happy customer who would gladly have written you five stars never gets asked, and you're left with a handful of reviews when you should have hundreds.
This is a job worth automating. When a job is marked done, a short, personal review request can go out at the right moment with a one-tap link, so you never miss the window. Cadrey can handle that as part of following up with your customers, so every finished job becomes a chance at a review without you having to remember. Collect them consistently and, over time, your reviews become one of the strongest reasons new customers pick you.