Reviews courseModule 2 of 7: Asking for ReviewsLesson 2.1
The Right Moment, Sent Within 24 Hours
Two habits. Choose the one point in each client's journey when you ask for a review (the trigger), and send the request within 24 hours of it, ideally the same working day.
By Morgan King, founder of Reyse Facts checked October 2026 Jump to Your turn
Why it matters
Requests sent on a fixed date, or whenever someone remembers, reach people after the goodwill and the detail have faded.
The evidence
Evidence: Common sense
No UK study has found the best moment or the best delay. Recency mattering to readers is backed by surveys; the same-day target is our recommended practice.
Do this first
Pick one trigger for each client type, and make the request go out the same working day.
01What it is
A waiter who asks “How was it?” while you’re mid-bite gets a mumble. One who asks once the plates are cleared and the coffee has arrived gets a real opinion. Ask three weeks later and all you’ll remember is “it was fine”.
Think of it like
A thank-you note. Written the morning after the party, it's warm and specific. Written a month later, it says "thanks for having us".
02Why it matters
To the people searching
Ask before the client has felt the outcome and even a happy client gives a lukewarm answer. Ask too late and the goodwill has gone. The best moment is usually just after a clear win the client can feel. Speed matters too: someone asked the day after completion remembers the specific things that went well and writes a specific review; someone asked three weeks later writes three words.
buyers
After completion, once they have their keys.
tenants
Keys handed over, or the end of the first week. That's the part you control. At the end of a tenancy, ask only once the deposit is settled.
sellers
Completion is the outcome the next seller cares about, so it's a sensible default. Offer accepted feels like a win, but the sale can still fall through.
landlords
Move-in day for a let-only landlord. For a managed landlord, the first rent arriving, when they see the service working. Ask once, not every quarter.
To Google, the platforms and AI
Evidence: Common senseTiming isn't a ranking factor: nothing suggests Google measures when you asked. What it and every reader can see is what good timing produces: longer, more specific reviews, and a steady flow of recent ones. Google's help says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, with no target number. In Whitespark's 2026 survey of local search experts (mostly US and Canada), review recency ranked 11th and a steady flow of reviews rather than bursts 14th, out of 187 factors. Trustpilot says newer reviews count for more in its score.
An agent example
Marlow and Finch, a two-branch sales agency, sent review requests on the first of each month to everyone who'd completed the month before, so some clients heard six weeks after getting their keys. Replies were few and mostly said "great service". It switched the trigger to the completion date, sent the same working day, and kept a simple tracker. Over the next quarter it saw more reviews and longer ones, but with small numbers it kept testing rather than celebrating.
03Your turn
Check yours, then fix it
- 1List your last 10 reviews. For each, find the file in your CRM and note the client type, the key milestone date and the date the request went out.
- 2Ask honestly: was there a clear best moment in that deal, and did the request land there, or somewhere random?
- 1Take your last five completions and count the days between completion and the request going out.
- 2If any took more than 48 hours, note why: a process gap, or just forgetting.
- 1Open your CRM or review tool and find what actually sends the request: a status change (completion, move-in) or a fixed date like the first of the month?
- 2If you can't find it, that's your answer. Ask your supplier.
- 1For one client type, pick two moments (for example, keys and the end of the first week for tenants).
- 2Alternate them by month or by branch, with a different short link for each so clicks can be counted.
- 3Record requests sent, reviews received and how detailed they are. Wait for about 30 requests each before comparing. Compare how many people review, not the stars.
Here is a table of 10 anonymised rows: client type, days from milestone to request, review received (yes or no), approximate word count. Do not guess beyond the data. What patterns do you see, what are the limits of such a small sample, and what should I test next? Do not suggest asking only some clients.
- 1One row per client type (seller, landlord, tenant, buyer): the exact event that starts the request, who sends it, and the deadline (same working day).
- 2Switch from calendar sending to milestone sending.
- 3Not sure of the moment? Ask five recent clients, including one or two who had a bumpy time, when they felt most positive. Don't ask for a review in the same call.
- 1Add a "request sent" column to your tracker, or a CRM task created by the completion status, and the rule that a file isn't closed until the request has gone.
- 2Use a short, genuine template instead of waiting for the perfect personal message. A request sent today beats a perfect one next week.
- 1Some property CRMs can send a review email from a status change. Street, for example, lets you choose the milestone and edit the wording.
- 2Pick a status that means an outcome (completion, move-in), not a viewing.
- 3Ask any supplier two questions: can a status change send the message, and is the send date logged?
- 1Pause during a live dispute, an open complaint, a deposit disagreement or a collapsed sale.
- 2Then send the same request once it's settled. Never asking people who complained is selective asking (lesson 2.4).
- 3Write the pause rule down so it's applied the same way to everyone.
Then: Check your real turnaround every quarter. Busy months are exactly when the same-day habit quietly slips.
04Keep it up
Set the trigger once, and revisit it if your process changes (a new CRM, a new service). Spot-check the turnaround each quarter.
Go deeperWhy not ask in the middle of a sale?
A 2017 government-commissioned survey of about 2,000 buyers and sellers in England and Wales found sellers least satisfied with being kept informed and with chasing after exchange, and buyers whose purchase was delayed less satisfied than the rest. The figures are old, but they point at the same place: the weeks between offer and completion are when clients feel least looked after. Asking inside that gap catches people mid-worry.
Sources
- 1.Local Search Ranking Factors 2026 · Whitespark, 2026
- 2.Tips to improve your local ranking on Google · Google Business Profile Help
- 3.Prohibited and restricted content · Google Maps user contributed content policy
Facts checked October 2026, and re-checked every quarter. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
That's lesson 2.1
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